A description of the development of a 3 - 5 and 8 - 12 micron IR collimator which combines multiple sources to accurately simulate real world thermal targets to a missile seeker. The primary target (or vehicle), its thermal background and up to three flares, each of which may be independently controlled to provide variable radiance, trajectory, velocity and acceleration, are combined in a collimated output beam. The collimator beam diameter is approximately 8' and, at the exit pupil, provides an 8 degree(s) X 8 degree(s) field-of-view. All components of the system, including most thermal sources, are under computer control. As missile system performance has increased, test system requirements have become more demanding. Testing advanced missile seeker systems in hardware-in-the-loop simulation facilities requires that target presentation systems become correspondingly capable. This paper describes an evolutionary approach being taken in the development of a hardware-in-the-loop facility in the Simulation Laboratory of the Naval Air Warfare Center--Weapons Division (NAWC). The optical baseline for the development of this infrared target projection system is known as Jaws II. This baseline system has been extensively modified, and further system improvements are planned. Guidance, exploitation and countermeasures studies may now be validly conducted in a lab using this system.

Date Published: 5 January 1993
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 1762, Infrared Technology XVIII, (5 January 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.138999

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1762:
Infrared Technology XVIII
Bjorn F. Andresen; Freeman D. Shepherd, Editor(s)