Missile Guidance Systems

[Silver Fox]

LIDAR systems are just reaching some operational capacity. IIRC, the ABL-1 anti-ballistic missile system has a LIDAR as a major part of it's targetting system.

Considering some of the work being done by the Earth Sciences folks... a gravitic sensor may not be too far fetched. Current gravity sensors are getting more precise and smaller, if the trend continues then a threshold of practicality will soon be passed.

Magnetic sensors also off some interesting possibilities when coupled with UAVs. Imagine a UAV with a MAD sensor... it hunts targets under cover. Once it detects an anomaly it circles back to define the area and then drops mines or smart submunitions across the target. Such a UAV might also be able to alert other nearby UAVs if the target parameters suggest help servicing this target is needed.   

[elmayerle]

Remote Guidance might be handy, but that would require, obviously, a two man plane - certainly an odd combination of UAV and Kamikaze, and it might well give new meaning to the term Weapons Systems Operator.  Unfortunately prone to human error, of course.

True, although it could be modified to smart-with-man-in-loop guidance, whereby the missile tries it's level best to identify and home on the target automatically, but the human controller monitors it and adjusts/corrects it when neccessary. That way you don't have the flying-towards-a-target bit dependent on human frailty, but you do have the incomparable processing power of the human mind making the which-target-to-fly-towards decision.

All I can say on this is that I know such systems have been trialed for various vehicles, one in particular that I was involved with, and done well; and this was well over a decade ago.

[sagallacci]

The UV/chemical signature seeking system would only work in the daytime, unless you had an illuminator. However, smart optical seekers in various ends of the spectrum would in general have all kinds of potential in all kinds of applications. Smart optics for shape or emission signatures are only a program or legal definition away already. The sensing technology is already fairly well established. And mixing several systems makes countermeasures, short of active defense, all the harder to work. Say, inertial guidance for getting to the area of the target, wide angle IR for looking in the right general direction, visible or near IR shape/signature recognition for target intercept. To make the system a little "dumber"/cheaper, temperature filters for a sensitive IR seeker to ignore flares and home on aerodynamic heated or engine bay warm surfaces. EM seeking may have potential for anti-air, as flying things have all kinds of radars and comm energy going.

I'm not a fan of illuminating the target, least it be warned and take evasives/get defensive. And, while launcher-guided systems can work well, there is still the dependence on maintaining the connection.

[dy031101]

Does anyone know of a director for the Sea Wolf missile that can also be used to direct the carrying ship's main gun?

I've been butchering some Shipbucket drawings and would like to reduce the number of different kinds of fire control radars that I end up having to use. 

[KJ_Lesnick]

How does a gravitic detection system work?

[rickshaw]

How does a gravitic detection system work?

Senses a change in gravity?

I've never heard such a system and I cannot imagine how you could make one small enough and sensitive enough to of any use in a missile guidance system.   Most gravity detectors IIRC are huge affairs and which require specialised support systems for them to detect the minute differences in gravity waves as they flow past/through them.  They usually consist of huge metal beams, tens of metres in length.

[Sauragnmon]

Closest I could think to where a Gravitic Detection System would apply would be in Space, where there is likelihood of ships projecting their own artificial gravity, which against the backdrop of Null Gravity would give it a chance of actually working.

[Mr.Creak]

How does a gravitic detection system work?

Presumably it's simply (!) a sensitive device that will react when a mass is sufficiently concentrated enough to distort the normal, natural gravity of Earth. For example a mountain will (imperceptibly to the eye) deflect a plum bob away from "straight down" and cause a swing towards the mountain.

[AS.12]

UV homing seems very whiff-good but don't forget that Sun emits UV too. Older Sidewinder have the same problem with IR seekers, they prefer to lock on Sun...

Stumbled across this thread; in the real World today the latest seekers for FIM-92 Stinger are dual-mode IR and UV so it's not just whiffery :-)

One problem that earlier Stinger seekers had against Soviet a/c in Afghan was that Soviet flares tended to be cut to burn at randomly different temperatures and durations, so it was difficult to program IR pass-bands that would screen them out.  Quite a typical low-tech Soviet approach to a problem.  Dual-mode IR / UV seeker was US response. Constant escalation!

Next-gen MPADS seekers are imaging IR, much like ASRAAM or IIR Maverick, so that they track the target heat-map.  Edit: and imaging UV too, it seems!