PASSIVE COUNTERMEASURES AGAINST LASER TARGET ILLUMINATORS

A GREAT NEED EXISTS TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE COUNTERMEASURE AGAINST HOSTILE WEAPONS, UTILIZING LASER TARGET ILLUMINATOR GUIDANCE SYSTEMS. MANY AIR FORCE ASSETS COULD BE AT GREAT RISK FROM THESE SYSTEMS, DUE TO THEIR INHERENT ACCURACY AND MOBILE CHARACTERISTICS. LASER TARGET ILLUMINATORS (LTI) ARE CURRENTLY DEPLOYED IN A VARIETY OF GROUND AND AIR BASED WEAPONS SYSTEMS. THESE FACTORS COUPLED WITH THE SHORT LOCK-ON TIMES TYPICAL OF LTIS DISABLE OR IMPARE TRADITIONAL COUNTERMEASURES. THE IDEAL COUNTERMEASURE WOULD ABSORB LASER RADIATION OF ANY WAVELENGTH, BE ECONOMICAL TO INSTALL, NOT INTERFERE WITH THE FUNCTION OR OPERATION OF THE ASSET AND BE EFFECTIVE IN SEVERE WEATHER AND BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS. PROPOSED HERE IS A PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AN LTI COUNTERMEASURE, LASER ABSORBING COATING TO ACHIEVE THESE IDEALS. SEVERAL COATING COMPOSITIONS HAVE BEEN TESTED AND FOUND TO ABSORB GREATER THAN 99% AT 1.06 AND 10.6 MICRONS, WAVELENGTHS WIDELY UTILIZED BY LTI SYSTEMS. THESE COATINGS HAVE EXCELLENT WEAR AND ADHERENCE PROPERTIES, ARE INEXPENSIVE, CAN BE APPLIED TO A VARIETY OF ASSETS AND WOULD NOT INTERFERE WITH THE ASSETS FUNCTION. THIS PROGRAM WILL ASSESS LTI TECHNOLOGY, TEST ABSORPTION CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW AND WORN COATING SAMPLES AT KNOWN LTI WAVELENGTHS AND ASSESS THE COSTS OF IMPLEMENTATION.