The Low-Cost Imaging Terminal Seeker (LCITS) system allows a target to be designated by a helicopter’s existing forward-looking infrared sensor. Targeting data produced by the aircraft targeting system (e.g., position, size, velocity, contrast, etc.) is passed by the digital smart launcher to the precision-guided 2.75”-rocket. Under inertial guidance, the rocket flies out to where it will acquire the target with its imaging infrared seeker. This is not a hot-spot detector; rather, a low-cost focal plane array that feeds an image to on-board algorithms which segment the target from the background. The infrared seeker then guides the rocket to home-in on the center of the target, even as it attempts evasive maneuvers.
The heart of the ONR WDL program is the DARPA-developed QNT radio. The radio’s software can be configured to support a range of legacy waveforms, as well as future waveforms. It will be capable of accepting target updates over the longer flight times anticipated for weapons engaging an adversary from outside the threat zone. These updates can be provided from the shooter platform or from third parties in the air or on the ground. Information collected by a weapon’s seeker can be passed back to the global-information-grid as the weapon closes on the target to aid in damage assessment.
The technology that the ONR WDL is developing will carry weapons beyond the current limitations of LINK 16 and other legacy links, while maintaining the capability of reaching back to work with the current LINK 16 systems.
The first ONR WDL radio units have been assembled and will be used for the bench demos scheduled at the end of this fiscal year. The following year will see an end-to-end bench level demonstration of the data link within the kill chain, as well as captive carry flight testing and an eventual flight test on an air-to-ground weapon.