In-Harbor/At-Sea Ship Defense with Terahertz Sensors

Providing defense to ships against asymmetric threats under all weather and traffic conditions requires both broad spectrum sensing and highly mobile platforms. We propose broad spectral sensing with co-located visible, infrared (IR) and terahertz (THz) sensors that are small, light and low-power enough to be mounted on a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This approach takes advantage of the considerable effort the Navy has already invested in UAVs, and combines it with the high promise of co-located broadband sensor systems. By enabling ultralight low-power sensors that fuse images from three spectral regimes, we offer a new broadly applicable approach to counteracting asymmetric threats.