What does strong unpaired primary target indicate?

A strong unpaired primary target indicates the presence of strong radar returns that do not correlate with any existing flight plan in the system. This scenario typically suggests that the radar system has detected an object—such as an aircraft—producing a robust signal, but there is no corresponding flight plan to identify the target's nature, flight path, or associated information. This situation might arise when an aircraft is operating outside of regular air traffic control procedures or is not filing a flight plan, necessitating further investigation by air traffic controllers to determine the identity and intentions of the detected target.

In contrast, weak radar returns with flight plan association would imply a correlation between the radar signal and a known flight plan, while limited visual tracking capability does not directly relate to the identification of radar targets. Uncorrelated flight data indicates a lack of coherent data association rather than strong radar returns. Thus, the distinction of strong returns with no flight plan matching is critical for monitoring and ensuring safety in air traffic management.