Evolution path of MWS technologies : RF, IR and UV

In recent years some major technological developments in the fields of electro-optics and computer H/W took place, which call for reconsideration of the development paths for missile warning systems (MWS). In this work, we provide a review of the technological developments, and then suggest a framework for the following issues: (a) Prioritization of requirements for MWS, (b) Selection of best candidate technologies for next-generation MWS, (c) Establishing a generic parameter sensitivity model for MWS performance, with which we could quantify the effects of different design choices on system-level performance. Our work shows that (a) Infrared optical H/W remains the leading technology for MWS applications, (b) 3rd generation infrared imaging H/W will make a significant impact on MWS performance, compared with 2nd generation based IR-MWS system's performance. (c) Dual band infrared sensor FPAs - now under development will further improve performance, yet - the improvement will be offset by the lack of some of the more important features of the 3rd generation imagers - very high resolution and frame rate (d) A combination of 3rd generation and dual band IR imaging- when it becomes available - will provide yet another significant improvement.