TRENDS IN TACTICAL MISSILE GUIDANCEAND CONTROL STRATEGY AND PROGRAMFORMULATION
WILLIAM C. POTMANATTN: AMSMI-RD-MG-PMRedstone Arsenal, Alabama 35498-5252
Rex B. Powell408 Glencoe Road SEHuntsville, Alabama 35802
ABSTRACT
The end of the cold war has shifted the focus ofour national security interest from a single threat to aspectrum of threats, and Desert Storm marked afundamental change from industrial age warfare toinformation age warfare. As part of acquisitionreform, the Department of Defense now placesstronger emphasis on the utilization of commercialsector technology through the dual-use policy. Thispaper outlines the elements of the tactical missileguidance and control strategy and the process ofprogram formulation in this new environment, andhow this responds to future Army needs as outlinedin the 1993 revision of Army Field Manual FM-100-5; OPERATIONS. The mechanisms by which thestrengths of the industrial base and academia areutilized in achieving program objectives are alsopresented. Since AFFORD ABILITY is one of thefour DOD strategic investment priorities identified inthe Defense Science and Technology Strategy,special emphasis is given to AFFORDABILITY inprogram formulation and execution. In conclusion,examples are given on the linking of enablingtechnologies to formulate technology thrusts toachieve Army operational objectives.
ELEMENTS OF TACTICAL MISSILEGUIDANCE AND CONTROL STRATEGY
AND PROGRAM FORMULATION
At the national level, the framework for planningthe tactical missile guidance and control program isprovided by the Presidents S&T strategy and policies,and those of the Secretary of Defense. Needs areidentified by the military departments, the JointChiefs, and the Joint Requirements OversightCouncil. Five key documents are produced in the toplevel planning process: The Defense Science andTechnology Strategy; Defense Technical Area Plan;Joint Warfighting Science and Technology Plan;Defense Technology Objectives of the JointWarfighting Science and Technology Plan and
Defense Technology Area Plan; and the basicResearch Plan. All of these documents can be foundon the internet at http://dtic.mil/dstp/. The planningprocess is linked on the operational side and thetechnical side at several levels within the services andbetween the services. Elements of tactical missileguidance and control can be found in all of the fivekey planning documents. For example, the first sixof the Defense Technology Objectives in Figure 1appear in the Weapons Section of the Defensetechnical Area Plan and remaining five in the JointWarfighters Science and Technology Plan (JWSTP).
The framework for operational planning at the toplevel is provided by the 12 Joint Warfightingcapability Objectives developed by the Joint Staffand reported in the Defense and TechnologyStrategy: Information Superiority; Precision Force;Combat Identification; Joint Theater Missile Defense;Military Operations in Urban Terrain; JointReadiness; Joint Countermine; Electronic Warfare;Information Warfare; Chemical/Biological AgentDetection; Real Time Logistics Control; Counterproliferation. Precision strike, a component ofPrecision Force has been a major S&T objective forseveral years and will continue in high priority in thefuture with added emphasis on closer integration ofsurveillance, telecommunication and precisionguidance and control and lethality technologies.
For FY 98 there are 10 technology areas in theDefense Technical Area Plan as shown in Figure 2,of which the tactical missiles guidance and controlprogram is a part. At the level of the MissileResearch, Development and Engineering Center, thefunding guidance received from the Department ofthe Army is only one component of the Centermission, so the task is to link the program planned inthe technology base for guidance and control to otherprogram elements such as basic research, theManufacturing Technology program, Advanced
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Development and Engineering in order to fulfill thelife cycle mission responsibility of the Center andrespond in part to the DOD investment priority ofAFFORD ABILITY.
The Defense Basic Research Plan identifies sixstrategic research objectives: Biometrics;nanoscience; smart structures; broad bandcommunications; intelligent systems; and compactpower sources. All six of these strategic researchobjectives are relevant to the mission of theResearch, Development, and Engineering Center intactical missile guidance and control technology.Figure 3 shows the linkage of these strategic researchobjectives to the five competency areas of the Centertactical missile guidance and control technology.
