Third-generation infrared imagers

Third generation focal plane arrays are being actively developed for the U.S. Army and other branches of the Department of Defense. The objective is to ensure that future soldiers will have superior night-fighting equipment. The requirements defined by this objective and the technology under development to support a demonstration of this capability is described. Issues associated with the development and exploitation of the high-performance cooled component of a family of third generation imager systems are discussed. Also discussed are two classes of uncooled imagers; one having high resolution and medium-high performance, and the second being very low cost.