Compact Magnetic Detection Set for ASW and Land-Ba

This SBIR Phase II proposal describes the development of a flyable prototype realization of a Compact Magnetic Detection Set (CMDS) for air ASW. The CMDS laser magnetometer is an innovative light-weight, compact, low-power, high-sensitivity instrument capable of measuring scalar DC and ELF magnetic fields with a sensitivity better than 0.3 pT/ãHz in the frequency interval 0.01-100 Hz. A design goal of the CMDS is to reduce the system volume, weight and power by a factor of two with respect to AN/ASQ-233 system parameters. The CMDS is intended for use on UAVs (vertical take-off and fixed wing) employed for shallow water ASW and land-based target detection such as buried weapons caches and IEDs. The Phase II effort will involve fabrication of a CMDS flyable prototype unit, integration of all of the ancillary sensors into the system, and demonstration of the specified 0.3 pT/ãHz noise floor in a laboratory environment. The Phase III effort will encompass the design, fabrication and demonstration of a hardened mil-spec CMDS system.