The proposed program will explore what is required to develop an avionics design tool that can be used in conjunction with air vehicle design tools to permit rapid and timely analysis of avionics, especially sensor avionics, impacts on air vehicle designs and the impact of air vehicle designs on… More

Integration/evaluation facilities such as the Integrated Defensive Avionics Laboratory (IDAL), ECIT/IFAST (Edwards AFB, AFEWES, REDCAP and PRIMES must support the development of EC systems on a real-time/non-intrusive basis. The complexity of today's EW systems require non-intrusive instrumentation… More

The objective of this effort is to define key technical requirements/issues, develop a preliminary design, provide an implementation approach and perform a feasibility/cost/fidelity trade-off analysis of an Electronic Combat Engagement Visualization System capable of supporting real time… More

The objective of this effort is to define key technical requirements, identify enabling technologies, conduct technology experiments, develop a system specification, provide an implementation approach, and develop a demonstration plan for a Collaborative Engineering Real Time Database Correlation… More

The objective of this effort is to define key technical requirements, identify enabling technologies, conduct technology experiments, develop a system specification, provide an implementation approach, and develop a demonstration plan for a Collaborative Engineering Real Time Database Correlation… More

The objective of this effort is to develop a low cost infrared countermeasures sytem to protect commercial aircraft from shoulder launched, infrared guided missiles. DRA proposes to harness leading edge technologies to detect, track and counter these lethal threats. The proposed concept… More

Advanced sensor and electronic warfare technologies are being applied to both airborne (manned and Unmanned Air vehicles (UAV)) and space assets. Current research and development methodologies that evolve these technologies are time-consuming and requireextensive/costly testing on open air ranges. … More

Current methodologies that evolve/mature advance onboard/offboard sensor/electronic warfare technologies are time-consuming and require extensive open-air range testing. Laboratory simulation facilities are less expensive, more controllable/flexible andprovide the most cost-effective environment for… More

Man/hardware-in-the-loop laboratory simulation is the most cost-effective methodology for maturing advanced sensor technologies because the battlefield can be brought to the laboratory through multi-spectral synthetic battlespace simulation. Currentlaboratory simulation technologies cannot generate… More

Man/hardware-in-the-loop laboratory simulation is the most cost-effective methodology for maturing advanced sensor technologies because the battlefield can be brought to the laboratory through multi-spectral synthetic battlespace simulation. Currentlaboratory simulation technologies cannot generate… More

"Man/hardware-in-the-loop laboratory simulation is the most cost-effective methodology for maturing advanced receiver/processor technologies because the battlefield can be brought to the laboratory through multi-spectral synthetic battlespace simulation.Current laboratory RF emission simulators… More

Requirements to detect surface-to-air missiles at maximum launch ranges, interface with flares and directed countermeasures, cover a large field-of-view (FOV), and operate in high clutter drive missile warning system (MWS) developments. Long-rangedetection requires high sensitivity; interfacing with… More

Man/hardware-in-the-loop laboratory simulation is the most cost-effective methodology for maturing advanced receiver/processor technologies because the battlefield can be brought to the laboratory through multi-spectral synthetic battlespace simulation.Current laboratory RF emission simulators… More

The ADDIOS program addresses a fundamental limitation imposed on all imaging sensor systems: performance requirements demand higher sensor resolution, but processor capabilities demand lower sensor resolution. Historically, design tradeoffs are madebetween resolution, frame rate and processing to… More

Man/hardware-in-the-loop laboratory simulation is a cost-effective method for developing and maturing advanced IR/EO missile warning systems (MWS) because the MWS can be immersed into a realistic, multi-spectral, synthetic battlespace simulation.Laboratory simulation technologies for testing IR/EO… More

U.S. military aircraft are still vulnerable to man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) due to MANPADS effectiveness, low cost, availability, small size, and ease of use and due to the lack of operationally effective Electro-optical/ Infrared (EO/IR)detection systems that are capable of supporting… More

