Survivability on the battlefield depends largely on remaining undetected from the enemy. However, military platforms emit various unwanted signals, from visible light and acoustic noise to reflected radar that can be detected and used to pinpoint positions.
Concealment requires that the platform blends into its environment in such a way that the surveillance sensors being deployed by the enemy are unable to distinguish the threat before it’s too late. Signatures relate to those aspects of a military platform that prevent its detection on the battlefield and signature management is about designing and controlling these such that detection ranges are minimised.
MIRA has been heavily involved in signature management and was part of the team that helped with the re-issue of the latest relevant defence standard, Def Stan 08-6. This standard addresses the signature requirements for platform survivability, and acts as a framework for the signature goals along with the required measurement and verification criteria to achieve these goals.
MIRA’s particular expertise lies in measurement against Def Stan 08-6 in these three areas:
Acoustic signatures: A powered vehicle or system will radiate noise. The Def.Stan has noise limits based on the aim of ensuring the equipment is inaudible at a certain boundary, the radius of which varies with the proposed application of the equipment. As it is impractical to measure the radiated noise at the actual defined boundary, the noise limits are modified such that the measurements can be made at a smaller distance. The measurements must be made in areas with no noise reflecting surfaces and with extremely low background noise. MIRA has a number of defined signature measurement areas where the Def.Stan requirements can be met for all equipment types in use. MIRA also has decades of experience in vehicle noise reduction and can supply expertise to provide solutions to reduce the radiated noise of equipment where it does not meet the requirements of Def Stan 08-6.
Thermal signatures: Any platform will absorb heat from the sun and reradiate this away. Consequently, a metal structure can stand out thermally from its surroundings even though its visually camouflaged, being either being hotter or cooler. This makes it a potential target for infra-red based munitions. Heat caused by engines, exhausts and on-board generators obviously adds to this signature. MIRA uses long wave and medium wave IR cameras to assess the thermal signatures in a range of realistic battlefield scenarios.
Visual signatures: Blending in visually with the surroundings is a key requirement in avoiding detection, either from the ground or from the air. MIRA is able to work with customers in assessing a platforms counter -surveillance signature when applied against Def Stan 08-6 Part 3.