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 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.
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.
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.
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Lockheed Martin Aculight is developing a prototype laser for potential use aboard tactical aircraft to defend against enemy planes, missiles, and other airborne threats.