Of DAS, EOTS etc..

[hornetfinn]

I wonder what 5x the resolution will do for CAS, especially in the new forms of ground target detection that was shown a while back.

As it will increase detection range by about 2.2 times, it will also increase the land area it covers at any instance by about that 5x. That is actually huge increase considering that the capability demonstration was pretty impressive to begin with.

[SpudmanWP]

I guess they can put that 25x increase in CPU power to good use on the increased data gathering. Good thing they are getting SATCOM in Block 4 so they can keep the rest of the network up to speed while OTH.

[spazsinbad]

WonderWhen This new tech will be available for F-35s?

UTC Aerospace Systems Develops World’s Highest-Resolution SWIR Camera for ONR
02 Nov 2018 SEAPOWER

"CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Under a contract with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), UTC Aerospace Systems’ Sensors Unlimited business has developed the world’s highest-resolution indium gallium arsenide Near Infrared/Shortwave Infrared (NIR/SWIR) imaging sensor, the company announced Oct. 31.

The new sensor includes a 16-megapixel photo-detector array on a 5-micron pitch, providing roughly 16 times more detail than the company’s existing high-definition sensor, released in 2012, which has a resolution of 1.3 megapixels. UTC Aerospace Systems is a unit of United Technologies Corp.

The first-of-its-kind sensor is hybridized to a matching silicon Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor read-out integrated circuit and packaged into a hermetically sealed focal plane array. Imaging electronics were also designed and developed to integrate the focal plane array into a complete imaging camera.

Per ONR’s requirement, the sensor is compatible with the RQ-21A payload SWAP (size, weight and power) envelope and offers the following capabilities:

■ High coverage rate spectral sensing in the SWIR band.
■ Ability to continuously monitor a wide area activity at a resolution (temporal and spatial) consistent with dismount detection/tracking.
■ High fidelity inspection sensing in both of the above collection modes.
■ Autonomous identification of objects, behaviors and materials of interest with accuracy rates high enough to enable a useful real-time dissemination of information directly to warfighters.

UTC Aerospace Systems developed the sensor for the U.S. Navy’s Spectral and Reconnaissance Imagery for Tactical Exploitation (SPRITE) program and has delivered four prototypes to the service as part of a three-year, $9.7 million award.

“Our newest SWIR camera uses groundbreaking technology to provide operators with a higher resolution and greater level of detail than ever before,” said Michael Daugherty, program manager, UTC Aerospace Systems. “For the warfighter, this means an improved ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] situational awareness capability. We’re honored to support the U.S. Navy and look forward to continuing to support the SPRITE program in the years ahead.”"

Source: http://seapowermagazine.org/stories/20181102-utc.html

[taog]

I wonder what 5x the resolution will do for CAS, especially in the new forms of ground target detection that was shown a while back.

As it will increase detection range by about 2.2 times, it will also increase the land area it covers at any instance by about that 5x. That is actually huge increase considering that the capability demonstration was pretty impressive to begin with.

Ask a silly question... If EOTS replaces the 1 MP FPA by 4 MP FPA, will the resolution become 4 times higher than the previous one ?

[Dragon029]

In terms of pixel / array resolution it will be 4x higher, in terms of angular resolution it will only be 2x higher.

[hornetfinn]

In terms of pixel / array resolution it will be 4x higher, in terms of angular resolution it will only be 2x higher.

True. Also detection/tracking range is also 2x higher due to fact that angular resolution is 2x higher.

[taog]

In terms of pixel / array resolution it will be 4x higher, in terms of angular resolution it will only be 2x higher.

True. Also detection/tracking range is also 2x higher due to fact that angular resolution is 2x higher.

But why i don't see the resolution-related item in the IR detection-range formula ?

[popcorn]

Can Hyperspectral Imaging be the next step? The F-35 flying supercomputer would appear to be a logical platform to host next gen sensors.

https://www.militaryaerospace.com/artic ... pace-.html

[popcorn]

Could Hyperspectral Imaging be in the cards for the F-35 down the road by virtue of it's being a flying supercomputer? The amount of detail it could potentially glean specially in the A2G role is amazing.

https://www.militaryaerospace.com/artic ... pace-.html

[hornetfinn]

In terms of pixel / array resolution it will be 4x higher, in terms of angular resolution it will only be 2x higher.

