Definition
The visible return shown on a radar display caused by radio energy reflecting off an object — typically an aircraft — and being received back by the radar antenna.
Plain English
The blip or symbol on a controller's radar screen that represents your aircraft.
Context Anchor
Seen in radar navigation and air traffic control radar service discussions, especially when a controller is identifying, tracking, or giving traffic information about an aircraft.
Derivation
‘Radar’ comes from radio detection and ranging. ‘Target’ comes from the old French word ‘targette’, a small shield — something aimed at. In radar use, the ‘target’ is simply the object the radar beam strikes and reflects from.
Why Pilots Care
Radar targets enable controllers to provide traffic information, navigation guidance, and separation in instrument conditions where visual references are unavailable.
Grounding Statement
On the display, the controller is not seeing the airplane itself; they are seeing the radar’s indication of where the airplane is.
Intuition Check
Do not read “target” as something being shot at or aimed at. Here it means an object detected and displayed by radar.
Example Sentence 1
The controller identified the radar target ten miles southwest of the airport and issued vectors for the approach.
Example Sentence 2
Heavy rain can produce multiple radar targets that controllers must distinguish from actual aircraft.