power source. Instead, the smart
sensor is powered by the same
infrared wavelengths for which
it’s designed to look. The sensor was developed as part of
DARPA’s Near Zero Power RF and
Sensor Operation (N-ZERO) program and could be used for a wide
range of things, including detecting approaching human bodies
or fuel-burning cars, identifying wildfires before they become
uncontrollable, or pairing with
laser sources for new types of
remote control and communication applications. The sensors are
based on tiny mechanical switch-es that are triggered by specific wavelength of lights. When this
happens, they utilize the energy
contained in these wavelengths to
mechanically close a pair of electrical contacts, creating a low-re-sistance electrical connection
between a battery and a load.
BAE Systems developing
technology to protect
pilots from laser attacks
BAE Systems engineers have
developed a low-cost, lightweight,
flexible system that can block
dangerous laser light, protecting
pilots and flight crew from hostile
attacks. The laser-protection technique for aircraft is selective in the
way it prevents laser transmission,
meaning a high level of natural
light still can pass through the canopy with minimal color distortion.
Pilots are protected from dangerous
laser incidents with no deterioration in vision. Laser attacks targeting pilots and air crews are a major
concern, and can distract pilots,
obscure instruments, and cause
short-lived ‘flash’ blindness. Í
Lockheed Aculight eyes
high-power laser to
defend tactical aircraft
BY John Keller
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. — Laser
weapons experts at Lockheed
Martin Corp. are helping the U.S.
Air Force develop a compact, ruggedized, high-power laser to
defend tactical aircraft flying at
or above the speed of sound from
enemy aircraft and missiles.
Officials of the Laser Division
of the Air Force Research
Laboratory’s Directed Energy
Directorate at Kirtland Air Force
Base, N.M., announced a $26.3 million contract to Lockheed Martin
Aculight in Bothell, Wash., for the
Laser Advancements for Next-generation Compact Environments
(LANCE) project. LANCE seeks
to explore ways of reducing risk
for laser weapons on aircraft.
Lockheed Martin Aculight experts
will help advance the state of the
art in laser technologies, demonstrate performance, and assess the
operational utility of a laser weapon small enough to fit on tactical
aircraft like jet fighters.
The LANCE project is part of the
Air Force’s Self-protect High Energy
Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program to develop and assess a high-energy laser for use against enemy
aircraft, missiles, and other airborne threats. On the SHiELD program, Northrop Grumman Corp.
Aerospace Systems in Redondo
Beach, Calif., is developing beam-
control technology to protect cur-
rent and future fighter aircraft with
directed-energy systems. Northrop
Grumman is using a laser housed
in a pod attached to a fighter-sized
aircraft.
Air Force researchers are asking
Aculight to demonstrate a ruggedized, high-power laser subsystem
for flight testing on the Northrop
Grumman aircraft-attached
SHiELD pod. This laser must minimize beam quality degradation
under the stressing flight conditions of high-performance tactical
aircraft.
Aculight experts will quantify
the performance of this airborne
defensive laser system for laser
output power, electrical-to-optical
efficiency, power stability, beam jitter, and power in the bucket. The
laser must be able to withstand
the G loads and vibration of tactical aircraft maneuvers, and must
be ready for flight demonstrations by 2021.
On this contract, Lockheed
Martin Aculight will do the work in
Bothell, Wash., and should be finished by September 2022. Í
FOR MORE INFORMATION visit
Lockheed Martin online at www.
lockheedmartin.com.
Lockheed Martin Aculight is developing a
prototype laser for potential use aboard
tactical aircraft to defend against enemy
planes, missiles, and other airborne threats.
