Ultra-wideband sensor fusion for BMD discrimination

There is considerable interest within the ballistic missile defense (BMD) community for the various theater and area defense systems to operate as a family of systems. Initially this interoperability would focus on sharing track and feature data between sensors. Subsequently, as the technology drivers mature, coherent fusion of signature data will evolve. This paper presents an overview of the technology advances required in order to fully realize the potential utility of signature data fusion for enhanced BMD discrimination. Emphasis is placed on potential advances realized in the areas of arbitrary wideband waveform generation, high speed digital circuitry, wideband communication links and real-time signal processing.