At the Center level, the tactical missile guidanceand control program is planned and executed in fivecompetency areas within the Center as shown inFigure 4. The competency area of modeling analysisand simulation is the System Simulation Directorate,the competency area of manufacturing processdevelopment is in the Systems Engineering andProduction Directorate, and the three remaining onesare in the Missile Guidance Directorate. These fivecompetency areas provide technical support to theDefense Technology Objectives shown in Figure 1that originate with the Missile Research,Development, and Engineering Center. Followingthe Spring "Murder Board" to formulate the futureprogram, specific, time-bounded objectives withresources assigned are developed within theframework of the five competency areas that includesboth in-house and out-of-house program objectives.Although this formulation process is concerned withthe Technology base, it is accomplished with theweapon life cycle in mind. Potential logisticsproblems with tactical guidance and controlequipment are identified early in the developmentcycle, and plans developed to maximize the return onthe logistic dollar. Affordability, which will bediscussed in greater detail later, is ensured by (1)making full use of simulation to reduce research anddevelopment cost and improve training andreadiness; (2) applying manufacturing processtechnology to reduce fabrication cost and cycle time;(3) selecting materials and components to ensuremaximum shelf life; and (4) utilizing moderndiagnostic techniques to monitor stress and fatigueduring storage or transport.
AFFORDABILITY
Affordability is one of four strategic investmentpriorities identified in the Defense Science andTechnology Strategy, and requires a definition thatencompasses the entire life cycle of a weapon system:(1) development of components and subsystem that willmaintain performance over an extended lifetime, (2)application of simulation in weapon development tochoose affordable options in concept selection, andsystem development and production, and (3)application of condition-based maintenance to replacerigid time-based maintenance. The Research,Development, and Engineering Center holds a strongposition on which to build for the future in simulationfor concept selection and system development.Simulation not only contributes to AFFORDABILITYthrough the improvements in training and readiness,but also through savings in the research anddevelopment process through the reduction in livemissile firings required to demonstrate feasibility. Acentral strategic goal therefore must be to integratethe advances in simulation to achieve the goals ofAFFORDABILITY for the future, including thecontinuation of efforts to upgrade the Center to performmultispectral seeker simulation, and incorporate newtools of modeling and analyses.
The Research, Development, and EngineeringCenter also holds a leading position in theDepartment of Defense for its pioneering work inmanufacturing science and technology for missileseekers and supporting technologies, and serves asthe lead-Army agency for the ARPA-fundedAdvanced Multimissile Manufacturing Program andthe Interferometric Fiber Optic Gyro Program. Moreextensive use of simulation will be made inmanufacturing process development to examine thetradeoffs between materials, processes andperformance without building prototypes in thefuture. Also, the Center will need to pursue a strongprogram in Integrated Product-Process Development(IPPD) to shorten the acquisition cycle and ensurethat the goals of AFFORDABILITY are met with aspecial emphasis on materials, photonics, componentand device technologies that will attract only limitedprivate investment for commercial applications.
Condition-based maintenance to support the goalof AFFORDABILITY is receiving special attention.The next generation of smart weapons will utilize
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complex electronic and photonic devices fabricatedin a variety of new materials with micrometer sizedimensions for which the Army has no data on shelflife stress and fatigue, and no consideration has beengiven to design-for-replacement. Also, the first stepsare just being taken on the problem of monitoring thedegradation in performance resulting form agingeffects during shelf life. The Center is currently aparticipant in a Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency Technology Reinvestment program (TRP)called Self-Monitoring Advanced RemoteTechnology System (SMARTS) that has theobjective of demonstration of dual-use remote healthmonitoring system. The civilian application is themonitoring of the structural integrity of bridges andthe military application is to assess the condition ofstored tactical missiles. This will be accomplished byone or more embedded sensors, and a mastercontroller with embedded cellular communications todemonstrate capability to determine field readiness ofthe missiles at a lower cost. The members of theTRP consortium are: Auburn University Northrop-Grumman Corp., Thomas Equipment, Inc., AnalogDevices, Inc., System Excelerator, Inc., Weld StarTechnology, Inc. The Product Assurance Directorateof the Center is linked to the consortium through abailment agreement.
To set the stage for future work in this area, theCenter is co-sponsoring a workshop on Life CycleSystems Engineering on 4-5 November at RedstoneArsenal to exchange information and plans with othergovernment agencies, academia and industry. TheCenter plans also to seek joint sponsorship with otherservices for an advanced program to investigate shelflife problems in such technologies as compositematerials, high density infrared focal plane arrays,millimeter and microwave monolithic integratedcircuit technologies (MIMIC), optoelectronics,integrated optics and others. The application ofmicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS)technology in the development of new specializedsensors for this application will be an essential part ofthe program.
