Optical Waveform Correlator for Closed Loop Infrared Countermeasures (CLIRCM)

The results of the Phase I activities confirm the feasibility of using the swept frequency FD-OCT approach for measuring the separation and relative amplitude of optical elements withing a seeker at long range. In the Phase I analysis it was shown that various methods, including the originally proposed approach, suffer from significant technical challenges or simply do not work. In contrast the FD-OCT approach address all of the technical challenges associated with the CLIRCM problem. Furthermore, results from a limited laboratory demonstration were used to validate the approach. The overall technical objective of the Phase II program is to develop a FD-OCT brass board system capable of detecting and identifying an optical seeker at a range of up to 1 km. The plan for this activity is to use sensors and sources at a laser wavelength of 1.5 microns for the purposes of cost and technical risk reduction. Because of the added costs of component development associated with MWIR technology the proposed program approach reduces overall risk and focuses the efforts on the engineering associated with the long range FD-OCT detection technique rather than MWIR technology components. While feasibility of this approach in the MWIR spectral band does require some level of component development, those efforts are being proposed in a separate, parallel, effort.