LASER ALTITUDE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR HIGH-VELOCITY LOW-ALTITUDE VEHICLES

HIGH-PERFORMANCE MILITARY AIRCRAFT AND CRUISE MISSILES REQUIRE IMPROVED CAPABILITIES FOR HIGH-VELOCITY, LOW-ALTITUDE, OVER-WATER OPERATION. THIS WILL ENABLE THEM TO ELUDE DETECTION AND INCREASE SURVIVABILITY. CURRENT ALTITUDE MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGIES SUFFER FROM INADEQUATE ACCURACY AND EMIT RADIATION THAT CAN BE USED TO TARGET THE VEHICLE. THE USE OF A HIGH PULSE-RATE, COMPACT LASER ALTIMETER ADDRESSES ALL PERFORMANCE ISSUES BY PROVIDING CENTIMETER ACCURACY POTENTIAL OVER A WIDE ALTITUDE RANGE; HIGH SAMPLING RATES YIELDING VERY SHORT ALONG-TRACK DISTANCE INTERVALS BETWEEN EACH MEASUREMENT; AND HIGH-LEVEL COVERTNESS DUE TO MINIMIZE STRAY RADIATION (PLUS THE POSSIBILITY OF EMPLOYING ACTIVE COUNTER-COUNTERMEASURE FEATURES). THIS PULSED-LASER ALTIMETER CAN BE AS SMALL AS A SOFT-DRINK CAN. ADDITIONALLY, THE BASIC DESIGN CAN BE ENHANCED TO PROVIDE (A) EFFECTIVE THREE-DIMENSIONAL SCANNING FOR NAVIGATION AID, VEHICLE MOTION COMPENSATION TO PROVIDE TRUE ALTITUDE WHILE BANKING, LOOKAHEAD FOR OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE AND/OR (B) SENSOR FUSION SINCE THE ELECTRONICS CAN INTEGRATE MILLIMETER-WAVE AND RADAR TRANSDUCERS. HOLOMETRIX AIRBORNE EQUIPMENT HAS MEASURED TERRAIN PROFILES TO BETTER THAN 1" ACCURACY; PHASE I EFFORTS WILL CONCENTRATE ON BRINGING THIS CAPABILITY TO SUPERSONIC MEASUREMENTS ABOVE OCEAN SURFACES.