Analysis of Open-Loop DIRCM Jamming Effects on First Generation Infrared Seekers

The Directed Infrared CounterMeasure (DIRCM) is an infrared countermeasure that is employed against different kinds of infrared missiles. Its purpose is to make missiles miss the target, by jamming their infrared reticle seekers or by dazzling the imaging seekers. In this manuscript, we developed a software in MatLab which simulates three different infrared first-generation seekers, to evaluate DIRCM’s jamming effects on signal processing and in target tracking. Using three different reticles, it’s noteworthy the influence of some of the DIRCM’s parameters, such as pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and intensity. The highest jamming efficiency is achieved when its PRF is close of the seeker’s reticle spinning frequency. In order to evaluate the effects of an open loop DIRCM, a composite DIRCM jamming waveform was modeled and tested against the three different modeled seekers. This approach achieved the optical break lock in all three seekers in less than 0.7 seconds.