Infrared countermeasures system prototype passes field tests

April 3, 2012

The Laser Systems business of Northrop Grumman said its All Semiconductor Airborne Laser Threat Terminator (ASALTT) infrared countermeasure (IRCM) laser system has advanced to Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6).

Conard Holton

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Apopka, FL--The Laser Systems business of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) said its All Semiconductor Airborne Laser Threat Terminator (ASALTT) infrared countermeasure (IRCM) laser system has advanced to Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6), a government measurement system that includes nine levels. ASALTT is a quantum cascade laser-based mid-infrared laser developed to protect a variety of fixed-wing and rotor aircraft.

Following numerous environmental and field tests held at its Apopka facility and various sites throughout the country, the ASALTT system successfully passed a series of thermal, shock, vibration, and other field tests equivalent to 2,500 hours of field use. In addition, the ASALTT met all performance specifications for multiple IRCM platforms, including the UH-60, C-17, and C-130 aircraft.

The system was designed using MOSA Inside, a modular open systems approach (MOSA) to interior hardware and software that allows flexibility for upgrades. The architecture provides for a single laser output, using the best technologies available from laser diodes, interband cavity lasers, quantum cascade lasers, fiber and more traditional laser sources from the ultraviolet through long-wave IR bands.

SOURCE: www.northropgrumman.com

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.