Excalibur*
Abstract
*Excalibur aggregates the following programs: High Power Efficient and Reliable Laser Bars (HiPER), Revolution in Fiber Lasers (RIFL), and Coherently Combined High-Power Single-Mode Emitters (COCHISE) The Excalibur program will develop high-power electronically-steerable optical arrays, with each array element powered by a fiber laser amplifier. These fiber-laser arrays will be sufficiently lightweight, compact, and electrically efficient to be fielded on a variety of platforms with minimal impact to the platform's original mission capabilities. Each array element will possess an adaptive-optic capability to minimize beam divergence in the presence of atmospheric turbulence, together with wide-field-of-view beam steering for target tracking. With each Excalibur array element powered by high power fiber laser amplifiers (at up to 3 kilowatts per amplifier), high power air-to-air and air-to-ground engagements will be enabled that were previously infeasible because of laser system size and weight. In addition, this program will also develop kilowatt-class arrays of diode lasers that will provide the higher spatial and temporal bandwidths needed to correct for the increased air turbulence effects encountered in ground-to-ground engagements. Excalibur arrays will be conformal to aircraft surfaces and scalable in size and power by adding elements to the array. By defending airborne platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles against proliferated, deployed, and next-generation man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), Excalibur will enable these reconnaissance platforms to fly at lower altitude and obtain truly persistent, all-weather ground reconnaissance despite low-lying cloud cover. Further capabilities include multichannel laser communications, target identification, tracking, designation, precision defeat with minimal collateral effects as well as other applications. The Excalibur Budget Activity 2 program will develop the core set of laser components for efficiently driving elements of high-power electronically steerable optical arrays, namely, high-power coherently- and spectrally-combinable fiber laser amplifiers, high-brightness laser diodes for efficiently pumping the fiber laser amplifiers, and kW-class single-mode laser diode arrays. These components will be designed to work in tandem with the high-power laser amplifier arrays developed under the Budget Activity 3 Excalibur program in PE 0603739E, Project MT-15.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2012
- Source ID
- 6698138b67365f5c029cc9080b84fff4
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- Root: TACTICAL TECHNOLOGY