Spectral characteristics of ultraviolet and infrared rocket plume signatures are of great importance especially for detection, identification and tracking of approaching missiles. The objective was to find out significant differences between plume signatures of available real rocket motors based on double base and composite propellants. Therefore, the spectral emission ranges of 305–385 nm (UV) and 1.7–14 μm (MIR) were measured from the head‐on aspect. Additionally, reaction processes of applied propellant compositions were calculated by the ICT Thermodynamic‐Code and taken for the simulation of the theoretical spectra based on the ICT Band Modelling‐Code (BAM).

The reaction rate of an explosive -also called detonation velocity -is the easiest parameter to measure, and also one of the most important in characterizing the process of detonation front propagation in a 1D approach. This paper presents some peculiarities that were observed during the testing of our passive/active optical methods to measure detonation velocity. Both methods were tested using bare optic fiber probes and optic fiber probes protected with a stainless steel tube. The active optical method uses a laser with a wavelength of 660 nm, and the recording system contains a window filter that blocks any radiation out-side the wavelength range of 650 to 665 nm. A plasticbonded explosive based on PETN (seismoplast) was used to test both experimental methods. For rectangular cross-section charges using the passive optical method with the two different probes, the detonation velocities obtained ranged from 7233 to 7324 m/s, with standard deviations between 1.1 and 6.0 %; for the active optical method, the experimental results for detonation velocity varied between 7261 and 7351 and were obtained with a standard deviation of 0.6 to 1.7 %.

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The signature of rocket plumes can be used for detection, identification and guidance of rockets. The objective was to investigate the signature of various types of solid rocket propellants by application of spectroscopic methods. The emission and transmission characteristics of plumes were studied experimentally, the results were analyzed based on molecular bands and continuum radiation. The model formulations include a nitramine propellant, a double‐base propellant and a composite propellant. Applied were rapid‐scanning filter wheel spectrometers for the wavelength region from 1.2 μm to 14 μm with a time resolution of 50 spectra/s and a wavelengths resolution of 1% of actual wavelength. The UV/VIS wavelengths region was recorded by an OMA system with wavelength resolution of 0.1 nm and 1 nm and time resolution of 10 spectra/s. Molecular bands of water and carbon dioxide dominate in the near infrared and infrared. Depending on composition, continuous radiation indicates particles in the rocket exhaust. A code was developed to calculate molecular bands and continuous radiation using temperature and species distributions found by thermodynamic estimation to obtain the radiance of the plume. Comparison with experimental data delivered plume temperatures.