UAV Laser MAD System

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will establish the feasibility of integrating a small, light weight MAD sensor and signal processing technology with an UAV platform for shallow water and land surveillance. Polatomic's approach utilizes a miniature laser magnetometer concept and technology developed under SBIR contracts from NASA, NSF and the Navy. The laser magnetometer has attributes important for UAV applications including: scalar measurement capability (no orientation sensitivity), omni-directional operation (no dead zones), high sensitivity (less than 0.5 pT/(Hz)1/2) and bandwidth to support ELF measurements. This sensor has the potential for achieving 10X better resolution than the AN/ASQ-81 in the DC to 20Hz band. In Phase I a concept for an integrated UAV system including a sensor suite based on the laser magnetometer and effective ground station signal processing will be developed. Performance of the proposed UAV Laser MAD System for magnetic mapping, ASW, and land anomaly surveillance missions will be analyzed. Volume, weight, performance and cost goals will be established. The UAV Laser MAD System will provide the Navy with an enhanced capability to map area magnetic profiles, detect, classify and track a broad range of land/sea targets without risk to expensive manned assets.