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Published: 2006

Total Pages: 9

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3rd Generation FLIR (3rd Gen) is defined as a dual band (MWIR and LWIR) thermal imager. It is targeted to be one of the principle sensor systems for the Army's Future Combat System (FCS), Stryker, and Airborne Reconnaissance System. In early 2005, the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) created a large scale project to research and quantify the potential benefits of a 3rd Gen FLIR. This research was partitioned up into multiple individual studies, each of which is focused on a particular technical area, i.e., topic, to quantify its impact on the performance of a 3rd Gen FLIR. The set of topics include long range target identification (ID), aided target recognition (AiTR), apparent high temperature (T) sources of clutter, target and background contrasts and signatures, conventional and urban search and detection, advanced signal processing, cold weather, atmospheric turbulence, sensor integration time, camouflage, spectral signature differences, smoke, pilotage, wet targets, laser susceptibility, and path radiance. Whenever possible and appropriate, actual MWIR and LWIR imagery were used as inputs in the applicable physics (or psycho-physics) models. Even though every attempt was made to partition a research project of this size and scope into individual, independent components of an n-dimensional parameter space, it was obvious that there were varying degrees of dependence amongst and between these topics. In each of these studies, specific benefit of 3rd Gen FLIR was assessed from either the direct or indirect impact upon target discrimination task performance.