Efficient Ways to Calculate Scattering from Electrically Large Objects: Method of Moments, Physical Optics, and Extrapolation Techniques

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Computing electromagnetic scattering and radar cross section for electrically large objects like aircraft presents major computational challenges. This whitepaper compares numerical methods for efficiently simulating RCS of large aerospace structures: Method of Moments (full-wave), Extrapolated MoM, Physical Optics, and hybrid techniques. Simulations of a 40-meter civilian transport aircraft at 0.5-1.0 GHz demonstrate that approximative methods achieve accuracy comparable to full-wave solutions while dramatically reducing computation time, making high-fidelity electromagnetic analysis practical on standard desktop hardware.