Aircraft Missile Detection via Sensor Correlation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current missile detection systems for commercial aircraft face challenges of high false alarm rates and insufficient sensitivity, making them costly and unreliable for timely deployment of countermeasures against surface-to-air missile threats.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising multiple spaced-apart optical imaging arrangements with overlapping fields of view, processing system to correlate suspected missile tracks, and actuation commands for countermeasure activation, providing enhanced tracking and reduced false alarms through triangulation and redundancy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If passive optical sensors in the IR wavelength range are used for missile detection, then the system cost is reduced, but the false alarm rate increases and sensitivity is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple passive optical sensors positioned at different locations to form a networked detection system. By merging the detection capabilities of multiple sensors, the system achieves improved reliability and reduced false alarm rates while maintaining the cost benefits of passive optical technology, resolving the contradiction between low cost and high reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a central processing system as an intermediary that receives and correlates data from multiple passive optical sensors. This intermediary processes the raw sensor data, applies correlation algorithms, and generates confirmed missile track information, thereby enhancing the overall system reliability without requiring individual sensors to be more complex or expensive
2Ease of manufacture
If passive optical sensors in the IR wavelength range are used for missile detection, then the system cost is reduced, but the detection sensitivity is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the detection capabilities of multiple passive optical sensors to achieve improved sensitivity. By merging the thermal signature detection data from multiple sensors viewing the same airspace from different angles, the system can detect missiles with lower thermal signatures that would be imperceptible to a single sensor, thus improving detection sensitivity while maintaining cost effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds spatial dimensionality to the detection system by positioning multiple sensors at different locations and angles. This multi-dimensional approach allows the system to detect missiles that may be obscured or have low contrast in any single sensor's field of view, thereby improving overall detection sensitivity without increasing the complexity of individual sensors
3Measurement precision
If multiple spaced-apart optical imaging arrangements are deployed with overlapping fields of view, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the detection task into separate segments performed by multiple independent optical imaging arrangements. Each sensor independently detects and tracks missile signatures in its field of view, and the central processing system correlates these segmented detections to confirm missile tracks. This segmentation improves measurement precision through cross-validation while keeping individual sensor units relatively simple
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the optical imaging arrangements to be universal, identical units that can be deployed in multiple locations. Each sensor performs the same basic function of detecting thermal signatures, and the system achieves enhanced precision through the coordinated operation of these universal, multi-functional sensor nodes rather than through increasingly complex individual sensors
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution significantly reduces false alarm rates and enhances the precision of missile tracking and detection, allowing for timely and effective deployment of countermeasures without the need for individual aircraft systems, thereby improving safety and reducing costs.
Implementation Method 1
typically based on passive optical sensors in the IR wavelength range which detect the thermal signature of a missile
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for protection of aircraft against surface-to-air missiles deploys sensors to provide coverage around an airport The use of a fixed (or slow moving) set of sensors around the airport allows detection of missile threats to all aircraft using the airport without requiring each individual aircraft to be provided with a threat detection system. Information about a detected threat is then typically transmitted in real time directly to the aircraft under threat to allow timely deployment of aircraft-based countermeasures. The detection system and method preferably employ spaced-apart sensors with overlapping fields of view to provide enhanced tracking through triangulation and reduced false alarm rates by redundancy of information. Airborne systems with overlapping coverage may be also used.