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A NOVEL PASSIVE SENSOR FOR APPLICATION TO LOW OBSERVABLE TARGETS

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 		Award ID:
13413 		Program Year/Program:
1990 / SBIR
Agency Tracking Number:
13413 		Solicitation Year:
N/A 		Solicitation Topic Code:
N/A 		Solicitation Number:
N/A
Small Business Information
Ophir Corp
10184 West Belleview Avenue, Suite 200 Littleton, CO 80127-1762
View profile »
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 1
Fiscal Year: 1990
Title: A NOVEL PASSIVE SENSOR FOR APPLICATION TO LOW OBSERVABLE TARGETS
Agency / Branch: DOD / DARPA
Contract: N/A
Award Amount: $49,970.00
 

Abstract:

WE PROPOSE A UNIQUE METHOD TO DETECT BOTH CONVENTIONAL AND LOW-OBSERVABLE AIRCRAFT AND MISSILES. THE METHOD RELIES ON NONE OF THE TYPICALLY USED SIGNATURES (I.E., THERMAL, RADAR, ELECTRONIC, VISUAL, AUDIO, OR CONTRAIL) AND THUS WOULD BE IMMUNE TO ALL THE PRESENTLY EXISTING DECOYS AND COUNTERMEASURES. THE SENSOR SPECIFICALLY DETECTS AND MEASURES THE RELATIVE CONCENTRATION AND CHEMICAL SIGNATURE OF FUEL COMBUSTION PRODUCTS. SINCE ALL TARGETS WHICH RELY ON ENGINES FOR PROPULSION MUST COMBUST FUEL, THIS SENSOR CANNOT BE EASILY DECOYED AND WOULD BE VERY EFFECTIVE AGAINST LOW-OBSERVABLE TARGETS. THE SENSOR IS PASSIVE AND THUS NOT ITSELF OBSERVABLE OR DIRECTLY JAMMABLE DURING ITS DETECTING/TARGETING OPERATION. IT COULD BE ADAPTED TO FUNCTION AS A SIMPLE TARGET GUIDANCE SENSOR, OR INCORPORATED INTO SCANNING SYSTEMS TO SUPPLEMENT ACTIVE RADAR FOR THE DETECTION OF LOW-OBSERVABLE TARGETS. THE SENSOR COULD BE USED IN AIRBORNE, GROUND AND SPACEBORNE APPLICATIONS. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE SENSOR HAS TWO MAJOR ANTICIPATED BENEFITS. FIRST, IT CAN BE USED AS A PASSIVE DECOY-RESISTANT SENSOR FOR MISSILE GUIDANCE, REPLACING THE PRESENT COMMON HEAT-SEEKING TECHNOLOGY. SECONDLY, IF INCORPORATED INTO AN IMAGING SYSTEM, IT HAS POTENTIAL TO AUGMENT OTHER SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS, ENABLING THE DETECTION AND TRACKING OF LOW-OBSERVABLE AIRCRAFT AND MISSILES IN CLUTTERED ENVIRONMENTS. KEY WORDS - AIRCRAFT/MISSILE DETECTION, LOW-OBSERVABLE TARGET, DETECTION/COUNTERMEASURES.

Principal Investigator:

Dr Loren Nelson
3039861512

Business Contact:

Small Business Information at Submission:

Ophir Corp
3190 S Wadsworth Blvd - Ste 10 Lakewood, CO 80227

EIN/Tax ID:
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No