Diode Pumped Alkaline Laser System: A High Powered, Low SWaP Directed Energy Option for Ballistic Missile Defense High-Level Summary - April 2017

Technical Report · Fri Apr 28 04:00:00 EDT 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1357366· OSTI ID:1357366

Wisoff, P. J. ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

The Diode-Pumped Alkali Laser (DPAL) system is an R&D effort funded by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) underway at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). MDA has described the characteristics needed for a Boost Phase directed energy (DE) weapon to work against ICBM-class threat missiles. In terms of the platform, the mission will require a high altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that can fly in the “quiet” stratosphere and display long endurance – i.e., days on station. In terms of the laser, MDA needs a high power, low size and weight laser that could be carried by such a platform and deliver lethal energy to an ICBM-class threat missile from hundreds of kilometers away. While both the military and industry are pursuing Directed Energy for tactical applications, MDA’s objectives pose a significantly greater challenge than other current efforts in terms of the power needed from the laser, the low size and weight required, and the range, speed, and size of the threat missiles. To that end, MDA is funding two R&D efforts to assess the feasibility of a high power (MWclass) and low SWaP (size, weight and power) laser: a fiber combining laser (FCL) project at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, and LLNL’s Diode-Pumped Alkali Laser (DPAL) system.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 1357366
• Report Number(s): LLNL--TR-730237
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE