Navy's 'Dark Horse' Could Lead to Unmanned Combat Flight

Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory have demonstrated real-time, hyperspectral detection of both airborne and ground targets.
The detection system, part of the laboratory's "Dark Horse" program, employs a high-resolution imager, pointing optics and a pulsed laser aboard an aircraft. The research lab uses special algorithms implemented in a real-time processor to produce a cueing signal when a target is spotted. When the target is detected, a high-resolution reconnaissance framing camera containing 25 million pixels captures the image of the target and transmits it back to the lab's ground station.
Future tests will be performed with Aerospace Corp., using a spatially enhanced broadband array spectrograph system that features an infrared hyperspectral sensor for both day and night operation.