The ability to countermeasure man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) missiles is one of the most pressing problems that military and commercial aircraft face today. Currently available countermeasure systems are costly, complex and not operationally acceptable. Current MWS equipment cannot… More

The ADDIOS solicitation addresses a fundamental limitation imposed by physics on all imaging sensor systems: performance requirements demand higher sensor resolution, but processor capabilities demand lower sensor resolution. The pixels of a low-resolution sensor cover areas that are much larger… More

The development of IR/EO missile warning system (MWS) and visible detection system (VDS) technologies/systems is expensive and time-consuming because of the heavy reliance on open air range testing. Man/hardware-in-the-loop laboratory simulation can immerse these technologies/systems in a… More

The quality and quantity of information directly available to command authorities is becoming an increasingly dominant factor in modern force projection. The increasing demand for information in the form of digital imagery and real time video has exposed the severe bandwidth limitations of current… More

Current application research demonstration methodologies utilize open-air range testing to conduct advanced technology demonstrations. This approach is time-consuming and requires extensive/costly flight testing. Open-air ranges cannot generate the dense threat environments that would be… More

The Improved Missile Launch Detection program addresses the lack of an affordable missile launch detection (MLD) that can detect missiles at their maximum launch ranges in high clutter with a high probability of declaration and a low false alarm rate. Defense Research Associates (DRA) has developed… More

Existing collision avoidance systems for manned aircraft are based on exchanging data between aircraft equipped with transponders. These have been adopted for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). Traffic alert data is conveyed from the onboard equipment to a Ground Control (GCS) Interface computer, which… More

The F-22 Raptor aircraft has been re-designated as the F/A-22 to reflect its expanded ground attack mission. This critical mission is supported by a targeting system with an image database. The F/A-22 is arguably the most sophisticated weapon system in the world. Its ground attack capability is… More

Extracting missiles from the highly structured cloud/solar background is essential to early missile detection. DRA will develop a system which uses several discrimination techniques to discern the threat from the background. DRA's system is an extension of technology developed to detect tactical… More

The ability to counter theater ballistic missiles requires early detection, tracking, and warning of their launch and trajectory. Today's ballistic missile warning systems are limited in their ability to detect ballistic launches early in the flight. Current systems operate in bands where the… More

The quality and quantity of information directly available to command authorities is becoming a dominant factor in modern force projection. The demand for information in the form of digital imagery and real time video has exposed the severe bandwidth limitations of current data link resources. … More

The IMLD program addresses the lack of an affordable missile launch detection system. The IMLD will provide the host aircraft with protection against the MANPADS threat by providing missile detection with high probabilities of declaration and a low false alarm rate. The IMLD technology is based on… More

The F-22 Data Compression program addresses the problem of the insufficient imagery storage capacity of the F-22. This impacts the ability of the aircraft to deploy munitions or transfer imagery for tactical planning. The imagery capacity of the targeting system is significantly smaller than the… More

The MMCAS program leverages off of extensive Government investment in research to provide autonomous UAV operations in the NAS. The focus of the program is to develop a prototype situation awareness system (MMCAS) for installation on UAVs that integrates the situation awareness information provided… More

Current/next generation aircraft will utilize capabilities-based system of systems (SoS) concepts to enhance combat operations. SoS concepts involve seamless connectivity of external (to a combat aircraft) Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance… More

Video sensors play an increasingly important role in surveillance and reconnaissance missions, including tactical, strategic and domestic border security. One recent example involved video from a Predator Skyball being sent via data link to an AC-130 Gunship crew for real time targeting use. The… More

Current/next generation aircraft will utilize capabilities-based system of systems (SoS) concepts to enhance combat operations. SoS concepts involve the seamless connectivity of external (to a combat aircraft) Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and… More

The AC-130 Gunship is extremely vulnerable to MANPAD attacks/other enemy ground fire when operationally employed. A solution is needed to reduce aircraft/aircrew risk while maintaining operational effectiveness. Through AFRL/SN initiatives, DRA has developed/demonstrated a Passive Ground Moving… More

