REALTIME CASUALTY ASSESSMENT (RTCA) UNDER OBSCURED BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS

THE ARMY'S PRIME FORCE ON FORCE TRAINING SYSTEM (MULTIPLE INTEGRATED LASER ENGAGEMENT SYSTEM (MILES)) OPERATES AT .904 MICRONS. THIS WAVELENGTH IS LIMITED BY EYE SAFETY AND ATTENUATION BY BATTLEFIELD OBSCURANT CONSIDERATIONS. NEW ARMY WEAPON SYSTEMS ARE DESIGNED TO OPERATE OUT TO RANGES IN EXCESS OF 8 KM UNDER ALL BATTLEFIELD VISIBILITY CONDITIONS. MILLIMETER WAVE SENSOR AND GUIDANCE/CONTROL SYSTEMS AND THERMAL SIGHTS DICTATE THAT ENGAGEMENT TRAINING SYSTEMS (MILES) MUST HAVE IMPROVED OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY TO EFFECTIVELY SIMULATE THESE NEW WEAPON SYSTEMS. SCHWARTZ ELECTRO-OPTICS, INC. (SEO) HAS DEVELOPED NEW SOLID STATE LASERS OPERATING IN THE 2 TO 3 MICRON REGION. SINCE THESE WAVELENGTHS ARE RELATIVELY EYESAFE AND ARE NOT HEAVILY ATTENUATED BY BATTLEFIELD OBSCURANT, A MILES SYSTEM OPERATING IN THIS REGION COULD RETAIN THE SMALL SIZE AND WEIGHT OF CURRENT MILES WHILE PROVIDING THE INFORMATION TRANSMISSION (6KZ) RATE AND RANGE NEEDED TO SIMULATE THE NEW WEAPON SYSTEMS. SEO PROPOSES TO ASSEMBLE AN ENGAGEMENT SIMULATIO NSYSTEM OPERATION IN THE 2 TO 3 MICRON REGION AND TEST IT DURING SMOKE WEEK AT EGLIN AFB OR OTHER GOVERNMENT FACILITY.