Missiles
| AIM-9 Sidewinder | |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United States |
Many ceramic nanomaterials of interest for transparent armor solutions are also used for electromagnetic (EM) windows. These applications include radomes, IR domes, sensor protection, and multi-spectral windows. Optical properties of the materials used for these applications are critical, as the transmission window and related cut-offs (UV – IR) control the spectral bandwidth over which the window is operational. Not only must these materials possess abrasion resistance and strength properties common of most armor applications, but due to the extreme temperatures associated with the environment of military aircraft and missiles, the must also possess excellent thermal stability.
Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation emitted from the surface of an object which is due to the object's temperature. Infrared homing refers to a passive missile guidance system which uses the emission from a target of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared part of the spectrum to track it. Missiles that use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers", since infrared is just below the visible spectrum of light in frequency and is radiated strongly by hot bodies. Many objects such as people, vehicle engines and aircraft generate and retain heat, and as such, are especially visible in the infrared wavelengths of light compared to objects in the background.
Read more about this topic: Transparent Ceramics
Famous quotes containing the word missiles:
“At the rate science proceeds, rockets and missiles will one day seem like buffalo—slow, endangered grazers in the black pasture of outer space.”
—Bernard Cooper (b. 1936)
“Our missiles always make too short an arc:
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)