NUTRONICS, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: ABSTRACT: Nutronics, Inc. proposes to develop a detailed conceptual design for a general

Description

ABSTRACT: Nutronics, Inc. proposes to develop a detailed conceptual design for a general purpose, rugged, compact and lightweight beam director design for high energy laser phased array weapon systems. Our expertise in target based phase measurement approaches provides us with a unique insight into the basic requirements of both the subaperture for a phased array weapon system beam director and for the full phased array beam director. Examining the basic requirements for each of the candidate target based phase sensing method reveals a common set of requirements that can be met by a Generalized Phased Array Weapon System Beam Director (GPAWS-BD). The GPAWS-BD is comprised of (1) a common subaperture optical train; (2) a rigid full-array superstructure; and (3) subaperture beam steering. Our program proposes to evaluate 3 subaperture beam steering approaches, each of which has different potential strengths and weaknesses. Nutronics, Inc. will apply our thermal and vibration modeling tools to evaluate candidate initial opto-mechanical designs and utilize these results as inputs to our rigorous covariance analysis tools to develop performance predictions for the different approaches and will trade these against risk, cost, and size, weight, and power. BENEFIT: The proposed effort has numerous potential benefits and commercial applications, including (but not limited to): laser communication, space situational awareness, astronomical ground based imaging, laser radar, laser rangefinding, aircraft self defense (both commercial and military), air-base defense, ship self-defense, and tactical precision strike.