What does FLIR do?

• A. It detects infrared radiation but cannot identify targets.
• B. It detects, recognizes, and identifies targets by sensing infrared radiation.
• C. It only detects visible light.
• D. It modulates the infrared signal for guidance.

Answer: (B)

Forward-looking infrared imaging uses infrared energy emitted by objects to create a thermal image of the scene. That thermal image lets you not only find targets (detect) but also recognize features and identify what you’re looking at (recognize and identify) based on how the objects’ heat signatures differ from the background and from trained training data. It’s not about visible light, so FLIR isn’t showing you visible imagery, and it doesn’t work by actively modulating an infrared signal for guidance—that’s a different type of system.