Analysis of signal-to-noise ratio for space-based infrared detection of intercontinental glide vehicles
Abstract
<p indent="0mm">The infrared radiation of intercontinental glide vehicles (IGV) is significant during hyper-velocity flight due to the serious aerodynamic heating. Our analysis and calculation show that the signal-to-noise ratio of infrared detection for IGV by the space tracking and surveillance system (STSS), which the United States is testing to deploy, will be between 10<sup>3</sup>–10<sup>5</sup> in order in a short wave band around 2.7 μm, while the threshold values of signal-to-noise ratio for STSS to meet the track and recognition requirements are about 3 and 30, respectively. This means that STSS is very effective to IGV. In open argument of IGV penetration capability, the core standpoint is that it is difficult to predict the track of IGV due to its lateral maneuver. However, the lateral average acceleration capability of IGV is only about 0.15<italic>g</italic>, while the US missile defense system was reported to have the ability to transmit the target information obtained by the detection system to its command system and interceptor missile in time. Through quantitative estimation, it is easy to prove that IGV orbital maneuver can not only predict, but also have high accuracy by using space-based infrared detection, so the argument of “difficult to predict” is not valid.</p>
