May 6, 2025

US12292263 - Safety assembly for training use of a laser-directed energy weapon

A safety assembly for use with a laser-directed energy weapon is disclosed. The assembly comprises a control system comprising a photodetector and a processing unit; and an optical device configured to attach to a target such that, when attached, the optical device provides a light beam to the photodetector. The processing unit is arranged to compare the received light beam against one or more predetermined attributes, and to permit the laser-directed energy weapon to fire only when the received light beam is determined to have the one or more attributes.

Assignee: MBDA UK LIMITED
Inventors: Andrew Peters, Jon Daw, Martyn Robert Jennings, William Michael George Halstead, Colin Bridgewater, Mark Owen
Filing date: 2021-05-10

The patent describes a safety assembly for laser-directed energy weapons that includes a control system with a photodetector and a processing unit, along with an optical device that attaches to a target to provide a light beam for training purposes. The assembly features selectable training and combat modes, allowing the weapon to fire only when specific light beam attributes are detected during training.

Claim 1

A safety assembly for a laser-directed energy weapon, the safety assembly comprising: a control system comprising a photodetector and a processing unit; and an optical device configured to attach to a target such that, when attached, the optical device provides a light beam to the photodetector for training use of a laser-directed energy weapon, wherein the processing unit is arranged to compare the light beam provided by the optical device and received by the photodetector against one or more predetermined attributes, and to permit the laser-directed energy weapon to fire only when the received light beam is determined to have the one or more predetermined attributes, wherein the safety assembly has a training mode and a combat mode which is selectable using a user interface, wherein when in the combat mode, the safety assembly including the optical device is disabled and in training mode the safety assembly is activated. a control system comprising a photodetector and a processing unit; and an optical device configured to attach to a target such that, when attached, the optical device provides a light beam to the photodetector for training use of a laser-directed energy weapon, wherein the processing unit is arranged to compare the light beam provided by the optical device and received by the photodetector against one or more predetermined attributes, and to permit the laser-directed energy weapon to fire only when the received light beam is determined to have the one or more predetermined attributes, wherein the safety assembly has a training mode and a combat mode which is selectable using a user interface, wherein when in the combat mode, the safety assembly including the optical device is disabled and in training mode the safety assembly is activated.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12292263

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12292263