Military Avionics Systems

5Electrooptics

5.1 Introduction

The use of electrooptic sensors in military avionics systems has steadily evolved over the past three decades. Infrared (IR) missiles were originally produced during the 1950s with missiles such as Sidewinder in the United States and Firestreak and Red Top in the United Kingdom. Television (TV) guidance was used on guided missiles such as TV-Martel developed jointly by the United Kingdom and France during the 1960s and AGM-62 Walleye in the United States. Lasers were used for target illumination during the latter stages of the Vietnam War. Forward looking IR (FLIR) imaging systems were developed and deployed during the 1970s, and third-generation systems are now taking the field. Infrared track and scan (IRTS) systems followed. Now, integrated systems are in operation that combine a number of sensor types to offer a complete suite of capabilities.

This chapter describes the following electrooptic technologies that are to be found on a range of modern military, law and order and drug enforcement platforms:

• Television (TV) – day, low-light and colour (section 5.2);
• Night-vision goggles (NVG) (section 5.3);
• IR imaging including forward looking infrared (FLIR) (section 5.4);
• IR tracking systems including IR-guided missiles and infrared track and scan (IRTS) (section 5.5);
• Lasers – target illumination, range-finding and smart bomb guidance (section 5.6);
• Integrated systems (section 5.7) (usually carried in external pods or multiaxis swivelling turrets; ...