Controllable time dependent and dual band emission infrared source to test missile warning systems in-flight: system characterization

摘要

Proliferation and technological progress of Mid Wave Infrared (MWIR) sensors for Missile Warning Systems (MWS) and increased sophistication of countermeasures require more demanding in-flight testing. Spectral discrimination is being introduced for higher specificity and lower false alarms. As a result, testing such spectrally more capable systems requires a more spectrally capable stimulator. In a previous paper we have described a system we developed to test missile warning systems mounted on an aircraft. The system is placed in the field and projects a time dependent infrared beam towards the flying aircraft, simulating the infrared emittance of an approaching missile in the 3 to 5 micron spectral range as sensed by an MWS system. It can be used also as a trainer for the pilot himself to practice his/her reaction to being targeted. Now we have developed a new system based on the above concept but allowing the user to synchronously produce time profiles of two different infrared ranges independently within the 3 to 5 micron range (3.5 to 4 and 4.5 to 4.8 μ). This new dual color system (the DCIRTS) can now be used stationary or mounted on a vehicle while traveling, for even more realistic simulation. In this paper we describe the DCIRTS and its capability. The system design and preliminary test data were presented in two previous papers (references 4 and 5), but now after having done additional work, we present here additional performance results: expected and measured angular dependent intensity, whose behavior is important in the design of the simulation experiment.