Method for simulating live aircraft infrared seeker obscuration during live, virtual, constructive (LVC) exercises

A method of determining a firing solution for a seeker model simulating an existence of a heat seeking air-to-air missile on a physical vehicle in a live, virtual, constructive training system, the method comprising:

• obtaining real atmospheric obscuration data of a real atmospheric obscuration using a physical sensor system comprising a depth sensing visual sensor connected to the physical vehicle;
• a tangible data processing system in the live, virtual constructive training system performing the following:
• receiving the real atmospheric obscuration data;
• generating, by the tangible data processing system, a simulation training environment in the live, virtual, constructive system including at least a representation of the physical vehicle;
• converting the real atmospheric obscuration data into a depth map by rotating and translating the real atmospheric obscuration data to ownship body coordinates of the physical vehicle and forming, using an obscuration function, a representation of the real atmospheric obscuration in the simulation training environment;
• determining, using the obscuration function using and the depth map if the representation of the real atmospheric obscuration obscures a firing solution by the seeker model simulating the heat seeking air-to-air missile from the physical vehicle to a virtual target in the simulation training environment, such that the virtual target is a representation generated from a human-controlled simulator;
• and
• withholding, responsive to an obscured firing solution, data about the virtual target from the seeker model and denying the firing solution to the virtual target by the heat seeking missile, on the physical vehicle, simulated by the seeker model.

A method of simulating a heat seeking air-to-air missile target tracking for a physical aircraft configured with a physical sensor system, the method comprising:

• operating the physical aircraft in flight in a live, virtual, constructive training system comprising a tangible processor;
• measuring, using the physical sensor system comprising a depth sensing visual sensor, a real atmospheric obscuration and generating atmospheric obscuration data representing the real atmospheric obscuration within the live, virtual, constructive training system;
• converting the atmospheric obscuration data representing the real atmospheric obscuration into a depth map by rotating and translating atmospheric obscuration data representing the real atmospheric obscuration to ownship body coordinates of the physical aircraft and forming, using an obscuration function in the tangible processor, a representation of the real atmospheric obscuration in a simulation training environment;
• determining, by the tangible processor using:
• the atmospheric obscuration data, the depth map, and the obscuration function, if the representation of the real atmospheric obscuration obscures a firing solution by a seeker model simulating an existence of the heat seeking air-to-air missile from the physical aircraft to a virtual target in the live, virtual, constructive training system, such that the virtual target is a representation generated from a human-controlled simulator;
• and
• withholding, responsive to an obscured firing solution, data about the virtual target from the seeker model and denying the firing solution to the virtual target by the heat seeking missile, on the physical aircraft, simulated by the seeker model.