Multiband infrared plume simulator for HWIL testing of the tactical FLIR pod modification

A multi-band infrared plume simulator (MIPS) system capable of projecting light from three spectrally separate, dynamic infrared (IR) sources has been developed by the Defense Special Weapons Agency (DSWA) and Mission Research Corporation (MRC). The purpose of this system is to provide long-wave IR (LWIR) movies of bomb explosions for a forward looking IR (FLIR), and high power pulses of medium-wave IR (MWIR) light to simulate the radiance intensity from the plumes in two bands for a non-imaging radiometer. The FLIR and two-color radiometer are detectors in the new Tactical FLIR Pod Modification (TFPM). The LWIR movies are generated with a DSWA Nuclear Optical Dynamic Display System (NODDS) 512 X 512 suspended membrane emitter array. The MWIR plume signatures are generated with two lead-salt laser diodes. The emitter array supplies the 8 micrometer to 12 micrometer, time-varying images with peak apparent temperatures of about 350 K. The two laser diodes, one emitting at 4.6 micrometer and the other at 3.8 micrometer, supply the higher power signals to simulate greater than 1000 K plumes for the two-color radiometer. The design of the MIPS is based on the design of the TFPM and the TFPM is based on the results from the Dipole Pride test series, so this paper will review the Dipole Pride results and the TFPM specifications in addition to examining the operation of the MIPS.