Prospects of imaging applications [military]

Passive millimetre wave (MMW) imaging systems have attracted an increasing interest due to their superior poor weather performance compared with visible and infrared (IR) systems. In the UK, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency at Malvern developed its first MMW radiometers in the 1950s. These systems were bulky, had low thermal sensitivity and poor spatial resolution but the considerable advances in semiconductor solid state devices have allowed the size and weight of imagers to be reduced and sensitivity to be increased. Advantage can also be taken of sophisticated on-line signal processing to increase spatial resolution and of complex theoretical device modelling and analysis. This paper examines the impact of these advances in technology and identifies new methods to overcome the difficulties of poor spatial resolution and slow response time. High quality images are presented which demonstrate the potential of this emerging technology to military applications