Identification of missile guidance laws for missile warning systems applications

The reliable detection and tracking of missile plumes in sequences of infrared images is a crucial factor in developing infrared missile warning systems for use in military and civil aircraft. This paper discusses the development of a set of algorithms that allow missile plumes to be detected, tracked and classified according to their perceived motion in the image plane. The aim is to classify the missile motion so as to provide an indication of the guidance law which is being used and, hence, to determine the type of missile that may be present and allow the appropriate countermeasures to be deployed. The algorithms allow for the motion of the host platform and they determine the missile motion relative to the fixed background provided by the scene. The tracks produced contain sufficient information to allow good discrimination between several standard missile types.