Latest generation of laser weapons confronts systems designers with formidable thermal management and cooling issues
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Laser weapons development is pushing laser technology out of the laboratory and into directed-energy weapons applications in the field
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U.S. Army selects Northrop Grumman 100-kilowatt, solid-state laser for field tests
REDONDO BEACH, Calif.—A solid-state laser system from Northrop Grumman Corp. which produces a powerful beam from a continuous-wave, electric laser is joining other speed-of-light weapons for field tests at the Army’s High Energy Laser System Test Facility (HELSTF), at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
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Multisensor designs and increasing resolutions are major trends in infrared and other electro-optical sensors
Infrared (IR) and other electro-optical sensors for aerospace and defense applications have come a long way in the past few decades, and over the next several years will see major technological breakthroughs in sensitivity, resolution, and overall ability to help military forces see through fog, smoke, dust, and the darkness of night.
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DOD proposes 3.2 percent spending increase on electronics and communications in 2011 budget set to reach $17.45 billion
WASHINGTON–Leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) propose spending $17.45 billion in fiscal year 2011 for procurement and research in military communications, electronics, telecommunications, and intelligence (CET&I) technologies, which would represent an increase of 3.2 percent from current-year enacted levels of $16.9 billion, according to Pentagon budget documents.
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The DOD budget is out, and the news is good
The Obama Administration’s military budget proposals for next year are out, and we can breathe a collective sigh of relief.
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NanoSAR—synthetic-aperture radar (SAR payload available from Insitu
BINGEN, Wash., 24 Feb. 2010. Insitu Inc. announced the availability of NanoSAR, a tactical-level, synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) payload, for its ScanEagle dual bay and Integrator unmanned aircraft systems (UASs).
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SAIC wins $351 million task order to provide technical and engineering services to Naval Surface Warfare Center - Crane Division
MCLEAN, Va., 23 Feb. 2010. Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) won a task order by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) - Crane Division to support its Joint Special Operations Response Department (JSORD) with technical and engineering services. The follow-on contract has a two-year base period of performance, three one-year options, and a total value of more than $351 million, if all options are exercised.
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Multisensor designs and increasing resolutions are major trends in infrared and other electro-optical sensorsProduct intelligence -- Infrared (IR) and other electro-optical sensors for aerospace and defense applications have come a long way in the past few decades, and over the next several years will see major technological breakthroughs in sensitivity, resolution, and overall ability to help military forces see through fog, smoke, dust, and the darkness of night. |
U.S. Army selects Northrop Grumman's 100kW solid-state laser for field tests
REDONDO BEACH, Calif., 20 Feb. 2010. The from Northrop Grumman Corp.'s (NYSE:NOC) solid-state laser system – which produces a powerful beam from a continuous wave, electric laser – is joining other speed-of-light weapons demonstrators for field tests at the Army's High Energy Laser System Test Facility (HELSTF), N.M.
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Airborne Laser Testbed team destroys boosting ballistic missile
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., 13 Feb. 2010. The U.S. Missle Defense Agency's Airborne Laser Testbed (ABLT) destroyed a ballistic missile in boost phase.
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DOD proposes 3.2% spending increase on electronics and communications in 2011 budget set to reach $17.45 billion
WASHINGTON, 9 Feb. 2010. Leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) propose spending $17.45 billion in fiscal year 2011 for procurement and research in military communications, electronics, telecommunications, and intelligence (CET&I) technologies, which would represent an increase of 3.2 percent increase from current-year enacted levels of $16.9 billion, according to Pentagon budget documents.
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FLIR Systems gains $4.9 million Colombian military order for electro-optics
Officials in the Colombian Ministry of Defense needed infrared electro-optics to support airborne day and night counter-narcotic and counter-insurgency missions.
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High-power laser on Avenger combat vehicle destroys IEDs in tests
HUNTSVILLE, Ala.—A laser weapon mounted on an Avenger combat vehicle destroyed 50 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) like those that kill U. S. service members in Iraq and Afghanistan during September testing, say officials of the Boeing Co., designer of the Avenger high-power laser.
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Extreme-field-of-view surveillance imaging technology is goal of DARPA FDOS program
ARLINGTON, Va., 22 Jan. 2010. Electro-optics scientists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are asking industry to develop advanced high-resolution 3D imaging technology with dramatically wide field of view and depth of field in reconnaissance and surveillance applications.
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Future of hand-held electro-optical observation devices is topic of Marine Corps industry day
QUANTICO MARINE BASE, Va., 21 Jan. 2010. U.S. Marine Corps electro-optics experts are sponsoring an optics research conference March 9 to 11 to learn about industry electro-optical work applicable to a future Marine Corps family of individual optics, as well as replacements to currently fielded hand-held observation and illumination devices.
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Upgraded P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft delivered for Pakistan
EAGAN, MINN., 15 Jan. 2010. Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] delivered two of seven upgraded P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan under the U.S. Government's Foreign Military Sales program.
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Photonics mast, electro-optical sensor suite for attack submarines to come from Kollmorgen
U.S. Navy officials needed electro-optical components and submarine sensor systems for the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class fast attack submarines.
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High-power laser on Avenger combat vehicle destroyers IEDs in September tests
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., 2 Dec. 2009. A laser weapon mounted on an Avenger combat vehicle destroyed 50 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) like those that kill U.S. service members in Iraq and Afghanistan during September testing, say officials of the Boeing Co., designer of the Avenger high-power laser.
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NASA needs infrared sensor system for future JDEM space-based telescope
GREENBELT, Md., 25 Nov. 2009. Electro-optics experts at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., are getting ready to ask industry to build an infrared sensor system for the future Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) near-infrared (NIR) space-based telescope project.
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OVIEDO, Fla., 24 May 2010. The latest generation of U.S. laser weapons is providing warfighters with giant improvements in capability, but these directed-energy weapons also are giving laser systems designers with substantial challenges when it comes to the thermal management and cooling technologies necessary to keep laser weaponry cool enough to avoid malfunctions and early wearout.
Special report -- Light sabers and blasters in Star Wars, phasers on Star Trek, the heat-ray in H.G. Wells’s War of the Worlds, and rayguns and death rays in myriad films from the 1960s and 1970s. The phrase "laser weapon" most often conjures images of these and other fictional, futuristic devices. In reality, laser weapons are currently undergoing testing and likely to be fielded in the very near future.