Novel Concept for Mapping Out No Fire Zones for a Scalable Effects High Power Laser System with a Multi-Mission Capability

High-Energy Laser (HEL) systems offer advantages of scalability and precision attack unavailable with conventional munitions. Their long-range, speed-of-light-attack capability provides unique benefits for area defense, precision attack, and covert strike, but lasers introduce new elements of airspace deconfliction to the battlefield. HEL systems require a clear line of sight to the target as conventional munitions do. Even though modern laser weapons can maintain the HEL beam on a specific aimpoint on a moving target, they still require clear airspace beyond the target for safety considerations. Existing airspace deconfliction approaches lack key features necessary to transition weapons from the test range and onto the battlefield. These features include: real-time whole-airspace deconfliction, simultaneous multi-target deconfliction, and the ability to consider dynamics and damage thresholds in calculating potential collateral damage. Our approach addresses these needs, and also directly addresses the probabilistic nature of the noise and uncertainty in predicting no-fire zones.