The invention discloses a multi-target detection method based on short-time 
Fourier transform and 
fractional Fourier transform, which belongs to the technical field of the 
radar target detection. The method comprises the following steps that the short-time 
Fourier transform is firstly used for conducting the primary detection on a 
signal, then a binaryzation method is used for 
processing a primary detection result, phase position of the 
signal is kept in the 
processing, the 
fractional Fourier transform is used for detecting a 
signal after being restored by the short-time 
Fourier transform, by adopting 
multiple methods for combined 
processing, advantages of overcoming phenomenon that a strong signal 
side lobe presses a 
weak signal main lobe, improving the signal-to-
noise ratio of the signal to be detected, and solving the problem of the large 
false alarm possibility which is caused by adopting traditional method to detect the signal at the low signal-to-
noise ratio can be realized; and meanwhile, an 
image contrast method and a gradual 
elimination method are adopted, multiple strong signals and weak signals with different or identical 
frequency modulation rates can be detected by utilizing the space and power strength information of the signal, so that the detection probability and the calculation efficiency can be further improved, easiness in project realization is realized, and the method is worth of being adopted and popularized.