Passive Tracking of Thrusting Targets from a Single Platform

Multiple air/space-borne sensors can provide position and range information on boosting missiles enabling estimations of their trajectories and likely points of impact. The earlier a missile"s 3D state estimate can be constructed, the sooner the layered Missile Defense System can engage and defeat the target. Boosting and / or maneuvering missiles pose a serious challenge to constructing the 3D state vector. A multiple sensor platform constellation will provide the most accurate tracking. However, in the event of comlink failure, autonomous passive tracking provides a reliable backup for boost phase tracking. Additionally, in the event of a raid launch, monocular passive ranging (MPR) provides the ability for one platform to geolocate each target in the complexity. In short, MPR provides a desirable enhancement and essential backup to MDA"s multi-platform infrastructure. The overall objective of this proposal is to experimentally demonstrate the theoretical proof-of-concept work in Phase-I. In Phase-II OKSI will: (1) fully automate the complete MPR operations including image processing, (2) configure sensors ideal for MPR measurements, (3) deploy these sensors on HALO-I and piggyback on existing data collects, and (4) demonstrate MPR accuracy using the airborne data collected by HALO-I/II. Finally, OKSI will coordinate with future MDA architectures including Airborne Infrared (ABIR) to assess MPR integration considerations.