Manpads offer a severe threat to both civilian and military airborne platforms. The present countermeasure systems include platform maneuver, flares and DIRCM systems. Recently an increasing interest is aimed at preemptive measures e.g. to detect, identify and counter the threat before any missile has been launched. This will emphasize the importance of detecting and analyzing other signatures than those treated in conventional DIRCM systems. These may include laser emission from the target, detection of retro-reflections from optical sights and seekers as well as the optical signatures of the weapon and operator including the aiming and tracking activity. We will exemplify some of the concepts by experimental results and discuss some of the system and technology challenges.

Date Published: 27 October 2015
PDF: 22 pages
Proc. SPIE 9650, Technologies for Optical Countermeasures XII; and High-Power Lasers 2015: Technology and Systems, 96500H (27 October 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2201133

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9650:
Technologies for Optical Countermeasures XII; and High-Power Lasers 2015: Technology and Systems
David H. Titterton; Harro Ackermann; Willy L. Bohn; Robert J. Grasso; Mark A. Richardson, Editor(s)