US12730221 - Combined high-energy laser (HEL) system or other system and laser detection and ranging (LADAR) system
The patent describes a combined high-energy laser (HEL) and laser detection and ranging (LADAR) system designed to enhance targeting accuracy by compensating for atmospheric distortions. It features multiple filters that selectively attenuate laser energy while allowing LADAR energy to pass through to a detector, improving the system’s overall effectiveness in targeting applications.
Claim 1
1 . A system comprising: a high-energy laser (HEL) source configured to generate laser energy; a laser detection and ranging (LADAR) source configured to generate LADAR energy; a reference laser source configured to generate a reference laser beam; a beam director configured to direct the laser energy from the HEL source as an HEL laser beam towards a target and to direct the LADAR energy as a LADAR beam towards the target; a LADAR detector configured to sense a received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target, wherein an amount of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target is lower than an amount of the laser energy from the HEL source following an optical path towards the LADAR detector; multiple filters comprising: at least one first filter configured to attenuate any portion of the laser energy from the HEL source that follows the optical path towards the LADAR detector while allowing at least part of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target to pass to the LADAR detector, wherein the at least one first filter is highly transmissive at about 1030 nanometers and highly reflective at about 1080 nanometers; and at least one second filter configured to (i) reflect a majority of the laser energy from the HEL source towards the beam director, (ii) transmit a portion of the laser energy from the HEL source to a phase detector, and (iii) reflect the reference laser beam towards the phase detector, wherein the phase detector is configured to measure a phase difference between the portion of the laser energy from the HEL source and the reference laser beam, wherein the HEL source is configured to pre-compensate for atmospheric distortions or other turbulence by using the phase difference to reduce errors in a wavefront of the laser energy from the HEL source at the target. a high-energy laser (HEL) source configured to generate laser energy; a laser detection and ranging (LADAR) source configured to generate LADAR energy; a reference laser source configured to generate a reference laser beam; a beam director configured to direct the laser energy from the HEL source as an HEL laser beam towards a target and to direct the LADAR energy as a LADAR beam towards the target; a LADAR detector configured to sense a received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target, wherein an amount of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target is lower than an amount of the laser energy from the HEL source following an optical path towards the LADAR detector; multiple filters comprising: at least one first filter configured to attenuate any portion of the laser energy from the HEL source that follows the optical path towards the LADAR detector while allowing at least part of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target to pass to the LADAR detector, wherein the at least one first filter is highly transmissive at about 1030 nanometers and highly reflective at about 1080 nanometers; and at least one second filter configured to (i) reflect a majority of the laser energy from the HEL source towards the beam director, (ii) transmit a portion of the laser energy from the HEL source to a phase detector, and (iii) reflect the reference laser beam towards the phase detector, wherein the phase detector is configured to measure a phase difference between the portion of the laser energy from the HEL source and the reference laser beam, wherein the HEL source is configured to pre-compensate for atmospheric distortions or other turbulence by using the phase difference to reduce errors in a wavefront of the laser energy from the HEL source at the target. at least one first filter configured to attenuate any portion of the laser energy from the HEL source that follows the optical path towards the LADAR detector while allowing at least part of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target to pass to the LADAR detector, wherein the at least one first filter is highly transmissive at about 1030 nanometers and highly reflective at about 1080 nanometers; and at least one second filter configured to (i) reflect a majority of the laser energy from the HEL source towards the beam director, (ii) transmit a portion of the laser energy from the HEL source to a phase detector, and (iii) reflect the reference laser beam towards the phase detector, wherein the phase detector is configured to measure a phase difference between the portion of the laser energy from the HEL source and the reference laser beam, wherein the HEL source is configured to pre-compensate for atmospheric distortions or other turbulence by using the phase difference to reduce errors in a wavefront of the laser energy from the HEL source at the target.
Google Patents
https://patents.google.com/patent/US12730221
USPTO PDF
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