RISTA II trials

Abstract

Northrop Grumman Corporation has developed an advanced 2nd generation IR sensor system under the guidance of the US Army's Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) as part of an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) called Counter Mobile Rocket Launcher (CMRL). Designed to support rapid counter fire against mobile targets from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the sensor system, called reconnaissance IR surveillance target acquisition (RISTA II), consists of a 2nd generation FLIR/line scanner, a digital data link, a ground processing facility, and an aided target recognizer (AiTF). The concept of operation together with component details was reported at the passive sensors IRIS in March, 1996. The performance testing of the RISTA II System was reported at the National IRIS in November, 1997. The RISTA II sensor has subsequently undergone performance testing on a Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 for a manned reconnaissance application in August and October, 1997, at Volkel Airbase, Netherlands. That testing showed performance compatible with the medium altitude IR sensor performance. The results of that testing, together with flight test imagery, will be presented.