Polarimetric SWIR camera

For a Counter-UAV (CUAS) system to engage and kill SWARMS of UAVs, a high-speed kill chain is required.Ā The kill process typically starts with (1) a wide-area surveillance sensor (typically radar) generating a ōlow accuracyö threat cue for an Acquisition Tracking Sensor (ATS), (2) the ATS acquires the target and provides an accurate cue for a Fine Tracking Sensor (FTS), (3) the FTS acquires the target and provides aim-point for a directed energy weapon, such as a High Energy Laser (HEL) for a kill. Once the kill is verified, the ATS acquires the next target and the process repeats. For such a system to be an effective UAV SWARMS countermeasure, each component of the kill chain cycle must adhere to a very short time budget.ĀĀ ĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀ The objective of this SBIR project is to develop a polarimetric SWIR camera with incorporated AI and ML that is ideally suited for ATS and FTS detection, identification, and tracking of swarming UAVs.ĀĀ Adding polarization capability to ATS and FTS is expected to dramatically reduce the number of frames required for an acquisition, potentially to a single frame. Figure, adding polarization sensing to the ATS and FTS camera is expected to lead to higher true positive detection probability, lower false detection probability, leading to faster ATS/FTS operation in the kill chain.