Infrared Guidance System

The **Infrared Guidance System** or **Infrared Homing System** is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it. A more common term is 'heat-seeking.'

## Overview

All things, whether inorganic or organic will give off varying amounts of heat, which can be detected by an infrared sensor. The infrared range on the Electromagnetic Spectrum is between 700 to 1200 nanometers. This is beyond the visual range of the naked eye. As a result, in addition to using it as a form of guidance for heat-seeking weapons, infrared also lends toward Night Vision Technology.

## Applications

The most frequent use of infrared guidance systems are weapons, particularly in guided weapons such as short-range air-to-air missiles and anti-ship missiles. Since the targets are normally aircraft and sea-going vessels, they give off substantial amounts of heat for these missiles to track. Amazingly, Wyverns can be included as targets since they also give off enough heat for missiles to home in on. To increase the range of these weapons, a Forward-Looking InfraRed sensor or FLIR is used.

Since the infrared spectrum is beyond the visual range of the human eye, using infrared in darkness, low-level light or poor visibility scenarios is an option. Early scopes took advantage of this ability before being replaced by more advanced night vision technology. Today, infrared sensors are still being used on tanks, aircraft, ships and other military sensor equipment.

## Countermeasures

The most obvious method to fooling an infrared sensor is to not generate enough heat for it to detect. That is easier said than done, as one would have to achieve sub-zero temperatures almost immediately.

A more logical solution is to fool the sensor by using a series of decoy heat sources. This is the main concept of the flare. In the early history of the heat-seeking missile, pilots would drop a series of flares or pyrotechnic material to mask the heat signature of their engines. They would also fly low in order to use the heat reflected off the ground to hide their heat signatures. After releasing flares, the pilot would put his craft in a series of extreme maneuvers, hoping that the missile's sensor would not be able to tell which heat source is the correct one. This would also depend on the pilot being aware that he is being targeted before the missile had a definite lock-on.

Unfortunately for pilots, this tactic was not 100% effective and became even less effective as missile technology improved. At present, dispensing flares is a last-ditch effort.

## Heat-Seeking in the New World

The effect of heat-seekers is tremendous as inhabitants in the Third, Second and First Civilization Area all mistake the heat-seeking missile to be similar to the Ravernal Empire's 'guided bullet of light' or 'homing bullet of light.' Nations such as Mu are attempting to build primitive versions of these missiles. They would be laughably slow in comparison but would provide them with a rough map for future developments.

For the Gra Valkas Empire, they initially did not take the threat of guided missiles seriously and thought it was all a gigantic hoax. A few Gra Valkas engineers, such as Naguano, did take it seriously and began researching the early history of the guided missile. He would later send his findings to his colleague Kandall, which would eventually have him develop a countermeasure, the Anti-Missile Jammer. The idea was to throw up enough flares and chaff to fool both the missile's radar and infrared guidance systems, thereby protecting the ship from being targeted. Unfortunately, these measures would fail due to several reasons:

* Flares and chaff are deployed differently on aircraft than ships. An aircraft can take extreme evasive maneuvers while a ship cannot.
* Flares have been decreasing in effectiveness since they were first introduced.
* Missile technology has greatly improved since their introduction and are not fooled by simply dispensing chaff and flares