Military Laser Technology for Defense: Technology for Revolutionizing 21st Century Warfare

Recent advances in ultra-high-power lasers, including the free-electron laser, and impressive airborne demonstrations of laser weapons systems, such as the airborne laser, have shown the enormous potential of laser technology to revolutionize 21st century warfare.

Military Laser Technology for Defense, includes only unclassified or declassified information. The book focuses on military applications that involve propagation of light through the atmosphere and provides basic relevant background technology. It describes high-power lasers and masers, including the free-electron laser. Further, Military Laser Technology for Defense addresses how laser technology can effectively mitigate six of the most pressing military threats of the 21st century: attack by missiles, terrorists, chemical and biological weapons, as well as difficulty in imaging in bad weather and threats from directed beam weapons and future nuclear weapons. The author believes that laser technology will revolutionize warfare in the 21st century.

PREFACE.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

I OPTICS TECHNOLOGY FOR DEFENSE SYSTEMS.

1 OPTICAL RAYS.

1.1 Paraxial Optics.

1.2 Geometric or Ray Optics.

1.3 Optics for Launching and Receiving Beams.

2 GAUSSIAN BEAMS AND POLARIZATION.

2.1 Gaussian Beams.

2.2 Polarization.

3 OPTICAL DIFFRACTION.

3.1 Introduction to Diffraction.

3.2 Uncertainty Principle for Fourier Transforms.

3.3 Scalar Diffraction.

3.4 Diffraction-Limited Imaging.

4 DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENTS.

4.1 Applications of DOEs.

4.2 Diffraction Gratings.

4.3 Zone Plate Design and Simulation.

4.4 Gerchberg–Saxton Algorithm for Design of DOEs.

5 PROPAGATION AND COMPENSATION FOR ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE.

5.1 Statistics Involved.

5.2 Optical Turbulence in the Atmosphere.

5.3 Adaptive Optics.

5.4 Computation of Laser Light Through Atmospheric Turbulence.

6 OPTICAL INTERFEROMETERS AND OSCILLATORS.

6.1 Optical Interferometers.

6.2 Fabry–Perot Resonators.

6.3 Thin-Film Interferometric Filters and Dielectric Mirrors.

II LASER TECHNOLOGY FOR DEFENSE SYSTEMS.

7 PRINCIPLES FOR BOUND ELECTRON STATE LASERS.

7.1 Laser Generation of Bound Electron State Coherent Radiation.

7.2 Semiconductor Laser Diodes.

7.3 Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers.

8 POWER LASERS.

8.1 Characteristics.

8.2 Solid-State Lasers.

8.3 Powerful Gas Lasers.

9 PULSED HIGH PEAK POWER LASERS.

9.1 Situations in which Pulsed Lasers may be Preferable.

9.2 Mode-Locked Lasers.

9.3 Q-Switched Lasers.

9.4 Space and Time Focusing of Laser Light.

10 ULTRAHIGH-POWER CYCLOTRON MASERS/LASERS.

10.1 Introduction to Cyclotron or Gyro Lasers and Masers.

10.2 Gyrotron-Type Lasers and Masers.

10.3 Vircator Impulse Source.

11 FREE-ELECTRON LASER/MASER.

11.1 Significance and Principles of Free-Electron Laser/Maser.

11.2 Explanation of Free-Electron Laser Operation.

11.3 Description of High- and Low-Power Demonstrations.

III APPLICATIONS TO PROTECT AGAINST MILITARY THREATS.

12 LASER PROTECTION FROM MISSILES.

12.1 Protecting from Missiles and Nuclear-Tipped ICBMs.

12.2 The Airborne Laser Program for Protecting from ICBMs.

12.3 Protecting from Homing Missiles.

12.4 Protecting Assets from Missiles.

13 LASER TO ADDRESS THREAT OF NEW NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

13.1 Laser Solution to Nuclear Weapons Threat.

13.2 Description of National Infrastructure Laser.

14 PROTECTING ASSETS FROM DIRECTED ENERGY LASERS.

14.1 Laser Characteristics Estimated by Laser Warning Device.

14.2 Laser Warning Devices.

15 LIDAR PROTECTS FROM CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS.

15.1 Introduction to Lidar and Military Applications.

15.2 Description of Typical Lidar System.

15.3 Spectrometers.

15.4 Spectroscopic Lidar Senses Chemical Weapons.

16 94 GHz RADAR DETECTS/TRACKS/IDENTIFIES OBJECTS IN BAD WEATHER.

16.1 Propagation of Electromagnetic Radiation Through Atmosphere.

16.2 High-Resolution Inclement Weather 94 GHz Radar.

16.3 Applications, Monitoring Space, High Doppler, and Low Sea Elevation.

17 PROTECTING FROM TERRORISTS WITH W-BAND.

17.1 Nonlethal Crowd Control with Active Denial System.

17.2 Body Scanning for Hidden Weapons.

17.3 Inspecting Unopened Packages.

17.4 Destruction and Protection of Electronics.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

INDEX.

Alastair D. McAulay, PhD, is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Lehigh University. Previously he was NCR professor and chairman of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Wright State University and program manager in the Central Research Laboratories of Texas Instruments. He has published more than 150 papers and his book Optical Computer Architectures, published by Wiley in 1991, has been used for courses around the world and reprinted several times.

Contact the author at www.linkedin.com/in/alastairmcaulay