High Fidelity Installed Sensor Testing Using an Infrared Scene Projector

Abstract : Modern day military aircraft depend on a diversity of electromagnetic sensors to provide both aircraft and pilot with unparalleled battle space awareness and engagement opportunity. Missions involving reconnaissance, search and rescue, time vision navigation/evasion, target acquisition, target search and track, missile warning, and terminal missile homing all require the most advanced sensors available to provide the war fighter with the greatest possible tactical advantage. The latest generation of military aircraft rely heavily on these multispectral sensors as an integrated component of the flight control and mission control avionics. Often, overall mission performance is directly linked to the combined performance of the onboard mission critical sensors. Therefore, exhaustive sensor testing in this integrated sensor/avionics environment is mandatory.