ABSTRACT
This chapter gives an overview of infrared techniques used in military applications. Particular attention is devoted to IR sensor technology and its impact on defense systems, and imaging IR targeting systems and the design of automatic target recognition (ATR) algorithms. Infrared sensing and imaging arrays have evolved through two generations of technology. Research in infrared FPAs is focused in two main directions: monolithic and hybrid. All branches of the US military are actively supporting research programs into second-generation infrared FPAs. Infrared imagery systems are used extensively in aircraft navigation and targeting systems. The earliest deployed infrared targeting systems used non-imaging sensors mounted on heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles. Most ATR algorithms can be decomposed into a chain of computation steps, consisting of preprocessing, detection (or queuing), segmentation, feature extraction, classification, prioritization, and tracking. Future improvements in IR sensor technology are to be expected as focal plane arrays grow in reduction and sensitivity.
