Naval Postgraduate School Support Task
Abstract
The purpose of this task was to provide lecturing and curriculum development support, as needed, to the Naval Postgraduate School's Physics Department/Weapons Curriculum in the area of High Energy Laser systems. The lecture covered the basic elements of how an HEL weapon works, described the types of lasers which have achieved high average power, showed results from a few MIRACL/SLBD tests, showed top-level budgets for DoD's MEL programs over the past three decades, and briefly described the Airborne Laser Program, the Space Based Laser Program, and THEL. While at NPS, work was initiated with faculty members on developing a course outline in Directed Energy. NPS Weapon System faculty are developing a curriculum called System Engineering Integration for Navy Unrestricted Line Officers. The stated goal is ..... to enable the student to exploit emerging technologies to achieve war-fighting advantages." Our nation's approach to winning conflicts through technological superiority requires Naval Officers to function using highly complex, integrated weapon systems. This necessitates, however, a firm grounding in math, physics and engineering disciplines to understand weapon system limitations and to obtain full benefit from their capabilities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA376971