Electromagnetic radiation source locating system

An electromagnetic radiation source locating system comprising:

• a first vehicle;
• a first electromagnetic radiation receiving device configured to detect a radiant energy transmission;
• a first directional antenna operably coupled to the first electromagnetic radiation receiving device;
• a first support operably coupled to the first electromagnetic radiation receiving device for orienting the first directional antenna in a direction toward the radiant energy transmission;
• a first position detector in communication with a controller and configured to detect a position of the first directional antenna relative to a reference coordinate system;
• a first orientation detector in communication with the controller and configured to detect an orientation of the first directional antenna and provide a first directional signal indicative thereof to the controller;
• a second vehicle;
• a second electromagnetic radiation receiving device configured to detect the radiant energy transmission;
• a second directional antenna operably coupled to the second electromagnetic radiation receiving device;
• a second support operably coupled to the second electromagnetic radiation receiving device for orienting the second directional antenna in a direction toward the radiant energy transmission;
• a second position detector configured to detect the position of the second directional antenna relative to the reference coordinate system;
• a second orientation detector in communication with the controller and configured to detect the orientation of the second directional antenna and provide a directional signal indicative thereof to the controller;
• wherein the controller is configured to determine a directional vector to the radiant energy transmission source, the controller including a spatial processor configured to calculate the location of the radiant energy transmission source based upon at least two different directional vectors;
• a transmitter operably coupled to the controller;
• an aerial vehicle in communication with the transmitter;
• and
• a marker carried by the aerial vehicle and configured to be dropped proximate the radiant energy transmission source.

A method of detecting a transmission source of electromagnetic radiation, the method comprising the steps of:

• positioning a first directional antenna at a first location;
• detecting an electromagnetic signal at the first location with the first directional antenna;
• aligning the first directional antenna at the first location based upon the strength of the detected electromagnetic radiation signal;
• directing a first light source from the first location in a direction of the aligned first directional antenna;
• positioning a second directional antenna at a second location;
• detecting the electromagnetic signal at the second location with the second directional antenna;
• aligning the second directional antenna at the second location based upon the strength of the detected electromagnetic radiation signal;
• directing a second light source from the second location in a direction of the aligned second directional antenna;
• and
• calculating an expected intersection point of the first light source from the first location and the second light source from the second location.