AN AIRBORNE PASSIVE ACTIVE ELECTROOPTIC SENSOR SYSTEM FOR THEATER BALLISTIC-MISSILE DEFENSE

An airborne passive/active surveillance aircraft-based, electro-optic sensor system, named Gatekeeper, is being developed for the US Navy Th eater Ballistic Missile Defense Program. The sensor is designed to det ect theater ballistic missiles (TBMs), either in boost or post-boost p hase, and make precision three-dimensional measurements of the TBM's p ost-boost, ballistic trajectory with sufficient state-vector accuracy for handover to naval, air and land based missile defense systems. The sensor includes a dual-band IRST for acquisition, a precision angle t racker (MWIR focal-plane array and high-bandwidth mirror), and a short -pulse, direct detection laser radar. The sensor subsystems are couple d and controlled by a sophisticated multiprocessor computer control sy stem. The system has a highly compressed engagement timeline resulting in a substantial target handling capacity. This paper describes the s ensor, its specifications, and performance in terms of the accuracy of the state-vector, and its target handling capability in a realistic e ngagement scenario.