Network-Centric Warfare (N-CW) concepts involve connectivity of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) assets through multiple interfaces and environments to enhance combat operations. N-CW concepts are applied to the Airborne Electronic… More

A major challenge in developing an operationally useful optics based MWS is maintaining a high probability of detection in high clutter with a minimum number of false alarms. A method to remove false alarms caused by the sun is to use two-color discrimination techniques as well as using visible… More

Base and airfields in forward-operating areas are continually threatened by small enemy forces using portable weapons. It is desire to develop a small UAV to assist military personnel in base and airfield patrol and protection. Current small UAVs are limited in their military effectiveness due to… More

The System-of-Systems (SoS) environment is composed of multiple platforms possessing both receiver and transmitter resources. To use these resources to effectively combat the evolving complexity of the threat environment, resource management techniques must evolve to apply the best combination of… More

Man/hardware-in-the-loop laboratory simulation is the most cost-effective methodology for evolving/maturing advanced receiver geolocation technologies because the battlefield can be brought to the laboratory through multi-spectral synthetic battlespace simulation. Current laboratory laboratory RF… More

An EO/IR sensor with the angular accuracy and dynamic response capabilities to point a RF jammer does not exist. To perform a pointing function, the EO/IR sensor system must be capable of tracking relatively small objects at the stand-off distances that Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)… More

False alarms are the primary technical issue with nearly every passive target detection system ever developed, including missile warning systems. This problem prevents these systems from being used to their full potential. The three conventional classes of discrimination algorithms, spatial,… More

Man/hardware-in-the-loop laboratory simulation is the most cost-effective methodology for evolving/maturing advanced single/multi-ship geolocation technologies because the battlefield can be brought to the laboratory through multi-spectral synthetic battlespace simulation. Current laboratory… More

In today's Urban-Warfare C2ISR environment, all UAS platforms have an operationally-limited sensor capability with power consumption and recharge times that are a major problem making them unsuitable for many battlefield environments. Much of the research done to date has concentrated on minimizing… More

A major challenge in developing an operationally useful optics based MWS is maintaining a high probability of detection in high clutter with a minimum number of false alarms. A method to remove false alarms caused by the sun is to use two-color discrimination techniques as well as using visible… More

Long-range semi-active Surface to Air Missiles (SAM), Air-to-Air Missiles (AAM), and Air-to-Air Anti-Radiation Missiles (AA-ARM) represent a threat to US aircraft. These missile guidance systems employ monopulse antennas and receivers which are less vulnerable to conventional Electronic Attack (EA)… More

A major challenge in developing a MWS is maintaining a high probability of detection in high clutter environments with a minimum number of false alarms. Three main methods used to detect missiles are spectral filtering, spatial processing, and temporal discrimination. Each of these methods helps… More

Man/hardware-in-the-loop laboratory simulation is the most cost-effective methodology for evolving/maturing advanced Advanced Situation Awareness (ASA) and Electronic Protection (EP) technologies for large aircraft because the battlefield can be brought to the laboratory through multi-spectral… More

The large aircraft mission is particularly susceptible to old, upgraded, and new RF threats, especially RF-guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). These aircraft operate in hostile environments where there is a clear need to implement innovative stand-off and standin ECM techniques to increase… More

Without the capability to sense and avoid other air traffic, UAS flights are limited to flight operations within restricted and warning areas unless the proponent obtains a Certificate of Authorization (COA) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). FAA Order 7610.4 states that remotely… More

In today's Urban-Warfare Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C2ISR) environment, current sensor platforms have a limited operational capability due to power consumption and recharge times. Many times these sensor packages are found to be unsuitable for many… More

ABSTRACT: Without the capability to sense and avoid other air traffic, UAS flights are limited to flight operations within restricted and warning areas unless the proponent obtains a Certificate of Authorization (COA) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). FAA Order 7610.4 states that… More