AN INTELLIGENT APPROACH TO TERRAIN FOLLOWING/TERRAIN AVOIDANCE AND THREAT MANAGEMENT

THIS PROJECT WILL INTEGRATE THE OPERATION OF THREAT WARNING SENSORS WITH THE SUBSEQUENT THREAT MANAGEMENT RESPONSES THAT MIGHT BE EMPLOYED IN LOW-ALTITUDE MISSIONS. ADVANCES IN THREAT WARNING SENSORS AND IN ASSOCIATED DATA FUSION ARE OCCURRING IN "INEWS" AND RELATED PROGRAMS. "THREAT MANAGEMENT" REFERS TO A SET OF OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE REAL-TIME COUNTERMEASURES THAT THE PENETRATOR AIRCRAFT MIGHT EMPLOY FOLLOWING DETECTION, CLASSIFICATION, AND LOCALIZATION OF THREATS BY THE THREAT WARNING SENSORS. SUCH OPTIONS NEED TO BE INTEGRATED WITH TF/TA, WHICH ITSELF CAN BE TREATED AS A LOW-ALTITUDE MANEUVERING RESPONSE TO THE THREAT(S). WE HAVE DESIGNED AN EFFICIENT, HYBRID SYSTEM TO ACHIEVE THE ABOVE: AN EXPERT SYSTEMBASED MANAGER SELECTS THE RIGHT COMBINATION OF REAL-TIME RESPONSE OPTIONS; THE RESPONSES ARE THEN COMPUTED USING CONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES. PAST AIR FORCE PROGRAMS SUPPORT THE SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE SPECIFICATION, NOTABLY PAVE PILLAR AND RELATED PROGRAMS. WE MAKE USE OF EXISTING MISSION PLANNING, TF/TA, AND DATA FUSION SOFTWARE TOOLS TO ACHIEVE A RAPID PROTOTYPE TO DEMONSTRATE SYSTEM OPERATION.