SA PHOTONICS, LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N181-022

Description

The detection of small objects on the ocean surface at long stand-off distances is an ongoing need of the Navy. Current Periscope Detection Radar systems lack the spatial resolution needed to detect small objects, have large SWaP, and are not suitable for small aircraft and rotorcraft. Alternatively, LIDAR systems exist which have high spatial resolution and long operating ranges, but suffer from low scan rates, and therefore limited scan areas, due to the low repetition rates (100’s of Hz) of the bulk-optic lasers used. Lastly, in order to achieve high probability of detection and low false-alarm rates, a means to discriminate the hard return signal from a periscope or buoy from waves and surface movement.To address this need, SA Photonics proposes the development of our HawkEye LIDAR system. HawkEye utilizes our high repetition rate Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) fiber-based laser system that enables the ability to scan a large target area. The HawkEye system is a complete LIDAR detection system with built-in beam scanning, and high sensitivity digital receiver. The Hawkeye system is compact and low SWAP and is compatible with sky ball turrets on MH-60 and equivalent aircraft.