Feature Disentanglement Based on Dual-Mask-Guided Slot Attention for SAR ATR Across Backgrounds

Due to the limited number of SAR samples in the dataset, current networks for SAR automatic target recognition (SAR ATR) are prone to overfitting the environmental information, which diminishes their generalization ability under cross-background conditions. However, acquiring sufficient measured data to cover the entire environmental space remains a significant challenge. This paper proposes a novel feature disentanglement network, named FDSANet. The network is designed to decouple and distinguish the features of the target from the background before classification, thereby improving its adaptability to background changes. Specifically, the network consists of two sub-networks. The first is an autoencoder sub-network based on dual-mask-guided slot attention. This sub-network utilizes target mask to guide the encoder to distinguish between target and background features. It then outputs these features as independent representations, respectively, achieving feature disentanglement. The second is a classification sub-network. It includes an encoder and a classifier, which work together to perform the classification based on the extracted target features. This network enhances the causal relationship between the target and the classification result, while mitigating the background’s interference on the classification. Moreover, the network, trained under a fixed background, demonstrates strong adaptability when applied to a new background. Experiments conducted on the Moving and Stationary Target Acquisition and Recognition (MSTAR) dataset, as well as the OpenSARShip dataset, demonstrate the superior performance of FDSANet.