Defense Intelligence Reference Document Detection And High Resolution Tracking Of Vehicles At Hypersonic

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Commercial and Governmental IR Systems
There is a long history in the United States of the usage of IR detectors to sense launches
and to track the trajectory of ICBMs. 21 ARPA initiated studies of the possible use of IR
detection of aircraft and missiles in the 1950s. Under their Defense Support Program (DSP),
Joseph Knopaw studied the possible use of IR detectors in satellites to detect missiles and
the hot exhaust plumes of ICBMs. Rand Corporation submitted a report in 1955 that outlined
the detection of ICBM launches from satellites in Earth orbit. In 1956, the U.S. Air Force
chose Lockheed as the lead designer with Joseph Knopaw as the project manager for
Subsystem G, ICBM Attack Alarm System (WS-ll?L).
By 1958, control of the Air Force system shifted to ARPA (Advanced Research Projects
Agency) as the MIDAS missile defense alarm system. The satellite IR detection system could
alert the Strategic Air Command of possible Soviet missile launches 15 minutes earlier than
the DEW system could. The first successful satellite launch occurred in 1960 with a 300-mile
orbit. In 1963, MIDAS 9 with a 2,250-mile polar orbit succeeded in detecting nine missile
launches using an 8-inch concentric telescope and an Aerojet-General IR detector.
In 1964, the Air Force launched the RJS-2 satellites into geosynchronous orbit over the
equator. The MIDAS system was renamed the Defense Support Program in 1969 and an
agreement between the United States and Australia provided communication to the
constellation of MIDAS satellites from the Overseas Ground Station (OGS) in Australia and
the Continental Ground Station (CGS) at the Buckley Air National Guard Station in the United
States. Four Phase 1 Integrated Missile Early Warning Satellites (IMEWS) were launched
between 1970 and 1973 followed by Phase 2 satellites from 1975 to 1977, the Multi-Orbit
Satellite/Performance Improvement Modification (MOS/PIM) models from 1979 to 1984, two
Sensor Evolutionary Development (SED) satellites from 1984 to 1987, and DSP-I satellites
since 1989. The DSP satellites are designed for the global monitoring of ICBMs, SLBMs, and
tactical missiles. Their operating life is 5 to 7 years, and they weigh approximately 5,000
lbs. With 6,000 IR telescopic detectors, these satellites monitor IR emissions between 2. 7
and 4.3 microns. The 23rd, and last, DSP satellite was launched in November 2007.
The DSP system is capable of monitoring more than ICBMs. In 1972, the system detected a
large meteor passing over several western states 94 km above the Earth. This meteor,
moving at 18 km/s, was on a trajectory over Salt Lake City that would have done significant
damage if it had impacted the Earth. In 1991, DSP satellites detected the launch of 88 Iraqi
SCUD missiles. The DSP system is currently controlled under the ALERT (attack and launch
early report to theater) system under the ALERT Control Center located at Shriever Air Force
Base in Colorado. The current operational inventory is classified.
Other commercial IR detection equipment includes the Lucid Dimensions Spherical Detection
System (SDS) using a 3D spherical sensor array. 22 This system is designed to track ballistic
missiles, aircraft, and vehicles. Developed under an SBIR, this system can be mounted on
ground-based vehicles, ships, or aircraft.
LIDAR
LIDAR, or "light detection and ranging," uses pulses of laser light directed toward a target.
Reflected light is detected and, through the time of flight of the laser beam, the distance to
the target can be computed. While LIDAR systems are similar in function to RADAR systems,
the highly directional nature of the laser beam permits a very accurate determination of
target distance. As an example, reflected panels left on the moon's surface by the Apollo
astronauts are now used to accurately monitor the distance from the Earth to the moon using
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