PASSIVE AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE SEEKER

IRVINE SENSORS PROPOSES THE DEMONSTRATION OF A HYMOSS MODULE WITH DYNAMIC STARE AS A MISSILE SEEKER APPROACH CAPABLE OF EXTRACTING, ACQUIRING AND TRACKING TARGETS IN THE PRESENCE OF HIGHLY STRUCTURED AND DYNAMIC BACKGROUNDS. IT IS APPLICABLE TO MANY MISSIONS, BUT IN PARTICULAR TO THE NEXT GENERATION AMRAM. DYNAMIC STARE IS AN APPROACH TO IR IMAGING WHICH USES A SCANNED IMAGE AND A Z-TECHNOLOGY FPA TO PUT INTRAFRAME AND INTERFRAME IMAGE PROCESSING ON THE FOCAL PLANE. IT ALLOWS ON-FOCAL PLAN EXTRACTION OF LOW OBSERVABLES FROM HIGHLY CLUTTERED, MOVING BACKGROUNDS. NORMAL MISSILE BODY MOTION IS USED TO GENERATE THE DITHER SCAN, NEGATING THE NEED FOR SCANNING OPTICS. DATA RATES AND OFF-FOCAL PLANE PROCESSING LOADS ARE REDUCED SUFFICIENTLY TO ELIMINATE THEM AS MAJOR ISSUES IN THE SEEKER DESIGN. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM IS THE DETERMINATION OF SCENARIO LIMITS WITHIN WHICH THE SYSTEM WILL SUCCESSFULLY ACQUIRE AND TRACK TARGETS, AND THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A SEEKER WHICH MEETS THE PACKAGING AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS POSED BY AN AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE PLATFORM. PHASE II IS THE DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A LABORATORY DEMONSTRATION OF THE CRITICAL FUNCTIONS OF THE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FUNCTIONS OF THE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INCORPORATING DYNAMIC STARE.