Development of a Thermal Management System for Tactical Airborne High Power Laser Applications

Current aircraft thermal management systems are not capable of dissipating high-heat-flux thermal loads or transporting and rejecting overall thermal loads on the order of those associated with tactical lasers. Beyond overcoming limitations of existing systems, the developmental system must meet strict volume, mass, and reliability requirements associated with aircraft operation. In Phase I, Mainstream will complete both an analytical evaluation of candidate high-heat-flux cooling technologies and system architectures for an airborne tactical fiber laser system as well as an experimental evaluation of a sub-scale thermal management system. During the Phase I option, Mainstream will design the complete full-scale fiber laser thermal management system in order to accelerate the timeline to testing a working full-scale system in Phase II. This ambitious effort will be made possible by leveraging Mainstream’s extensive experience and background in advanced thermal management and heat transfer.