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BMDO Applications
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Focal Plane Arrays Fit the Bill
for Data Collection
 ith
BMDO funding, Amber, Inc. (Goleta, CA), now part
of Raytheon, developed an indium antimonide focal
plane array (InSb FPA) for missile surveillance
and tracking. This work led to the development
of a family of  RADIANCE™
infrared cameras. Hundreds of cameras were sold
for security surveillance and industrial monitoring
applications. Commercial sales and production
scale-up significantly reduced the cost of the
InSbFPA—from $1 million to less than $65,000—and
made it much more affordable for BMDO insertion.
For the THAAD inter-ceptor seeker heads, Lockheed
Martin purchased more than 60 InSb FPAs, which
collect enor-mous amounts of data used in steering
missile interceptors. Other BMDO programs, including
ARROW and several recent space missions, have
also taken advantage of the technology.
• Chip-Stacking
Technology Increases Memory Capacity for Infrared
Seekers
At Irvine Sensors Corporation (Costa Mesa, CA),
BMDO funded development of techniques for stacking
microchips to produce smaller, faster 3-D chip
stacks, which could be used in
everything from missile interceptors to surveillance
satellites. The company later applied the same
chip-stacking techniques to develop commercial
memories that, with their small size and high
speeds, are ideal for high-performance electronic
device applications. It even formed an alliance
with IBM to operate a production line to supply
commercial markets. Today, Irvine Sensors supplies
fast-memory chip stacks with digital signal processors
for Lockheed Martin for integration into THAAD
infrared seekers. Because of its prior commer-cialization,
as well as continuing R&D efforts, these chip
stacks now offer four times more memory capacity
than earlier versions.
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Composite Materials Reduce Cost
for Interceptor Components
Well over a decade ago, Fiber Materials, Inc.
(Biddeford, ME), had several contracts with  BMDO,
then known as the Strategic Defense Initiative
Organization, to develop advanced high-temperature
composite materials. These materials were initially
designed for use in space applications such as
missile nose cones, heat shields, integral throat
exit cones, and support structures. Now, the company
annually sells 30 to 50 tons of high-temperature
insulation materials to customers such as turbine
blade manufacturers and integrated circuit producers.
Its commercialization of the BMDO-funded materials
has dramatically reduced the cost of several key
components being inserted into THAAD by Lockheed
Martin, Loral, and United Technologies. Compared
with similar components in U.S. Department of
Defense strategic systems, for example, carbon/carbon
nozzles and quartz phenolic nose tips now cost
50 and 75 percent less, respectively. 
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