Variable Pulsewidth Laser

The Variable Pulsewidth Laser (VPL) presently under development by Areté (Base Phase-II Contract W31P4Q-18-C-0032) is on its way to providing great value to the Army for quantifying seeker performance across a wide range of designator pulse durations.  This capability is especially important given the recent move toward very low-SWaP designators that often do not meet pulsewidth requirements for legacy seekers.  In addition to evaluating varied pulse durations on seeker performance, the Army is also keenly interested in evaluating other pulse shapes.  The VPL system has this intrinsic capability, but fully developing the arbitrary waveform generating capability is beyond the scope of the Base Phase-II effort. In this proposal, we describe capabilities and benefits of the current system and provide a plan to provide additional benefit to the Army via a Sequential Phase-II program.  Benefits to the Army would be realized in the form of enhanced capability of the current system, in addition to core capabilities that would provide benefits in the form of future systems and laser technology in support of the Army’s modernization priorities for long range precision fires and future vertical lift.