Active Sensor Technologies for Interceptor Seekers

ABSTRACT:Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) havebeen the most dynamic growth sector of the aerospace industry this decade and it is projected to double overthe next decade. The most significant catalyst has been the enormous growth of interest in UAVs by the US military, tied to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the general trend towards information warfare and net-centric systems. UAVs are a key element in the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) portion of this revolution, and they are expanding into other missions as well with the advent of hunter-killer UAVs, like the Predator and Reaper, which are equipped with the latest targeting and laser guided missiles. Efforts to reduce the cost, operational footprint and platform vulnerability have led to the development and successful deployment of thousands of small UAV. There is a growing need to add targeting capabilities (acquisition and designation) to small UAS by integrating small laser designator systems into the payload. Advances in miniature laser technology will aid in improving the performance of legacy hunter-killer platforms, and will help enable targeting capabilities of small UAV. Scalable, ultra-low SWaP laser architectures that lead to increased operating ranges and endurance from small platforms are highly desired. Laser configurations must be inherently thermally and mechanically stable over extreme temperatures, shock, vibration, and must be capable of operating in high radiation environments. Aret Associates proposes to mature a disruptive new ultra-compact and efficient laser technology called AIRTRAC that promises to meet these stringent requirements. The AIRTRAC configuration combined with Arets coffin athermal gain module dramatically reduce size, weight and power (SWaP) requirements on severely constrained platforms. AIRTRACs self-aligning, dimensionally stable cavity configuration is extremely robust over harsh environmental conditions. In this Phase-II SBIR Aret will build two technology demonstrator versions of the AIRTRAC: One for the high-altitude hunter-killer platforms (Predator, Reaper,) and another for the small marker UAS platforms (Puma AE, TigerShark, Cutlass). These tech demonstrator units will be tested and qualified over the environment to achieve an exit maturity of TRL-5.BENEFIT:A host of other military and civilian applications benefit from the development of compact and rugged high power, brightness and efficiency solid-state lasers sources. Complimentary military applications include long-range air- and space-borne lidar and ladar systems, which are hosted on platforms with limited payload and power capacities. The development of a new ultra-compact AIRTRAC laser configuration will provide > 50 mJ of high beam quality output in a package that requiring less than 6 cu-in in volume and < 0.5 lbs, which is well below the current state-of-the-art in compact laser designators. Moreover, the integration of Arets athermal gain module eliminates diode temperature control requirement, increasing the laser efficiency by a factor-of-two.AIRTRAC promises to meet future demand for an ultra low SWAP laser designator for ground based warfighters and small UAVs.The design is particularly novel because it enables full compliance with NATO PRF/PIM codes and pulsewidths in this very compact package.AIRTRAC is a scalable architecture that can be applied to other more traditional laser designator markets where higher energies are required. A host of civilian applications benefit from the development of an ultra-compact, light-weight and efficient solid-state laser source including law enforcement, homeland security, surveillance, and search and rescue.