4 ms·
Yeah, but still very limited by aspect angle to engine exhaust. Detection is ok, tracking is poor unless very close or with LoS to the tailpipes. Anything groun
by nether 13y ago
Yeah, but still very limited by aspect angle to engine exhaust. Detection is ok, tracking is poor unless very close or with LoS to the tailpipes. Anything ground-based will almost never be able to stare directly at the aft end of an aircraft except during egress (i.e. after it's done its job). What I'm getting at is there are huge limitations to passive tracking of IR emissions, otherwise we'd be using it instead of (active) radar.
- greedo 13y agoAn aircraft moving at near Mach speeds has a significant amount of friction caused by air. It's not necessary for an IR system to be able to see the exhaust of an aircraft. In fact, all aspect IR missiles have been around since at least the AIM9L which was used in the Falklands War in 1982.