TARGET AREA MONITORING SYSTEM

AN IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT EXISTS FOR A SYSTEM TO TRACK MULTIPLE SMALL AIRBORNE OBJECTS OVER AN ARRAY OF GROUND VEHICLES. THIS SYSTEM MUST BE ABLE TO LOCATE AND MONITOR BOTH THE AIRBORNE OBJECTS AND THE GROUND VEHICLES. IT IS DESIRED THAT THE AIRBORNE OBJECTS REQUIRE NO MODIFICATIONS TO BE TRACKED. THE SYSTEM SHOULD OPERATE IN DUST, RAIN, SNOW AND FOG. OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE IS THE ACCURATE MEASURE-MENT OF THE RELATIVE SEPARATION OF THE SUBMUNITIONS AFTER EJECTION FROM THE CARRIER. IT IS PROPOSED THAT AN ADVANCED INTERFEROMETRIC MEASUREMENT (AIM) METHODOLOGY BE USED TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM TO TRACK THE SMALL OBJECTS BY THEIR BACKSCATTER FROM A POWERFUL ILLUMINATOR. THE GROUND VEHICLES WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH BEACONS TO ALLOW TRACKING THEM WITH THE SAME SYSTEM. THE MAJOR DEFICIENCY IN CURRENT SYSTEMS USED FOR THIS IS THEIR INABILITY TO COPE WITH MANY DIFFERENT OBJECTS SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE SYSTEM PROPOSED USES POST FLIGHT PROCESSING WITH THE ABILITY TO ACCURATELY DESCRIBE THE LOCATION AND VELOCITIES OF MULTIPLE OBJECTS. GROUND TARGETS AND A SINGLE LARGE (CROSS SECTION) AIRBORNE TARGET CAN BE TRACKED IN REAL-TIME.