LASER DAMAGE TO REENTRY VEHICLE ANTENNA WINDOWS

SPARTA, INC. PROPOSES AN ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY TO DETERMINE THE VULNERABILITY AND HARDNESS (V&H) OF TYPICAL RV ANTENNA WINDOWS AND COMPONENTS TO LASER EXPOSURE, AND TO IDENTIFY HARDENING TECHNIQUES IF NEEDED. PHASE I WILL (1) ESTABLISH THE DATA BASE EXISTING FOR V&H ANALYSES AND IDENTIFY DATA GAPS, (2) IDENTIFY POTENTIAL VULNERABILITIES OF ANTENNA DESIGNS REPRESENTATIVE OF CURRENT AND FUTURE SYSTEMS AND ESTABLISH THE MODES AND MAGNITUDES OF DAMAGE REQUIRED TO IMPACT MISSION PERFORMANCE, (3) ESTIMATE THE MAGNITUDES OF THE CW, RP AND SP THREAT PARAMETERS THAT WILL INDUCE SUCH DAMAGE, (4) DEVISE CANDIDATE HARDENED MATERIALS AND/OR TECHNIQUES AND ESTIMATE THEIR HARDNESS LEVELS, (5) RECOMMEND SPECIFIC PHASE II TESTING TO OBTAIN MISSING PROPERTIES, (6) IDENTIFY REQUIRED ANALYTICAL MODELING AND ESTABLISH THE ASSOCIATED ANALYSIS PLANS FOR DETAILED V&H ANALYSES TO BE CONDUCTED DURING PHASE II, AND (7) RECOMMEND TESTING OF HARDNESS OF UNHARDENED DESIGNS AND EVALUATION TESTING OF HARDENED MATERIALS AND/OR HARDENING TECHNIQUES DEVISED DURING THE PHASE I STUDY DESCRIBED HEREIN.