THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I EFFORT IS TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING AN ON-BOARD FLOW-FIELD PASSIVE RANGING SYSTEM FOR USE IN TACTICAL MISSILE GUIDANCE.

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I EFFORT IS TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING AN ON-BOARD FLOW-FIELD PASSIVE RANGING SYSTEM FOR USE IN TACTICAL MISSILE GUIDANCE. THE BASIC TECHNIQUE PROPOSED FOR STUDY USES THE FLOW-FIELD INFORMATION IMPLICIT IN ALL PASSIVELY-IMAGED DYNAMIC SCENES, TO DEVELOP EVOLVING AND AUTONOMOUS ESTIMATES OF MISSILE IMPACT TIMES TO ALL TERRAIN POINTS IN THE SEEKER FIELD-OF-VIEW. COMBINED WITH A MISSILE SPEED ESTIMATE, THESE IMPACT THESE IMPACT TIMES DETERMINE A MISSILE-RELATIVE RANGE "DEPTH MAP" TO ALL VIEWED TERRAIN POINTS. WE PROPOSED TO EVALATE THE TECHNIQUE'S FEAIBILITY OVER THREE TASKS. WE WILL: 1) DEFINE A PRELIMINARY ON-BOARD SYSTEM INCORPORATING THE TECHNIQUE AND IDENTIFY BASIC FEASIBILITY ISSUES; 2) DEVELOP AND EXERCISE A PERFORMANCE MODEL TO ASSESS EXPECTED RANGING ACCURACY; AND 3) DEFINE COMPONENT FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR FOLLOW-ON DEVELOPMENT. A FINAL REPORT WILL INCLUDE A SUMMMARY OF THE PROGRAM'S OBJECTIVES AND ACHIEVEMENTS, AND A SET OF OVERALL SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS TO SUPPORT FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.