A Staring array, staring-plane array or focal-plane array is a missile or related weapons guidance sensor, usually infrared light sensing, which has a fixed pointing direction and optical system. A guided missile is a military rocket that can be directed in flight to change its flight path. ... Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. ...

Typical IR guided missiles of the past utilized a relatively narrow field of view sensor which was aimed towards the target, and then kept pointed at the target using an electrical or mechanical mechanism. This required fitting both the sensor and the sensor aiming equipment at the front of the missile.

Staring plane arrays use a wide field of view, fixed sensor instead of the pointed sensor. This has no moving parts, simply staring forwards and out to the edges of the maximum fixed field of view, which typically is about the same as the aiming limits of an older, articulated or pointed sensor.

Staring plane arrays were enabled by the development of large, high resolution IR imaging arrays which had adequate sensitivity and pixel counts to be able to track accurately across the whole field of view at once. Older sensors had less resolution, and smaller fields of view, requiring pointing if they were to track targets which might move significantly away from straight ahead from the missile body.

Staring plane arrays are used in modern air to air missiles and anti-tank missiles such as the AIM-9X Sidewinder, ASRAAM ^[1] and Javelin.^[2] An Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is a missile the primary purpose of which is to hit and destroy tanks. ... The AIM-132 Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile is a British air-to-air missile with infra-red guidance. ... A soldier practices with the Javelin on a firing range. ...

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