Close Integration of Weapon and Targeting Sensors: a Key Enabler for future Deep Strike Missions

The timely and accurate engagement of a broad spectrum of mobile and relocatable targets are key requirements within the future Deep Strike capability. There are a number of approaches to meeting this requirement ranging from direct operator control of the weapon to the exploitation of fully autonomous seekers. The latter has the attraction of minimizing the operator workload and reducing the need for key tactical assets to enable the mission. However, there are significant technical challenges that need to be addressed to ensure high confidence that such a weapon can be used within potentially tight Rules of Engagement ROE. This paper addresses the particular problem of ensuring that the weapon seeker acquires the designated target. A methodology is proposed for directly exploiting signature and contextual information within the seeker target acquisition process. This is seen as a key enabler as it allows the seeker target selection logic to be tuned to the specific target and mission. The information could either be down-loaded at weapon launch or broadcast following weapon launch. A key output is a confidence measure in the target selected, which can be used within the ROE to support the final decision to engage. Having developed the generic framework, it is then illustrated using the example of a RF targeting system and weapon exploiting an imaging RF seeker. Implications for the design of the seeker and associated sub-systems are then discussed.