MEETING FUTURE MILITARY MISSIONNEEDS IN THE NEW ENVIRONMENT:
The Army document FM-100-5, OPERATIONS.revised in 1993 in an effort to shed cold warthinking, provides the framework for matching themission capability of the Research, Development,and Engineering Center with the needed capabilities
of the Army for fighting and peacekeeping in theInformation Age:
• a focus on CONUS-based force projection;• joint and combined/multinational operations;• the need for simultaneous attack-close, deep,and rear;• the requirements for operations other than war;and• an increased need for versatility
Precision guided munitions, real-time surveillance,and battlefield communications, the three keytechnologies that provided the Desert Storm victorywill be needed in the future, but with differentemphasis and focus. First of all, the precision guidedmunitions capability will be integrated more closelyin the future into the Army effort to digitize the forceto provide nearly instantaneous linkage betweensurveillance and warfighting capability through aworld-wide telecommunications system. A CONUS-based force projection Army places more stringentrequirements on light weight structures, propulsion,and guidance and control systems to lighten the forcefor projection abroad. Lighter smart weapons will beneeded for simultaneous attack—close, deep, andrear, as well as early entry, and operations other thanwar may require these precision munitions carry non-lethal payloads for some operations. The prolifera-tion of first generation smart weapons and thedevelopment of countermeasures to these weaponsplaces great urgency on the need to makemultispectral missile seekers, to be discussed later,one of the center pieces in the Center's strategicplanning to maintain the United States on the cuttingedge of this technology.
The principal challenge in providing anoperational capability at the lower intensity endof the spectrum is minimizing casualties andcontrolling collateral damage. Reliable and preciseaided or automatic target recognition and surgicaltarget destruction is required in situations wherecombatants take refuge in settings in which non-combatants civilians are mingled. Clearly, precisionmissile guidance and control is essential in achievingthis military capability. This capability must also beprovided within a CONUS-based force projectionArmy that requires lightening what the Army carries.In response to this requirement, the Missile Research,Development and Engineering Center established athrust in precision guided small diameter weaponsthat features the comparative development of two
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guidance concepts utilizing the 2.75 Inch Rocket asthe vehicle for the research and development process.Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)technology is a key enabling technology forapplication in inertial sensing in both concepts withthe resultant reduction in size and cost for the guidedweapon. More will be said about MEMS later.
As shown in Figure 5 one concept features lasersemiactive guidance with a strapdown laser sensorin the nose of the missile, that receives scatteredradiation from a target illuminated by a laser. Incontrast, the second concept known as scatteridershown in Figure 6 has two sets of sensors that arearranged around the periphery of the missile todetermine the distance away from a laser beam bycomputing the differential time delay between thescattered laser energy received by the two sets ofsensors. As presently conceived, both guidanceconcepts will feature two angular rate sensors and aroll gyroscope. Both concepts will use canardcontrol, but the decision on whether or not to useroll decoupling of the guidance section from theremainder of the airframe is still under investigation.
Concepts such as these will be extrapolated intomore advanced systems to meet the operationalconcepts in the longer term that are presented inTRADOC Pamphlet 525-5 "A CONCEPT FORTHE EVOLUTION OF FULL-DIMENSIONALOPERATIONS FOR THE STRATEGIC ARMYOF THE EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY"that outlines the vision of future of joint militaryoperations. For the early decades of the twenty-firstcentury Force XXI will be characterized by fivecharacteristics: doctrinal flexibility, strategicmobility, tailorability and modularity, joint andmultinational connectivity, and the versatility tofunction in war and operations other than war.
BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEPRIVATE SECTOR
It is the policy of the Department of Defense todraw on the strength of the industrial base andacademic institutions in achieving national defensegoals. The Missile Research Development andEngineering Center utilizes several type businessagreements with the private sector, includingprocurement agreements, to support technical
objectives in tactical missile guidance and controltechnology. Full-fixed-price contracts are utilized toprovide functional engineering support to the
competency areas shown in Figure 4. The SmallBusiness Innovation Development Act of 1982provides the authority for making both Phase I(typically up to $100,000) and Phase II (typically upto $750,000) awards for projects that are keyed toone of the competency areas or thrust areas shown inFigure 4, that also have commercial developmentpotential. As an example of a non-procurementagreement, the Cooperative Research andDevelopment Agreement (CRDA) is a contractauthorized by the Technology Transfer Act of 1986,between a Federal laboratory and one or more non-Federal parties to conduct research and developmenton a specified subject with the principal purpose oftransferring technology from the federal laboratory tothe non-Federal parties. Currently, there is oneCRDA under development in the tactical missileguidance and control area. The Missile GuidanceDirectorate has also used the bailment agreementauthorized by Federal Acquisition Regulation 45.310to conduct cooperative research with academicinstitutions and corporations on data compression.
The cooperative effort on data compressionthrough the bailment agreement began with anannouncement with Commerce Business Daily thatthe Missile Research, Development, and EngineeringCenter was seeking sources of real-time datacompression to support a technology demonstrationprogram. Under the agreement, the Governmentfurnished infrared imagery with military targets inthe background. The private sector participantsapplied their compression algorithms to the data andreturned the decompressed data to the laboratory atRedstone Arsenal. The first two steps of a three-stepevaluation process has been completed as shown inFigure 7, and individual results provided toparticipants individually, with proprietary interestscarefully protected.
Technology developments in industry andacademia are also tracked through: requests forinformation, industry sector studies, technologymarket surveys, industry roadmap studies, detailedanalyses of the industry independent research anddevelopment (IR&D) programs and single themescience and technology conferences. A detailedanalysis of the industry IR&D programs in 1984showed a limited investment being made inmanufacturing process development. Since Armysubmunitions with cost a key factor was the majorpotential application, at the time the analysis wascompleted, plans were developed immediately thatled to a major Defense Department an effort called
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Microwave and Millimeter Monolithic IntegratedCircuit (MIMIC) program. Two or more majorscientific and technical meetings are conducted eachyear on topics related to tactical missile guidance andcontrol technology. These conferences or workshopsprovide a forum for Government, industry, andacademia to exchange information on defense needsadvances in science and technology in one of the fivecompetency areas shown in Figure 4. Titles of recentproceedings of the these meetings can be found at:http://library.redstone.army.mil.
Capitalizing on the top scientific talent inacademic institutions is accomplished throughseveral mechanisms. Each year the Center submitsrecommended study topics for the JASONS, adistinguished group approximately 55 professorsfrom over 20 universities that are devoted toscientific and technical research and analysis insupport of the national defense community. In1997 two topics submitted by the Missile GuidanceDirectorate were selected: INFRAREDPOLARIMETRY and INFRARED BACKGROUNDCLUTTER METRICS AND THE POTENTIALAPPLICATION OF FRACTALS. The ArmyResearch Office (ARO) also serves as a catalyst inlinking Army-sponsored research at the universitieswith research and technology development in theCenters through joint sponsorship of workshops.A recent example is the ARO-MRDEC Workshopon Microelectromechanical Systems held15 January 1997 at Redstone Arsenal. Theproceedings of the Workshop is available throughthe Redstone Scientific Information Center.Interaction through research contracts, includingthe Scientific Services Program that providesservices on a short term basis for studies onspecific topics is another method of obtaining thebenefits of academic research.
IDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPINGKEY TECHNOLOGIES FOR TACTICALMISSILE GUIDANCE AND CONTROL
IN THE NEW ENVIRONMENT
The end of the Cold War shifted the focus of ournational security interest from a single threat to aspectrum of threats, and Desert Storm marked afundamental change from industrial age warfare toinformation warfare that ironically is taking place ina period of downsizing of military forces and defensebudgets. As part of acquisition reform, defensepolicy now places stronger emphasis on the strengthof the commercial sector for defense. In addition,
many of the key enabling technologies needed forachieving missile guidance and control objectives aregeneric technologies that have broad applicability forboth defense and commercial applications, andtherefore appear in the budget of the DefenseResearch Projects Agency, not in the budgets of themilitary services. It is in this environment that theArmy must identify and develop the key technologythrusts for tactical missiles guidance and controlconcepts within the framework shown in Figure 8,that are supported by two or more key enablingtechnologies. A technology thrust provides for theintegration of several enabling technologies toachieve some operational objective, while the genericnature of the enabling technology allows theachievement of some larger technical objective fordifferent applications. In the following sections anoutline of three of these key technology thrusts arepresented along with the required enablingtechnologies; multispectral seekers, precisionguidance of small diameter weapons and automatictarget recognition.
