Lockheed Martin expects to have finalised engineering trade studies by the end of this year for the US Air Force Research Laboratory-funded Real Time Active Imaging in 3D at Extended Range (Raider) multi-sensor system, with a demonstrator expected to be ready to fly within 18-24 months.
Gil Metzger, director of research and technology for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, says the current studies are aimed at determining the basic mix of sensors to share a single shared optics bench with the sensor, with an imaging laser radar (ladar) at the core.
The primary challenge to the project is mechanical rather than developmental, Metzger says, with prioritisation of sensor types and space allocation a major part of the engineering trade process. The Raider system is planned to be built around either a 480mm (19in) or 510mm ball turret that is intended to be carried by the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator A and MQ-9 Predator B unmanned air vehicles.
The ladar system is a derivative of that developed by Lockheed Martin under AFRL’s Polametric Imaging Laser Radar (Pilar) project. That system linked a ladar with FLIR and daytime television into a single 380mm turret mounting with an all up weight of 68kg (150lb).
The Raider system is expected to weigh 68-90kg and have a range around double that demonstrated by Pilar in flight testing during late 2005 aboard a Douglas DC-3.
The actual development timeframe for the demonstrator system is expected to take around 18 months, plus or minus six months, says Metzger, with the variability dependent mainly on decisions about programme funding. AFRL awarded Lockheed a $7.84 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract in May to undertake Raider development through to May 2009 with an initial funding release of $556,000.
The 2009 target includes a 12-month flight-test phase Metzger says, with Raider to initially fly on a UAV surrogate before an expected transition to a Predator.
The common optics bench for the sensor will draw extensively on similar work previously carried out by Lockheed in the development of its Sniper XR targeting pod and ladar seeker systems for loitering munitions. Metzger says that members of the Sniper technology team have been brought into the programme to provide guidance on sensor packaging for Raider.
The Raider automatic target recognition software will be directly based on algorithms developed by Lockheed for a variety of ladar projects, including Pilar. The new long-range sensor would include both canopy and camouflage penetration capabilities, says Metzger.
Source: Flight International
