Advanced IR Imaging Seeker Program

Rockwell has developed under a U.S. Army contract an advanced IR Imaging Seeker System which is compatible with the Hellfire Missile System mission. A technical overview of this program and current status will be presented. The IR imaging seeker was tested during late 1979 and early 1980. This seeker utilizes a Rockwell-developed 1024-element InAsSb/silicon hybrid focal plane array (FPA) operating at 77°K and IR sensitive in the 3.4-4.0 micrometer wavelength region. A multimode tracker provides improved tracking capability for operation against targets in a high clutter background. The payoff for the technology being developed on this program is the ultimate realization of reduced IR seeker cost at equivalent or increased performance to present-day IR Imaging seeker designs.