High Fidelity IR Clutter Generator for Missile Warning Sensors (HSLEDS)

We propose to study the feasibility of novel high fidelity background clutter generation approaches, tuned specifically toward dual-color IR clutter generator including all the IR wavelength regimes (SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR). Special attention will be paid to component availability and operational readiness of projector hardware, firmware and software components. The exit criteria for phase I is a precise design for the mature implementation of a new clutter generator resulting from the study conducted in phase 1. Our approach to infrared scene generation is using arrays of Light Emitting Diodes (LED). In the past decade, the CDS team designed and built LED projectors with single and dual-color and with resolutions ranging from 512x512 to 2048x2048. In 2020, CDS demonstrated TRL6-level readiness with an LED IRSP called the NSLEDS projector. The NSLEDS projector has a 24-micron pixel pitch and displayed 1024x1024 MWIR images at a 500 Hz frame rate. The proposed program will leverage our past experience and success.