Rapid optical beam-steering sensor suite for tactical weapon tracking applications

Jack Daugherty; Howard Hyman; John G. McCoy; Charles M. Cason; Lewis F. DeSandre; Albert L. Pardue Jr.; R. William Jones

doi:10.1117/12.177693

8 June 1994 Rapid optical beam-steering sensor suite for tactical weapon tracking applications

Jack Daugherty, Howard Hyman, John G. McCoy, Charles M. Cason, Lewis F. DeSandre, Albert L. Pardue Jr., R. William Jones

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2120, Laser Beam Propagation and Control; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.177693
Event: OE/LASE '94, 1994, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

The Rapid Optical Beam Steering (ROBS) sensor suite is being developed under the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) to permit precision tracking of long-range missile interceptor events. The sensor suite consists of a very wide field-of-view (FOV) MWIR staring array (28 degrees) for target detection, a narrower FOV (3.5 mrad) MWIR array for acquisition, tracking, and scene viewing, as well as a CO₂ laser radar for range and Doppler tracking. The sensor suite is mounted on a ROBS telescope that has high angular agility. Without the highly agile ROBS telescope, the use of IR sensors such as laser radar and staring arrays in smart munitions testing has been considered impractical. Unfortunately, the alternative, which is using highly sophisticated range radar, has not been very successful due to the large resolution cells caused by its long wavelength. The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential performance of the very high resolutions (in angle, range, and Doppler) ROBS sensor suite to satisfy the difficult tracking requirements associated with smart munitions testing.

Citation Download Citation

Jack Daugherty, Howard Hyman, John G. McCoy, Charles M. Cason, Lewis F. DeSandre, Albert L. Pardue Jr., and R. William Jones "Rapid optical beam-steering sensor suite for tactical weapon tracking applications", Proc. SPIE 2120, Laser Beam Propagation and Control, (8 June 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.177693

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