AIRBORNE INFRARED (ABIR)

Abstract

To support regional Ballistic Missile Defense, the Agency is developing ability to defeat enemy raids and early ballistic missile tracking to enable early intercepts. This will allow the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) to evaluate interceptor performance and then reengage if necessary. Since March 2009, the Airborne Sensors program office, in conjunction with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Air Force and the Navy demonstrated that sensors integrated on remotely piloted aircraft can provide a forward, mobile sensor for the Ballistic Missile Defense System. System modeling has also shown that inclusion of airborne sensor increases the tracking potential of our TPY-2 radars by 100%. With airborne sensors as part of the architecture, it relieves our TPY-2 radars from their search requirement, making them much more efficient in their tracking and handling large raids. We have constructed a campaign to define the qualities the sensor will need and how to best integrate it into our Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance architectures to enable early tracking and intercepts. We are conducting a series of ground and flight tests through FY 2013. These demonstrations incrementally prove the key functions of an airborne infrared sensor in the Ballistic Missile Defense System; acquisition of a threat based on a cue from overhead persistent infrared satellites; tracking of a threat throughout its flight; tracking threats` flight path using airborne sensors; fusing multiple tracks with sufficient accuracy and timeliness to launch an interceptor missile; and transmitting data through our prototype Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance network to the shooter. We are also pursuing technology development of an advanced sensor as a spiral development. The Agency is working closely with the United States Air Force to maximize the potential of remotely piloted vehicles. The Agency is developing sensor and pod prototypes and the Air Force is developing the remotely piloted vehicles. At the end of this campaign, we will have hardware, software, and knowledge for the Department to make decisions to add this mission to the existing remotely piloted vehicle force: - Calibrated sensors with improved inertial measurement units - Ballistic Missile Defense mission sensor software suite - Airborne processors for sensor control - On-board recorders - Type 1 National Security Administration certified encryption systems (for both line of sight and beyond line of sight communications) - Pod integrating sensors, sensor control units, communications, and encryption systems Contributions to Combatant Commanders Achievable Capabilities List: - Search and monitor airspace - Cue following advisory air and missile systems launch - Track items of interest continuously - Classify, identify, characterize, and discriminate - Conduct effects assessment Goals: - Develop and test sensor prototypes and leverage Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance network to integrate with the operational layers of the Ballistic Missile Defense to provide precise early missile track information with sufficient accuracy and timeliness - Demonstrate the ability of airborne sensors to close the Aegis fire control loop for early intercept of regional ballistic missiles - Demonstrate the ability of airborne sensors during raid scenarios to track ballistic missiles to augment TPY-2 radars - Deliver knowledge to enable acquisition decisions to procure and field an operational system - Demonstrate airborne sensor discrimination

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2012
• Source ID: 0604884C_4_0400_PB_2012
• Change Summary Explanation: The FY 2012 $56.759 million dollar decrease in this program element is the result of MDA programmatic changes and $1.825 million in efficiency savings.
• Service Agency Name: Missile Defense Agency

Entities

Organizations

• Missile Defense Agency

Tags

Communities of Interest

• Autonomy
• Materials and Manufacturing Processes
• Sensors
• Space
• Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

• Accuracy
• Acquisition
• Air Force
• Aircrafts
• Ballistic Missiles
• Command And Control
• Control Systems
• Defense Systems
• Detectors
• Ground Control Stations
• Line Of Sight
• Multitarget Tracking
• Remotely Piloted Vehicles
• Simulations
• Targets
• Test And Evaluation
• Vehicles

Readers

• Missile Defense Systems.
• Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.

Technology Areas

• Fully Networked C3
• Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
• Space
• Space - Space Objects