Missile Tracking Flares

Fluorocarbon Flare Combustion Flames as Sources of Radiation 

Above absolute zero temperature, T 0 K, all matter emits energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation. Even at thermal equilibrium, matter does emit and absorb radiation. The rate at which energy is emitted by matter - radiant emittance, M (W m ) - is proportional to the surface area, A, and the fourth power of the absolute temperature, T. 

The amount of energy emitted per wavelength, the spectral radiant emittance, Mx, is given by Planck s law, 

According to this, the wavelength of the maximum radiation intensity, X ax. shifts to the short wavelength region with increasing temperature. This is known as Wien s displacement law. 

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Figure 10.10 Typical static intensity profile for a missile tracking flare at sea level with exponentially rising /x.

D.D. Collins, Pyrotechnic Flashes and Flares in Guided Missile Tracking , MilPyroSect-Mtg, AOA, RedstoneArs (1959) 4) J.W. 

D. D. Collins, Missile Firing Lab., Cape Canaveral, Fla., Speech, Pyrotechnic Flashes < Flares in Guided Missile Tracking, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. (Oct. 1959), Meeting of Military Pyrotechnics Section, AOA. 

Infrared radiation is used for both civil and military applications. The military applications are target acquisition, surveillance, homing and tracking. IR flares are used in military applications mainly for two purposes tracking a missile and decoying enemy missiles [13, 14]. Depending on their applications, IR flares are classified into three different classes. 

The use of IRCM flares is either pre-emptive or reactive. In the pre-emptive use, flares are deployed in a hostile environment in anticipation of a threat. Thus the release serves to reduce the contrast of the scene to impede lock-on and to make tracking of the actual target more diflicult. In the reactive mode, the actual target is already tracked by a seeker system and the flare aims to break the lock and to lure the missile away. In view of these necessities, the basic key requirements of decoy flares are the peak intensity, Jx(W sr ) and the rise time, dix/dt. A typical time/intensity specification for decoy flare defines rise time profile (d//dt), peak... 

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