A missile warning system can detect the incoming missile threat(s) and automatically cue the other Electronic Attack
(EA) systems in the suit, such as Directed Infrared Counter Measure (DIRCM) system and/or Counter Measure
Dispensing System (CMDS). Most missile warning systems are currently based on passive sensor technology operating
in either Solar Blind Ultraviolet (SBUV) or Midwave Infrared (MWIR) bands on which there is an intensive emission
from the exhaust plume of the threatening missile. Although passive missile warning systems have some clear
advantages over pulse-Doppler radar (PDR) based active missile warning systems, they show poorer performance in
terms of time-to-impact (TTI) estimation which is critical for optimizing the countermeasures and also “passive kill
assessment”. In this paper, we consider this problem, namely, TTI estimation from passive measurements and present a
TTI estimation scheme which can be used in passive missile warning systems. Our problem formulation is based on
Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). The algorithm uses the area parameter of the threat plume which is derived from the
used image frame.
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