PASSIVE MILLIMETER WAVE IMAGING

MILLITECH PROPOSES TO EXPLORE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE PASSIVE MILLIMETER WAVE (PMMW) SENSOR FOR USE IN ALL-WEATHER, ALL-BATTLEFIELD ENVIROMENT DETECTION AND TARGETING FOR MISSILE GUIDANCE. CURRENT MILLIMETER WAVE (MMV) MISSILE GUIDANCE IS BASED ON ACTIVE RADAR TECHNOLOGY WHICH IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO POOR PERFORMANCE DUE TO CLUTTER DURING ITS ACQUISITION PHASE, AS WELL AS ITS LACK OF COVERTNESS AND POTENTIAL JAMMING COUNTERMEASURES. ALTHOUGH ACTIVE MMV SENSORS HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE FOR SEVERAL DECADES, THE PASSIVE FOCAL PLANE ARRAY, STARING IMAGER TECHNOLOGY PROPOSED HERE IS NEW AND UNIQUE TO MILLITECH. WE ANTICIPATE THAT THE GREATLY ENHANCED PERFORMANCE THAT THIS TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES WILL MAKE PMMW SENSORS USEFUL, PRACTICAL AND AFFORDABLE FOR MISSILE GUIDANCE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE TO STUDY THE TRADEOFFS POSSIBLE BETWEEN OPERATING FREQUENCIES AT 35,94 AND 140 GHZ, CONSIDERING THE NOISE TEMPERATURE REQUIREMENTS, IMMUNITY TO JAMMING SOURCES, THE VEHICLE IMPOSED HARDWARE SIZE AND WEIGHT CONSTRAINTS, THE STABILIZATION DEMANDS FOR A TACTICAL MISSILE AS WELL AS POWER CONSUMPTION. A TRADEOFF STUDY WILL ALSO CONSIDER A FUNDAMENTAL VERSUS SUBHARMONCI APPROACH TO THE DESIGN OF THE FOCAL PLANE ARRAY.