Optical Based Proximity Sensor for Fuzing

Systems & Processes Engineering Corporation (SPEC) proposes an optical proximity fuze, based on techniques developed for its product line of small, autonomous LADARs. The proposed Optical Proximity Fuze provides key advantages: 1) the fuze receive detectors are inexpensive pin diodes vs. APDs; 2) the fuze operates at low power levels and in all light conditions; 3) the fuze is immune to battlefield RF interference and jamming; 4) the fuze will be implemented in a single, ultra-hardened optical MCM to meet extreme shock, acceleration, and vibration specifications; and 5) the fuze optical MCM can be placed into high volume, low cost production. The optical proximity fuze has an ultra wide angle pickup array with phase encoded Barker 13 pulse compression to achieve a signal-to-noise enhancement of 13/1. A link analysis of representative air conditions resulted in a 43/1 signal-to-noise with a single laser pulse and a 2.23x improvement with our 5 laser pulse algorithm. SPEC’s extensive experience in packaging of artillery fired electronics will be applied to form a module that will survive the 50,000G shock and all other specified environments. The proposed combination of performance, extreme hardness and cost will yield an ideal proximity fuze for the modern battlefield.