Broad Multi-Frequency Discrimination

Intuition and some limited data sets suggest that polarization has strong potential to provide additional information in difficult detection scenarios in a variety of hypervelocity interceptor applications. The targeting of a boost phase missile requires a sensor that can both acquire the target and perform plume / hardbody discrimination. For midcourse scenarios, debris and decoy clouds, low thermal contrast, and target orientation determination ought to be measured by an active or passive imaging polarimeter. In re-entry phase, an imaging polarization sensor should provide aimpoint selection and orientation determination in the presence of a wake. Polaris' Phase I effort has shown that the use of polarization for next generation seeker systems can offer significant benefits. Limited data exists, however, and an instrument is needed for confirmation. Prior to instrumentation development, modeling needs to be done optimize instrumentation development and assess the feasibility for imaging polarimetry to impact missile defense applications. Polaris Sensor Technologies will continue development of imaging polarimetry for BMD applications including modeling of the polarization signatures in BMD scenarios and establish constraints on instruments for further phenomenology studies as well as THAAD specific implementations. A polarimeter design for THAAD will be delivered at the end of the Phase II.