In supersonic flight, the JR dome of a missile becomes
heated by friction with the air. This heating creates an
IR flux that can overload the detector, obscuring the
target image created by the onboard JR sensor. The problem
is becoming more severe as faster missiles with more
sensitive infrared imagers are developed. A new hot Dome
Simulator that allows missile designers to simulate these
effects in the laboratory has been developed. This device
enables improvements in hardware and software to be tested
conveniently and inexpensively.