New trackers on U.S. fighter jets could make it easier for them to detect UFOs, an aviation expert has said.

The infrared search and track systems (IRSTs) are designed to hunt down enemy planes - but could also have the side-effect of helping pilots to investigate unexplained objects.

Military writer Tyler Rogoway said the technology has existed for decades but is now 'exponentially more capable' and could be a 'revolutionary' step in gathering UFO data.

Writing for The War Zone, of which he is the editor, he said the Navy's Super Hornet fleet and Air Force planes including the F-15C are due to get the sensors in the near future.

Jets such as the Navy's fleet of Super Hornets (one of which is pictured in a file photo) will be equipped with infrared technology that could help investigate UFOs

The new technology 'could result in a major breakthrough, or at least a major uptick, when it comes to detecting and gathering information on so-called unidentified flying objects, if they are indeed out there,' he said.

It 'could even serve as the final technological element needed to springboard potentially revolutionary data collection on the phenomenon,' he added.

As a result the Pentagon may get 'more than it bargained for' with the new technology, he suggested.

The IRSTs would be able to detect more because of their highly sensitive equipment and fast computer processing, Rogoway said.

The new equipment is an upgrade compared to regular radar technology, which has certain limitations.

One advantage of IRSTs is that, unlike radars, they do not emit any energy themselves.

That makes the detection system, in itself, harder to detect, and much harder to jam.

In addition, the IRST will keep working and tracking enemy aircraft even if the plane's radar system fails, he said.

As a result, the technology could be of great help to American pilots against stealthy aircraft nearby.

An image released by the Pentagon shows an unidentified object which was tracked by pilots off the east coast of the U.S. in 2015

Eurofighter Typhoon jets also feature the technology, which goes by the name of PIRATE.

They were previously used on older U.S. planes such as the F-101 Voodoo, a jet which was retired from the Air Force in 1972.

Earlier this year it emerged that a number of pilots in the United States Navy reported seeing UFOs over American airspace between 2014 and 2015.

One of them, Ryan Graves, said he saw UFOs regularly in the airspace off the Eastern seaboard between Florida and Virginia.

Graves said he reported what he saw to the Pentagon and to members of Congress.

In 2014, a pilot operating one of the Super Hornet fighter jets reported that he nearly collided with a UFO.

Another pilot, Danny Accoin, said he noticed a flying object on his radar, missile system, and infrared camera, but was not able to see it in his helmet.

The UFOs were spotted in areas that were designated for fighter jet training, which makes it unlikely that these were commercial drones or other objects that are classified.

But none of the pilots or the Pentagon would speculate as to what they believed the objects were.