Embodiments of a target-tracking radar and methods for responding to fluctuations in target SNR are generally described herein. In some embodiments, the target-tracking radar may be configured to determine whether a target can be considered a point target based on the SNR of received signals and off-boresight error estimates. Measurement-variance estimates generated from the SNR are provided to a target-state estimator when the target is determined to be a point target. When the target is determined not to be a point target, the measurement-variance estimates generated from SNR are not used by the target-state estimator. This may allow targets to be engaged at increased range.