Sensors and Surveillance: Fusion-Generated Target Discrimination for BMDO Sensor and Surveillance Systems

"Technology is a controlling variable for cost, schedule, and performance design of U.S. ballistic missile defense systems. Target discrimination (the ability to identify or engage any one target when multiple targets are present) during National MissileDefense (NMD) midcourse engagement is a complex technological hurdle. Exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) sensors need to discriminate among warhead(s), decoys and penetration aids in an extremely short detect-to-kill time. Feature differences amongdecoys, penetration aids, and warheads are not adequate for discrimination by current EKV passive IR sensors and the BMC4I surveillance system. Our Fusion-Generated Discrimination (FGD) approach will generate reliable, accurate Target Object Maps (TOM) toovercome future system hit-to-kill limitations. Using multispectral and active/passive sensor inputs, our FGD Toolkit will combine scene and kinematic processes. The FGD subsystem leverages proven multiple-hypothesis fusion and extended Kalman filtertechnologies for this EO/IR and radar application. As a result, multiple-wavelength signals and multiple phenomena are fused for improved discrimination and kill. As a future element of the NMD "system of systems," ORINCON's rapid, all-source data fusionenablers will offer the Missile Defense Agency enhanced discrimination capabilities. Adapting multiple-hypothesis fusion of multispectral data offers a means of achieving a substantial target