Solid State High Energy Laser Batteries and Power Sources

The next generation of technology for laser weapons, i.e. diode pumped or fiber, requires significant electrical power for driving the laser and supporting systems. There is a need for compact and lightweight power generation, storage, and conditioning for transitioning the laser technology to an airborne platform for missile defense. Global Technology Connection, Inc. (GTC) in collaboration with a Li-ion battery manufacturer for high-energy lasers, Saft America Space and Defense Division, addresses the development of a health aware, innovative, lightweight, and robust power system that is scalable from 250kW to a system capable of powering the diodes arrays of a diode pumped MW class high energy laser system. This program will leverage GTC"s prognostic health monitoring tools for (Li-ion) battery systems and Saft America"s recent work on the development of Li-ion battery systems for high energy laser systems. The Phase I effort will concentrate on subscale testing of Li-ion batteries composed of 1 to 7 high power cells for 10"s of seconds pulses with off time less than 1 minute. Preliminary battery health monitoring algorithms will be developed to determine remaining pulses and battery runtime along with remaining calendar time before replacing battery. The best location for embedding the battery health algorithms will also be determined. From modeling and simulation of the battery system, noisy onboard power and dynamic load representing the laser system, initial requirements and designs of the charging hardware and filtering electronics will be determined. Phase I will include the development of plans to further scale the power system design to 250kW and 1MW in Phase II. The performance of the Li-ion battery based power system will be assessed according to weight, number of pulses and robustness to providing filtered power to the laser system. Phase II will develop and refine the Phase I health aware Li-ion battery system concept and prototype for 250kW capability.