*Article* **Coast–Ship Bistatic HF Surface Wave Radar: Simulation Analysis and Experimental Verification**

**Yonggang Ji 1,\*, Jie Zhang 1, Yiming Wang 1, Chao Yue 1, Weichun Gong 1, Junwei Liu 1, Hao Sun 1, Changjun Yu <sup>2</sup> and Ming Li <sup>3</sup>**


Received: 29 November 2019; Accepted: 31 January 2020; Published: 2 February 2020

**Abstract:** The coast–ship bistatic high-frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR) not only has the anti-interference advantages of the coast-based bistatic HFSWR, but also has the advantages of maneuverability and an extended detection area of the shipborne HFSWR. In this paper, theoretical formulas were derived for the coast–ship bistatic radar, including the first-order sea clutter scattering cross-section and the Doppler frequency shift of moving targets. Then, simulation results of the first-order sea clutter spectrum under different operating conditions were given, and the range of broadening of the first-order sea clutter spectrum and its influence on target detection were investigated. The simulation results show the broadening ranges of the right sea clutter spectrum and left sea clutter spectrum were symmetric when the shipborne platform was anchored, whereas they were asymmetric when the shipborne platform was underway. This asymmetry is primarily a function of platform velocity and radar frequency. Based on experimental data of the coast–ship bistatic HFSWR conducted in 2019, the broadening range of the sea clutter and the target frequency shift were analyzed and compared with simulation results based on the same parameter configuration. The agreement of the measured results with the simulation results verifies the theoretical formulas.

**Keywords:** bistatic HFSWR; shipborne HFSWR; first-order sea clutter; experiment verification
