SA PHOTONICS, LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N182-132

Description

Point-to-point Free-Space Optical (FSO) communication systems have been demonstrated and are commercially available. Additionally, the technology to develop such systems continue to evolve, such that low cost, compact FSO systems are now a possibility. FSO systems have many desirable attributes for Navy aircraft and surface vessels, especially their ability to operate without RF emissions, their immunity to RF interference and jamming, and the inherent LPI/LPD operation. However, to achieve widespread use in naval applications, a more advanced communication network is required, with the ability to simultaneously communicate between multiple ships and aircraft. To address this need, SA Photonics proposes the development of our EagleEye airborne FSO communication system. The EagleEye system is an airborne version of our shipboard MultiEye™ system which is being developed under an ONR Phase II SBIR program. EagleEye has an identical architecture as MultiEye, but includes additional functionality to support operation on airborne platforms including a fully stabilized optical head, a dedicated Wide-Field-of-View (WFOV) acquisition sensor, and dedicated acquisition beacon. The combination of these features allows operation on airborne platforms and supports rapid, autonomous acquisition. EagleEye is compatible with MultiEye, and will enable a wide variety of ship-to-air communications needs to be met.