Conceptual design of a multifunction infrared radar for the tactical aircraft ground attack scenario

In this report the feasibility of a multifunction infrared radar for use in a close air support attack scenario is examined. 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 why 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.