Air AND Missile Defense technology
Program Overview
Lincoln Laboratory works with government, industry, and other laboratories to develop integrated systems for defense against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and air vehicles in tactical, strategic, and homeland defense applications. An important component of this program is the focused evaluation of the survivability of U.S. air vehicles against air defense systems. Air and missile defense technology activities include investigation of system architectures, development of advanced sensor and decision-support technologies, development of flight-test hardware, extensive field measurements and data analysis, and verification and assessment of deployed system capabilities. Emphasis is placed on the rapid prototyping of sensor and system concepts and algorithms, and the transfer of the resulting technologies to government contractors responsible for the development of operational systems.
Advanced Concepts
The Laboratory is exploring advanced algorithms and architectures for target detection in noise and clutter, multitarget and multisensor fusion, and sensor resource management. The Laboratory is analyzing radar and optical sensor data to identify phenomenologies that can be exploited to improve target identification and subsequent engagement. Programs are also emerging to develop new radar open systems architectures for phased-array radars. The Laboratory is creating the next-generation software and hardware architecture for missile defense radars. This work includes developing new digital beamsteering and beamforming subcomponents.
Ranges and Test Beds
Lincoln Laboratory serves as the scientific adviser to the Reagan Test Site (RTS) on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, providing technical leadership for the suite of radar, optical, and telemetry instrumentation, as well as the mission control and communications functions.
The Pacific Missile Range Facility, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is one of the Pacific ranges supporting experimental and developmental testing of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. It is the world’s largest instrumented multi-environment range capable of supporting surface, subsurface, air, and space operations simultaneously. Lincoln Laboratory provides technical support, including the definition and evaluation of range instrumentation and infrastructure needs of current and future range customers.
The Laboratory’s efforts have made dramatic improvements to the commonality of the radars at both sites through development of the Radar Open System Architecture (ROSA). At RTS, the Laboratory’s efforts have been fundamental to the upgrade of the Range Operations Coordination Center (ROCC). The RTS Distributed Operations project, building on the open architectures of ROSA and ROCC, is focused on developing a system to demonstrate remote viewing of RTS sensor data and remote control of RTS sensors. A significant milestone in this project has been real-time demonstrations involving the control of RTS radars from the Laboratory’s site in Lexington, Massachusetts. This capability will allow operators to view and execute missions from widely dispersed operational sites.
Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS): Systems and Architectures
The Laboratory is assessing architectural options for the evolving BMDS, with emphasis on sensor measurements and target discrimination to mitigate a growing spectrum of countermeasures. Evaluation of counter-countermeasure performance of both near-term BMDS configurations and long-term options is ongoing. This function draws upon the Lexington Decision Support Center for threat representation, algorithm and decision logic testing, and BMDS simulation. The Laboratory’s mission planning, execution, and data analysis resources are used to focus hardware-in-the-loop testing and risk-reduction flight tests as well as end-to-end system flight tests.
Seeker and Interceptor Technology
The Laboratory continues to improve its capability to develop and test advanced missile seekers for the BMDS. Programs are focused on developing advanced digital focal plane arrays and coherent range-Doppler LADAR systems as well as the testing of LADAR seekers against advanced countermeasures.
- Principal accomplishments over the past year
- Future outlook and focus for upcoming year
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