MULTISPECTRAL SEEKERS: A multispectralseeker uses two or more sensors (and the associatedsignal processing) operating in different regions ofthe electromagnetic spectrum. The multi- spectralterminal homing seekers are needed to defeat thegrowing capability in countermeasures against singlespectrum seekers and to improve aimpoint accuracy.The multispectrum seeker brings together a complexarray of enabling technologies in signal processing,materials, electronics, millimeter, microwave,infrared and optics. Figure 9 shows the evolution ofmultispectrum seeker technology in Army programs.The technology of multispectral seekers is providedby the blending of technologies from the separatesingle mode seekers such as millimeter wave andinfrared seekers. The Infrared Focal Plane Array(IRFPA) Initiative and the Millimeter and MicrowaveMonolithic Integrated Circuit (MIMIC) program hadthe objective of making the component technology inthe millimeter and infrared region more broadly"available, affordable and applicable." The programsnot only achieved this objective for single modeseekers, but provided the foundation for multispectralseeker design. Figure 10 shows the first millimeterwave seeker that provided the first stimulus for theformulation of MIMIC program in 1976. Figure 11shows the evolution of infrared sensor technology formissile seekers applications that features two broadclasses of image formation: mechanical scanning,and staring focal plane arrays with hundreds ofthousands of detector elements. The DOD Infrared
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Focal Plane Array initiative was focused on makingthe latter category more affordable. Figure 12 showsthe trend in pixel elements for missile seekerapplications. The JAVELIN was the first missileseeker to utilize a staring sensor. In recognition ofthe need to draw on scientific and technical resourcesin all sectors of the economy for such a sizableundertaking as a technology thrust in multispectralseekers, the Research, Development, and EngineeringCenter issued a Request for Information ofMultispectral Seekers on 6 March 1995, for which 11responses were received by 15 April 1995. Aconference was conducted on multispectral missileseekers on 1-2 November 1995 to provide a follow-on forum for continuing the dialog with the industrialand academic sectors in recognition of the scope,complexity and cost of such a program that requiresthe Department of Defense to (a) develop interserviceand international partnerships; (b) leverage industryIR&D programs; (c) capitalize on availablecommercial technology where feasible; (d) exploitthe multimission capabilities and the concept ofhorizontal technology integration, and (e) be alert tothe potential of technology insertion opportunities.Cooperative Research and Development Agreements(CRDAs) and bailment agreements are twomechanisms through which Government and industrymay engage in cooperative research.
Although multispectral seeker concepts are morethan thirty years old, the transition of this technologyinto fielded systems has been limited for a number ofreasons. A seeker with two or more sensors indifferent regions of the electromagnetic spectrumrepresents a significant increase in cost over a seekerwith a single spectral sensor, and when one considersthat even a single spectral seeker represents 50percent or more of the cost of a terminal homingmissile, this poses a substantial barrier intransitioning multispectral seekers into Engineeringand Manufacturing Development. However, as notedthe large investments by the Department of Defensein such programs as the Infrared Focal Plane Array(IRFPA) Initiative and the Millimeter and MicrowaveMonolithic Circuit (MIMIC) program is lowering thecost barrier for multispectral seekers. A secondbarrier is the enormous difficulty in establishingcredible performance measures for multispectralseekers under a wide variety of target andbackground conditions that account for diurnal andseasonal variations. However, the progress inmodeling, analysis, simulation, and algorithmdevelopment by the Advanced Simulation Center isnow allowing the establishment of more credible
measures of military utility under a wide variety ofoperational conditions.
Current efforts in the Center are devoted toexploring several multispectral seeker concepts suchas laser-infrared, multispectral infrared andmillimeter-infrared seekers for system upgrades aswell as new weapons concepts. Four methods of datafusion have been investigated that require each imagesource to be pixel registered in space and time andphase locked. This is a continuing area of research.