True. Also detection/tracking range is also 2x higher due to fact that angular resolution is 2x higher.

But why i don't see the resolution-related item in the IR detection-range formula ?

Which formula do you mean? Regular IR detection range formulas are for non-imaging systems or do not take into account the effect of imaging system. Basically the detection range formula takes into account system detectivity (basically how sensitive the system is) and not much else. This is naturally a major factor in imaging systems also but since they are bit like AESA radars with huge number (millions nowadays) of individual detectors, the number of those detectors is also a big factor in detection/recocgnition/identification ranges.

Basically the detectivity sets one hard limit how far away certain target can be seen with the system. A target with low thermal emissions might not be detected by the system even if it was large and relatively close to it. Like say gliders. Another thing is the resolution of the system which sets how small targets can be detected if their thermal emissions are large enough in the first place. Let's say an afterburning fighter jet might well be seen twice further away with a system with twice the horizontal and vertical resolution (say 2k x 2k vs. 1k x 1k system). This only if both systems are sensitive enough to detect the target and with hot targets that is usually the case with modern systems. Like you see, both detector resolution and sensitivity both affect the detection and ID ranges. I'd say that in most real world situations the sensitivity affects the detection range more and resolution affects ID range more.

But considering modern systems generally have very high sensitivity in the first place, then it's easiest to achieve longer range with higher resolution. Improving sensitivity enough might not be possible and improvements there are smaller these days.

[hornetfinn]

Can Hyperspectral Imaging be the next step? The F-35 flying supercomputer would appear to be a logical platform to host next gen sensors.

https://www.militaryaerospace.com/artic ... pace-.html

I bet that hyperspectral imaging will be implemented to F-35 at some point, but it might take some time. It might well be a next step after Advanced EOTS (which might have some elements of this tech) and upgraded EO DAS.

[taog]

@hornetfinn

https://fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/e ... R_prop.htm

It seems like for a IR detector or system, the factors affect the detection range are aperture size, processor capability and the detector sensitivity. ( I know the band that detector working at will also influence the detector range cause the different target radiation intensity at different IR band. )

So I think the resolution doesn't affects the detection range but ID range.

Like EODAS can detect falcon 9 1300 mile away, but it is just a hot spot showed on the screen - you know there has something exist but you can not tell what it is.
But if you raise the resolution, you may see the shape and can ID it, so ID range raise.

Am i right?

[taog]

I also see a paper claim that the net working could raise the IR detection range. The principle is to decrease the S/N threshold for a target. Though this way may increase the false alarm rate, but it can be decrease by multi-check by other IR sensor to eliminate the fake target.

[Dragon029]

So I think the resolution doesn't affects the detection range but ID range.

Like EODAS can detect falcon 9 1300 mile away, but it is just a hot spot showed on the screen - you know there has something exist but you can not tell what it is.
But if you raise the resolution, you may see the shape and can ID it, so ID range raise.

Am i right?

That's partially correct, but you have to remember that detection requires a level of identification, whether that be the identification of motion relative to the world, or a specifically high-intensity point brightness, etc.

The easiest way to think of this is via extreme examples - what if you have a single 'pixel' (bolometer) IR sensor that had a FOV of 180 degrees. Even if it's night and you don't have to contend with the sun, that sensor would have a very limited detection range, because a fighter jet (eg) 10km away might only represent something like 1/1,000th of the total infrared photons entering the sensor. And because that that very easily falls within the range of seeker noise, clutter, etc created by flying over different terrain, it's not going to be detected.

[optimist]

Can Hyperspectral Imaging be the next step? The F-35 flying supercomputer would appear to be a logical platform to host next gen sensors.

https://www.militaryaerospace.com/artic ... pace-.html

I bet that hyperspectral imaging will be implemented to F-35 at some point, but it might take some time. It might well be a next step after Advanced EOTS (which might have some elements of this tech) and upgraded EO DAS.

I think it really depends on the CONOPS, it may not need this to do what's required