Too many Optical True Time Delayers (OTTDs) are needed when optically phased array radar scans in wideband and wide-angle modes.To solve the problem,a beam-forming method based on compressed sensing is proposed for the optically phased array radar with sparse array.Firstly,the factors affecting main-lobe deviation are analyzed in detail by formula derivation.Secondly,a configuration of the sparse antenna array is presented,on the basis of which,the pattern of the optically phased array is restored based on the compressed-sensing theory.Using this method,a quite small number of OTTDs are required for wideband and wide-angle scanning.Finally,this method is validated by the simulation results.