Conceptual Design of a Multifunction Infrared Radar for the Tactical Aircraft Ground Attack Scenario.

摘要

In this report we examine the feasibility of a multifunction infrared radar for use in a close air support attack senario. First, the characteristics of infrared radars are compared with those of FLIRs and conventional radars. From this comparison it was determined that there was no a priori reason shy a single system could not perform a variety of functions. Among these are terrain avoidance imaging, MIT target acquisition, target identification (active and passive imaging), target designation, and fire control. Based on this reasoning a systems concept was developed and a baseline system was designed. Novel features of this baseline system include a dual array of heterodyne and direct detectors, the use of specially-shaped laser pulses for time-shared range and Doppler analysis, and a quasi-three-dimensional display obtained by coding the range information into a color scale. The signal-to-noise and signal-to-clutter ratios of the baseline system were calculated and performance was found to be appropriate for the defined mission. (Author)