PRECISION GUIDANCE OF SMALL DIAMETERMISSILES: MEMS is an essential technology inachieving the thrust in precision guidance of bothsmall diameter weapons concepts cited earlier, butthe technology has even broader applicability in theCenter mission that will be discussed later. Forfuture concepts with missile diameters smaller than2.75 inches, the strapdown laser seeker will becomeaperture-limited, so guidance concepts such asbeamrider, scatterider or command and other non-seeker options will have to be exploited. For thesesmaller diameter missiles, the variety of MEMSsensors will allow a variety of methods ofimplementing the precision guidance that will beinvestigated under dynamic flight conditions in thehardware-software integration facility. MEMStechnology takes the process technology forfabricating microelectronics circuits as the pointof departure, and by adding adaptations in theprocesses, and provides the means for fabricatingmechanical functions in the same basic structure asthe electronic circuits. Two basic adaptations in theprocess technology are anisotropic etching andselective doping of layers in the material to controlthe rate of etching in selected directions to allow thefabrication of beams, diaphragms, valves, andactuators, thus making available a wide range ofminiature devices that incorporate sensing,computing and actuation functions in the samestructure on the analogous cost trend curve asmicroelectronics. The fact that silicon also hasdesirable mechanical properties as well as electronicmakes this a technology with high potential, since itcan build on a significant U.S. industrial base. Figure13 illustrates how MEMS builds on microelectronicsfabrication processes. Figure 14 shows the costtrends in inertial guidance systems leading to MEMS.
A review of MEMS resources available on theworld wide web gives a clue as to the vigor of thisemerging technology. Universities, small businesses,and large corporations are active in the field. The
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extrapolation of microelectronics fabrication processtechnology to allow the merging of computation,sensing, and actuation provides a powerful paradigmfor inventive activity for both military andcommercial applications that is reflected in thegrowth of patent activity.
AUTOMATIC TARGET RECOGNITION(ATR); Serious research in ATR began in theMissile Research, Development, Engineering andMissile Systems Laboratory in 1972 with theestablishment of a work area in the technology baseon Autonomous Acquisition under the new LeadLaboratory Charter for Guidance and Control andTerminal Homing that had just been assigned toRedstone Arsenal. The research (reference 12)focused on the development of digital computeralgorithms for detecting and finding the boundariesof blobs in noisy infrared images. This researchled to the development of four processes thatoperated on the entire image: (1) the intensitynormalizer, (2) the dc notch filter, (3) the edgedetector, (4) the spoke filter, and three processesthat operated on the specific blobs detected in theimage: (a) the gradient guided segmenter, (b) thefeature extractor, and (c) the object classifier.Two of these processes, the spoke filter and thegradient guided segmenter, represented majorinnovations at the time that were developed incollaboration with Dr. Jack Sklansky of UCLA.Thermal imaging was still in an immature state ofdevelopment when this research was beingconducted, so the quality of the image data base onwhich the research was based was limited. Thepotential of the technology for use in the Viet Namwar had been recognized, with the consequence thatimaging systems based on mechanically scanningdetectors over the scene were custom developed andmaintained. In 1974 the common module infrareddetector concept was introduced, and serious work onstaring infrared focal plane arrays was under way atthe same time following the invention of the chargecoupled device in 1970.
Another major innovation in ATR was theintroduction of the synthetic discrimant function(SDF) in 1979-80 (Reference 13), invented atRedstone Arsenal. This concept is based on the ideathat by using a linear combination of referenceimages to create a composite image and then cross-correlating the input images with this one SDF filter.The synthetic discriminant function was formed byselecting the weights for the linear combination sothat the correlation output at the origin was the same
for all images in the class. In the early 1980's workon the statistical approach to target recognition citedin the previous paragraph was phased out, andresearch on the synthetic discriminant functionreceived increasing emphasis. One of the problemswith the original synthetic discriminant function wasthat higher values in other parts of the correlationplane could occur since only the origin wasconstrained. (Reference 14/15). Research since theearly papers were published has focused onexpanding the theoretical foundation including thegeneralized synthetic discriminant function, andinvestigation of the role constraints to achieve givenoperational criteria such as improved computationalefficiency, reduction of side lobes in the frequencyplane, or reduction of the sensitivity of the crosscorrelation process to noise. This research has led toa number of variations in the concept, including theminimum variance SDF, the minimum averagecorrelation energy SDF and others. This area hasreached a high level of development over the pastquarter of a century as a result of creative work byresearchers in Government, industry and academia.A recent data base query (1997) shows the syntheticdiscriminant function is the subject of research inChina, Scotland, France, Russia, Japan, and theUnited States, which suggests that it is now aprincipal paradigm for automatic target recognition,although not fully recognized as such in somequarters of the United States. In summary, thesynthetic discriminant function meets the test ofOccam's Razor for the specialized applicationsrequiring the set of enabling technologies shownin Figure 8.
