Patent ID: 7714261

Claim:
A system for identifying missile threats against aircraft within a region of interest and activating a countermeasure system, the system comprising: (a) a plurality of spaced-apart optical imaging arrangements deployed relative to the region of interest such that at least part of the airspace over substantially the entirety of the region of interest falls within the field of view of at least two of said optical imaging arrangements; and (b) a processing system including at least one processor, said processing system being associated with said plurality of optical imaging arrangements and configured to: (i) process outputs from each of said optical imaging arrangements to derive suspected missile tracks; (ii) correlate suspected missile tracks derived from separate ones of said optical imaging arrangements to derive a confirmed missile track only when correlation is found between suspected missile tracks derived from at least two of said optical imaging arrangements; and (iii) output an actuation command in response to said confirmed missile track for actuating a countermeasure system.