HYBRID ACTIVE/PASSIVE IR SENSOR FOR SMART SUBMUNITIONS

PRESENT-DAY SENSORS FOR SMART SUBMUNITIONS ARE LIMITED IN THEIR PERFORMANCE AGAINST COMPLEX BACKGROUNDS, ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND COUNTERMEASURES. SCHWARTZ ELECTRO-OPTICS (SEO) PROPOSES TO IMPROVE THE TARGET-DISCRIMINATION EFFECTIVENESS OF SMART SUBMUNITIONS BY COMBINING AN ACTIVE LASER RANGEFINDER AND A PASSIVE IR SENSOR TO REDUCE THE FALSE ALARM RATE UNDER ADVERSE CONDITIONS. THE HYBRID ACTIVE/PASSIVE SYSTEM COMBINES COMPLEMENTARY TECHNIQUES -ONE DEPENDING ON TARGET REFLECTANCE AND THE OTHER ON TARGET TEMPERATURE/ EMISSIVITY -TO ACHIEVE A TARGET DISCRIMINATION CAPABILITY GREATER THAN THAT POSSIBLE WITH EITHER TECHNIQUE ALONE. A MAJOR OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH WILL BE TO DETERMINE THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE COMMONALITY OF THE TWO TECHNOLOGIES, THEREBY MINIMIZING COST (SIZE, WEIGHT, DOLLARS) AND MAXIMIZING SENSOR CAPABILITY.