In 1995 the Deputy Director for DefenseResearch and Engineering convened atri-service panel to develop a DOD PLAN FORCONVENTIONAL PRECISION GUIDEDMUNITIONS AUTOMATIC TARGETRECOGNITION (ATR) with the chairman fromthe Missile Research, Development and EngineeringCenter. The Conference on Conventional WeaponsATR held at Redstone Arsenal on 13-15 November1996 not only provided a forum for the presentationof the draft plan to the defense community, but anopportunity to review progress in ATR research inplatforms as well as conventional weapons. One ofthe key findings of the panel reported at theconference was that only 7% of the total DODinvestment in ATR is allocated for weapons. A DODIntegrated Process Team was formed to formulate abetter integrated overall plan for ATR. Proceedingsof the conference cited can be obtained from the
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Redstone Scientific Information Center or theDefense Technical Information Center.
At the Missile Research, Development, andEngineering Center, the establishment of theTactical Missile Automatic Target RecognitionIntegrated Product Team, with participatingmembers from the Program Executive Office forTactical Missiles and the Missile Research,Development, and Engineering Center, providesthe framework for technology transfer of ATRtechnology into Army missile systems. Parallelhardware-in-the-loop simulation and fielddemonstrations at Redstone Arsenal and EglinAir Force Base are part of an overall plan todemonstrate ATR functionality in: (1) lock-on-after-launch and true fire and forget, (2) targetreacquisition, (3) friendly avoidance, (4) optimalaimpoint selection, (5) target cueing systems witha data link, (6) post processing of flight data, and(7) precision strike of tactical and high value movingand fixed targets. On the more fundamental level,research will continue the investigation of non-linearclassifiers, and the advantages of neural networks toATR. The Missile Research, Development, andEngineering Center will always maintain anawareness of progress in other ATR paradigms,an openness to new ideas, and an alertness toopportunities for partnerships in research with otherDOD laboratories and centers as well as industry andacademia.
FIBER OPTICS FOR MISSILE APPLICA-TIONS: Although not a formal technology thrustarea shown on Figure 4, the Missile Research,Development, and Engineering Center hasestablished a broad-based capability in fiber opticsfor missile applications that supports two defensetechnology objectives shown on Figure 1. Opticalfibers can be employed in three key roles in missilesas the two way communication link between theground station and airborne platform, as the inertialsensor elements in fiber optics sensors, and as sensorsin smart structures. The breakthrough in achievinglow loss optical fibers in industry in the early 1970sled to early experiments at the Missile Research,Development and Engineering Center to demonstratethe transmission of images from a missile to a groundoperator through an optical fiber for targetacquisition, and the transmission of steering signalsfrom the ground station to the missile through theoptical fiber. Although the Army has been pursuingfiber optics for missile guidance for over two decadesthere is a growing sensitivity to the fact that the
United States has been an aggressive developer of thetechnology, but France, Germany, and Italy appear tobe moving on a steadier course to exploit thetechnology in military systems according to someobservers. According to the U.S. GeneralAccounting Office, the Army has "experienced greatdifficulty in maintaining a stable requirement for theEnhanced Fiber Optic Guided Missile's (EFOGM)predecessors" that has cost more than 440 million:the Fiber Optic guided Missile (FOG-M), the Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) Missile, and the NLOS-Combined Arms Missile. The Army now appears tobe moving through a stable process toward theacquisition of the 15 kilometer EFOGM antitanksystem for its rapid deployment forces. In spite ofthe fits and starts in movement toward militarysystem acquisition since the 1980s, the outlook fortechnology transition into dual-use applications couldnot be brighter.
