LASER NEUTRALIZATION OF MUNITIONS

THE U.S. AIR FORCE HAS A REQUIREMENT TO CLEAR UNEXPLODED ORDNANCES (UXOS) FROM THE AIRBASE RUNWAYS, TAXIWAYS, AND RIVETTE AREAS. THE CURRENT TECHNIQUES FOR CLEARING IVOLVES THE USE OF THE MARV-SMUD, A 50 CALIBER GUN, AND A POWERED BLADE. SPARTA, INC. AND THE U.S. ARMY HAVE INVESTIGATED THE USE OF LASER SYSTEMS TO DETONATE AND NEUTRALIZE ORDNANCE EXPERIMENTALLY AND ANALYTICALLY. THE LASER SYSTEM HAS THE ABILITY TO NEUTRALIZE ORDNANCE WITH LOW ORDER EXPLOSIONS WHICH MINIMIZE THE DAMAGE TO THE RUNWAY, HENCE MINIMIZES THE OVERALL TIME REQUIRED TO RESTORE THE AIRBASE TO OPERATING CONDITION. THIS STUDY WILL COVER THREE AREAS: (1) SPARTA WILL INVESTIGATE THE USE OF INDUSTRIAL LASERS FOR NEUTRALIZING UXOS INSTEAD OF THE MORE EXPENSIVE CUSTOM DESIGNED LASERS, (2) SPARTA WILL INVESTIGATE AREAS OF FIRE CONTROL, AND (3) SPARTA WILL INVESTIGATE LASER DAMAGE FOR LARGE THICK-WALLED MUNITIONS. SPARTA, IN CONJUNCTION WITH U.S. LASER CORP., AND LASERCRAFT WILL PERFORM TESTS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS SUCH AS LASER ELECTRICAL CONVERSION EFFICIENCY AND BEAM DIVERGENCE WHEN THEY OPERATE AT ELEVATED COOLANT TEMPERATURES.