MQ-9 Reaper equipped with MTS-B system.  Retrieved from Aviation Week & Space Technology.
The article selected for this blog assignment is Sensory Input, published in Aviation Week & Space Technology in November 2014.  The article is centered on a test conducted in October 17, 2014.  It discusses the application of utilizing infrared sensors on an Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) for targeting missiles as part of the Aegis ballistic missile defense system.  It is interesting to note that with this type of configuration, the Aegis SPY-1 does not initially acquire the target.  The infrared sensors in the UAV locate the target and extend the range of acquisition. The UAV identifies the threat and feeds the data to the Pentagon’s Battle Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications System.  One of the goals of this system configuration is to enable multiple shots at a target and stop a missile from reaching its intended target.

The sensor payload on the UAV is Raytheon’s Multispectral Targeting System (MTS-B), currently flown on the MQ-9 Reaper.   “This advanced system provides long-range surveillance, high-altitude target acquisition, tracking, rangefinding, and laser designation for the HELLFIRE missile and for all tri-service and NATO laser-guided munitions” (Raytheon, 2014).  The sensor payload on the UAV flying close to the area where a missile is launched serves as an early warning system and provides initial targeting.  The geographical location of the UAV extends the acquisition range of the overall system; currently the curvature of the Earth limits the range of the Aegis SPY-1 radar.

Future system tests include the installation of an upgraded Multispectral Targeting System, MTS-C, on a Reaper.  The MTS-C is designed to track a target at launch, when it burns through the atmosphere, and when it cools off reaching space.  This will enhance the tracking capabilities of the system as a whole.

This system configuration serves as a good example on how an exteroceptive sensor on an UAV can, for all sense and purposes, transform the UAV in a detached sensor part of a larger system.

References

Butler, A. (2014, November 3-10). Sensory Input. Aviation Week & Space Technology, 36.

Raytheon. (2014). MTS-B Multi-Spectral Targeting System. Retrieved January 17, 2015, from Raytheon: http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/mts_b/