America's New "Spooky Radar"

Lockheed's 'Spooky Radar' Gets U.S. Patent

By Sharon Weinberger
May 22, 2008 11:32:54 AM
Categories: Science
Courtesy Of Wired

A year ago, we wrote about Lockheed Martin's "spooky radar," a theoretical technology that uses quantum entanglement and Einstein's concept of "spooky action at a distance" for a radar with radically advanced capabilities. The radar concept, thought up by scientists at Lockheed's Skunk Works, became public when Lockheed filed a patent application in Europe. Well, this week, Lockheed was granted a patent in the United States for its spooky radar, which "can simultaneously achieve the low attenuation/high range associated with a long wave length and the high resolution associated with a short wave length."

So, what's the big deal?

As the patent states, a quantum radar could defeat stealth aircraft, spot camouflaged objects and more:

The ability to propagate radar signals at frequencies that are independent of the resolution frequency may allow quantum radar system 100 to attain near zero attenuation rates in the atmosphere, and greatly diminished attenuation rates in other media including foliage, building materials, earthen layers, etc. Quantum radar system 100, thus, can be adapted to visualize useful target details through background and/or camouflaging clutter, through plasma shrouds around hypersonic air vehicles, through the layers of concealment hiding underground facilities, IEDs, mines, and other threats--all while operating from an airborne platform or other suitable platform. Quantum radar system 100 may also improve the performance of advanced image processing and pattern recognition systems, as well as defeat most RF signature management systems when the propagation frequency is tuned to the resonant wave length of the target.

This is a fascinating concept, but it appears to be mostly conceptual at the moment; I suspect the quantum radar could be even further away than quantum computers.