Low Mirror Count Tactical HEL Beam Control Architecture

Optical Physics Company demonstrated the feasibility of a novel low complexity and low component count HEL Beam Control Architecture during the Phase I study. This SBIR Phase II project will demonstrate the full closed-loop operation of the BILL-Less control system, both in the lab and in wave-optic simulation of AF-selected scenarios. The demonstration will raise technology maturity to TRL 4 by including all key attributes of the HEL Architecture. To enhance realism, the experiments will be conducted with aerosol scatter up to 100X greater than the target return and turbulence aberration plates. The 10-month Phase II Base effort will include a detailed plan for the Phase II Option Field Experiment at TRL 5. The Option is a 12 month effort including 6 weeks at SOR to demonstrate the BILL-Less control system at moderate power over several kilometers range. OPC will provide the beam and target tracker and the speckle based wavefront sensor algorithms as well as the optical elements for polarization control. Subcontractor NGST will provide a full set of high power AO hardware. AFRL will be asked to provide the Vesta high power laser beam and the Auxiliary Beam Director (ABD).