Award Data

Under this STTR Imaging Systems Technology (IST) will apply novel Plasma-shell technology and expertise with gas plasma systems to shield and protect BMDS Radar. Plasma-shells are tiny hollow gas encapsulating shells. When energy is applied across the shell, the gas inside ionizes into a plasma. Theory of plasma-electromagnetic (EM) field interaction shows that, under appropriate conditions, pl ...

To reduce the cost of new hardware development, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is developing fast new computational tools that enable in-the-loop hardware testing. The MDA and contractors have developed high-fidelity scene modeling tools such as the Fast Line-of-sight Imagery for Target and Exhaust-plume Signatures (FLITES) to test optical signature trackers. Currently, these high-speed tools ar ...

Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) has been described as one of the most technologically significant semiconductor materials and is the most widely used material for long wave infrared (LWIR) imaging. The current challenge is to produce MCT over large focal plane array size at low cost and high reliability without compromising sensitivity or noise performance. MCT on silicon substrates is highly attr ...

An innovative, super-miniature, fast-switching array-based photonic time delay device is being developed for the active electronically scanned-array (AESA) MDA and Navy radars. The design is based on the fast electro-optic effect, the super miniature fiber-lens collimation array, and the existing WDM photonic true time delay technologies. In Phase I Agiltron has successfully demonstrated the core ...

It is proposed to develop, model, and demonstrate composite case materials with sympathetic responses to slow cookoff. In phase II, the proposed study will focus upon conducting subscale SCO testing on composite case materials and validate a physics based modeling and simulation tool. Subscale motor case dimensions will be analogue to a specific MDA rocket booster.

We are proposing an innovative approach to sensor fusion and target recognition based on transductive inference with support vector machines. Our proposed algorithm will apply innovative discrimination to the fusion of sensor (feature) and contextual scenario information through the development of robust algorithms and software necessary to collect, process, and fuse information from multiple sour ...

Spectra Research has teamed with Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) to employ an innovative technique that uses advanced radiator materials and methodologies, such as fragmented aperture arrays, to develop an integrated antenna array that functions as a radar antenna. Many of the design issues and tradeoffs related to phased array radars are driven by the intrinsic generation of a single trans ...

The U.S. military envisions a range of cryocooler systems that can enable specific operational requirements. For missile defense applications, Triton is targeting cooling of infrared focal plane arrays (FPA) in optics which address surveillance, missile threat warning systems and missile seeker systems in general. Triton Systems Inc proposes to develop thermal management solutions for space elec ...

During the Phase I program, UES successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of a novel concept ("Top-Down Process") to produce TaC-based composites with high mechanical strength and exceptional toughness (~12 MPa m1/2). We believe such accomplishments will allow for the near term realization of a new generation ceramic rocket nozzle that is compatible with the IHPRPT Phase III-type propell ...

High-fidelity missile plume flowfield simulations of MDA interest require use of detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms, which significantly improve IR/UV/RCS/visible signature prediction but entail long solution runtimes for completion. These long runtimes result from the required iterative solution of large systems of stiff, non-linear chemical source terms at each CFD mesh point; this curtails t ...