ACOUSTIC TARGETING CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A NOVEL METHOD FOR TARGETING NOISY, HIGH-VALUE TARGETS SUCH AS ENEMY ARTILLERY, HELICOPTERS AND, PERHAPS, HEAVY VEHICLES AND GENERATORS. THE CONCEPT MAKES USE OF RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE ACOUSTIC SENSORS WHICH CAN BE DEPLOYED IN ENEMY TERRITORY BY AIR DROP OR BY ARTILLERY. THE SYSTEM LOCATES TARGETS BY CORRELATING THE ACOUSTIC SIGNALS RECEIVED BY SEVERAL PAIRS OF SENSORS TO DETERMINE TIME DIFFERENCE OF ARRIVAL (TDOA). BASIC SIGNAL PROCESSING IS DONE AT EACH SENSOR TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE ACOUSTIC SIGNATURE BEING RECEIVED CORRESPONDS TO A TARGET OF INTEREST IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE COMMUNICATION TO THE CORRELATION ELEMENT (WHICH CAN BE AN UNATTENDED AIR VEHICLE OR A MANNED AIRCRAFT). THIS MINIMIZES SENSOR EXPOSURE TO INTERCEPT. AN INNOVATIVE TECHIQUE IS DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL FOR GUIDING A WEAPON TO A TARGET THAT HAS BEEN DETECTED AND CLASSIFIED AS ONE TO BE ENGAGED WITHOUT REQUIRING THAT THE SENSOR LOCATIONS BE EXPLICITLY KNOWN. THIS ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR AUXILIARY METHODS OF DETERMINING SENSOR LOCATIONS AND ALLOWS SENSORS TO BE RAPIDLY DEPLOYED AND UTILIZED. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE PROPOSED PHASE I RESEARCH WILL ESTABLISH THE BASIC FEASIBILITY OF THE ACOUSTIC TARGET DETECTION, CLASSIFICATION, LOCATION AND TARGETING CONCEPT. THIS WILL LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IN PHASE II INCLUDING DETAILED SYSTEM DESIGN AND SIMULATIONS TO ESTABLISH PERFORMANCE. KEY WORDS - ACOUSTIC TARGETING, TDOA, ACOUSTIC SENSORS, WEAPON GUIDANCE, TARGET DETECTION