A fire-control radar is a radar which is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and velocity) to a fire-control system in order to calculate a firing solution (i.e. information on how to direct weapons such that they hit the target(s)). Such radars typically emit a narrow, intense beam of radio waves to ensure accurate tracking information and to minimise the chance of losing track of the target. Some modern radars have a track-while-scan capability enabling it to function simultaneously as a fire-control radar and a search radar . This works either by having the radar switch between sweeping the search sector and sending directed pulses at the target to be tracked, or by using a phased-array antenna to generate two (or more) discrete radar beams and dividing them between both tasks.
See also: Fire-control system
