Branchpoint Enabled High Energy Laser System

Unlike astronomical adaptive optics applications, the turbulence and thermal-blooming aberrations in typical ship and aircraft defense operations are often so strong that branchpoints form and conventional adaptive optics fails. New sensors, processing and deformable mirrors are needed, especially: branchpoint-enabled wavefront sensors, deformable mirrors and processing combined with high resolution target imagery for aimpoint selection and maintenance plus end-to-end HEL to target boresight. Optical Physics Company (OPC) has been developing all these technologies individually under several contracts from AF, MDA, HEL JTO and Navy totaling over $6M. OPC has also delivered previous turn-key adaptive optic systems for advanced applications. As a result, OPC can offer an effective and moderate risk path to accomplish Navy objectives. The Phase I effort will produce a conceptual design for an operational system with high fidelity wave-optic simulation and performance characterization that will at least double the effective engagement range for Navy HEL systems. A preliminary design of the Phase II field test demonstration and a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) are planned during the Option phase. The Phase II field test demonstration over several kilometers of horizontal path under branchpoint turbulence conditions will raise the maturity for the technology to TRL 5.