Patent ID: 7492308

Claim:
A threat detection system for use in protecting a platform from offensive projectiles, the threat detection system comprising: an optical detection subsystem for detecting launch of an offensive projectile, said optical detection subsystem including: (a) an image detector array sensitive to radiation in at least one range of wavelengths within the spectrum from near-infrared to near-ultraviolet radiation; (b) an optical arrangement for focusing on to said image detector array a substantially continuous field of view circumscribing said optical arrangement; and (c) a processing system associated with said image detector array and configured: (i) to derive a series of frames from said image detector array at a frame rate of at least 30 frames per second; (ii) to process said series of frames to identify a flash event; and (iii) to generate an output indicative of a direction in which the flash event occurred, a radar detection subsystem including a radar arrangement configured to detect approaching offensive projectiles from a range of directions substantially circumscribing the platform, and a threat verification module configured to verify the existence of an offensive projectile based upon data from both said optical detection subsystem and said radar detection subsystem.