Patent ID: 6877691

Claim:
A method for detecting the presence and location of a high altitude reentry vehicle in the presence of decoys in which the decoys have associated flight characteristics different from those of the reentry vehicle, comprising the steps of: detecting by a plurality of radar returns the existence of a number of objects constituting a threat cloud, which are generally on a trajectory towards a point; launching an intercept vehicle constituting a kill vehicle in the direction of said threat cloud; determining from the intercept vehicle in a high altitude stripping operation in which characteristics of the objects are measured and analyzed as a result of infrared radiation from the objects a number of atmospheric drag characteristics of the objects lying along the trajectory of the threat cloud; responsive to the determined characteristics, identifying in the threat cloud the reentry vehicle as opposed to a decoy and the projected track thereof; and, guiding the intercept vehicle to intercept the identified reentry vehicle as it travels along its projected track.