Systems and methods having front end filters for data links for improved tracking of moving objects are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes sensing at least one characteristic of a moveable object using a sensor of an acquisition system, and sensing at least one characteristic of the moveable object using an auxiliary sensor. A data link update is transmitted from the auxiliary sensor to the acquisition system, and the data link update is conditioned to provide composite likelihood. The conditioning includes differencing the data link update and at least one predicted characteristic of the moveable object to produce at least one residual (e.g. using a plurality of Kalman filters). A viewing direction of the sensor may be adjusted based at least in part on the composite likelihood. In another embodiment, residuals are projected along sensor line of sight to form a multi-modal non-Gaussian composite likelihood.