Although the five generations of optical fibertechnology that have evolved over the past twodecades have provided a profusion of capability inbandwidth and range, major challenges remain inadapting the technology for specific applications.Fiber optics missile guidance for air-to-ground, longrange indirect fire, and nonportable systems haveunique sets of problems in bobbin design, fiberdesign, fiber winding, and payout to meet specificmilitary requirements with extended shelf life amajor challenge. Advances in fiber characterizationbecomes increasingly important as efforts areundertaken to explore the utility of smaller diameterfiber. In addition to the application as a two-wayguidance link between the missile and ground or aircontrol station, optical fiber can provide as a mediumof communication: (1) remote operations ofsurveillance and fire control sensors to reduce gunnervulnerability, (2) communication between groundcomponents of missile systems, (3) opticaldistribution of local oscillator signal in radars, and(4) fiber optics sensors other than gyros. The trade-off between fiber length and data rate for thesecommunication applications is shown in Figure 17,and fiber optics system performance is shown inFigure 18.
The focus of the research in fiber optics gyros hasbeen to miniaturize the fiber optics gyros andassociated components while maintainingperformance. The tasks have included: investigationof the effects of birefringence induced by a smallbend radius; the development of electro-opticalpolymer devices for fiber optic gyros; reduction of
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the gyro sensitivity to temperature effects and noiseeffects. The level of maturity reached is such that itcan be applied for navigation, guidance and controlof aircraft, the Missile Research, Development, andEngineering Center participates with the DefenseAdvance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) andthe U.S. Air Force are presently conducting advancedresearch development and manufacturing technologyprograms to reduce the cost of critical FOGcomponents via the development of enhancedmanufacturing processes and techniques that willultimately enhance the U.S. navigation industrialbase. The fiber pigtailing problem is a major costdriver for the FOG.
The Workshop on Fiber Optics for MissileApplications held 7-8 May 1996 at Redstone Arsenalprovides a snapshot of progress in this field including(1) system design and applications, (2) optical fibersin smart structures, (4) fiber optics gyros and sensors,and (5) manufacturing process development. Theproceedings of this workshop is available from theRedstone Scientific Information Center.
REFERENCES
1. The FY 97 Defense Science and TechnologyStrategy.
2. The FY 97 Defense technical Area Plan.
3. The FY 97 Joint Warfighting Science andTechnology Plan.
4. The FY 97 Defense Technology Objectives of theJoint Warfighting Science and Technology Plan andthe Technical Area Plan.
5. The FY 97 Basic Research Plan.
6. Army Field Manual FM-100-5, OPERATIONS,1993.
7. TRAINING AND DOCTRINE COMMAND(TRADOC) Pamphlet 525-5, "A Concept for theStrategic Army of the Early Twenty-First Century."
8. Proceedings of the Conference on MultispectralSeekers held 1-2 November 1995 at RedstoneArsenal, Alabama, Special Report RD-MG-96-7,January 1996.
9. Proceedings of Third Workshop on ConventionalWeapons ATR held 13-15 November 1996 atRedstone Arsenal, Alabama, Special Report RD-MG-97-1, May 1997.
10. Proceedings of Workshop on Fiber Optics forMissile Applications held 7-8 May 1996 at RedstoneArsenal, Alabama, Special Report MG-96-13, June1996.
11. Proceedings of Workshop on Millimeter WavePower Generation and Beam Control held 14-15-16September 1993 at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama,Special Report RD-AS-94-4.
12. "Lewis G. Minor and Jack Sklansky, "TheDetection and Segmentation of Blobs in InfraredImages" IEEE Trans on Systems, Man andCybernetics, Volume SMC, No. 3, March 1981
13. Charles F. Hester, David-Cassasent, Multivarianttechnique for multiclass pattern recognition, AppliedOptics, Volume 19, No. 11, 1 June 1980
PACKAGING; PROCESSOR DEVELOPMENT;RAPID TARGET INSERTION;REAL TIME TARGETING;ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT;METRICS STANARDIZATION;COMPRESSION-DECOMPRESSIONMETHHODS OF THE DIGITIZEDBATTLEFIELD; EXPLOITATIONOF LADAR TECHNOLOGY FOR ATR
- DOD-DOE MUNITIONS PROGRAM- COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS- BAILMENT AGREEMENTS- SELF-MONITORING ADVANCED REMOTE TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS (SMARTS)
