Rapidly deployable high power laser beam delivery system

• US 8,654,314 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2011
• Issued: 02/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: King, William B., Isker, John D., Mckearn, Chaunchy F., Griffin, Eric J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Alsomiri, Isam
• Assistant Examiner(s): Abraham, Samantha K
• Application Number:
  US13/115,366
• Publication Number:
  US 20120298839A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,000 Days
• Field of Search: 356/3.01, 356/3.09, 356/3.12, 356/9, 356/625, 250/201.6
• US Class Current: 356/3.01
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 23/20 for disappearing guns
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 13/005 the high-energy beam being a laser beam

Abstract

The system includes a rotary turret platform for aiming of a high power laser beam. The system further includes a turret payload device coupled to the rotary turret platform. The system further includes an off-axis telescope coupled to the turret payload, having an articulated secondary mirror for correcting optical aberrations, and configured to reflect the high power laser beam to a target through a first of at least two conformal windows. The system further includes an illuminator beam device configured to actively illuminating the target to generate a return aberrated wavefront through the first of the at least two conformal windows. The system further includes a coarse tracker coupled to the turret payload, positioned parallel to and on an axis of revolution of the off-axis telescope, and configured to detect, acquire, and track the target through the second of the at least two conformal windows.

Claims

1. A high power laser beam delivery system, the system comprising:

a rotary turret platform rotatable along multiple axes for aiming of a high power laser beam;

a turret payload device coupled to the rotary turret platform, that is a truncated sphere having a substantially flat side and a substantially spherical side, and configured to rapidly deploy from a vehicle and stow within the vehicle, wherein the turret platform is rotatable along a first dimension for deployment of the spherical side and is rotatable along the first dimension for deployment of the substantially flat side, wherein the substantially flat side of the turret platform substantially conforms to a vehicle surface when the turret platform is in a stowed position;

at least two conformal windows in the spherical side of the turret payload device;

an off-axis telescope coupled to the turret payload device, having an articulated secondary mirror for correcting optical aberrations, and configured to reflect the high power laser beam to a target through a first of the at least two conformal windows;

an illuminator beam device coupled to the turret payload device and configured to detect atmospheric disturbance between the system and the target by actively illuminating the target to generate a return aberrated wavefront through a first of the at least two conformal windows; and

a coarse tracker coupled to the turret payload device, positioned parallel to and on an axis of revolution of the off-axis telescope, and configured to detect, acquire, and track the target through a second of the at least two conformal windows.

2. The high power laser beam delivery system of claim 1, wherein the spherical side is substantially spherical.

3. The high power laser beam delivery system of claim 1, wherein the at least two conformal windows are substantially spherical, substantially flat, or any combination thereof.

4. The high power laser beam delivery system of claim 1, wherein, when stowed, the turret payload device conforms to an outer surface of the vehicle for maintaining at least one low observability characteristic of the vehicle.

5. The high power laser beam delivery system of claim 1, further comprising an auto-alignment system configured to communicate commands to the articulated secondary mirror configured to modify aiming of the high power laser beam and to one or more fast steering mirrors configured to modify the aiming of the high power laser beam.

6. The high power laser beam delivery system of claim 1, further comprising a wavefront error sensor coupled to the turret payload device and configured to determine an induced distortion of the aberrated wavefront of the returning illuminator beam from the target based on a beam quality metric for the target.

7. The high power laser beam delivery system of claim 6, wherein the wavefront error sensor is further configured to communicate commands to the articulated secondary mirror based on the determined induced distortion to reduce large, low order wavefront aberrations.

8. The high power laser beam delivery system of claim 6, wherein the wavefront error sensor is further configured to communicate commands to the articulated secondary mirror based on the determined induced distortion to reduce residual tilts of the high power laser beam.

9. The high power laser beam delivery system of claim 1, further comprising:

an inertial measurement unit configured to detect errors from one or more commands communicated to the turret payload device based on an actual turret position; and

one or more fast steering mirrors coupled to the turret payload device and configured to modify aiming of the high power laser beam based on the detected errors.

10. The high power laser beam delivery system of claim 1, wherein the turret payload device further comprises:

a payload support ring rotary coupled to two support arms;

a payload device isolatively coupled to the payload support ring;

a payload windscreen shell in a shape of a truncated sphere having a flat side and a spherical side on opposite sides of each other; and

wherein the turret payload device is rotatable along the elevation axis over a first dimension for deployment of the spherical side and is rotatable over a second dimension for deployment of the flat side.

11. A rotary turret system, the system comprising:

a base comprising two support arms;

a turret platform having a substantially flat side and a substantially spherical side, the turret platform configured to rapidly deploy from a vehicle and stow within the vehicle, wherein the turret platform is rotatable along a first dimension for deployment of the spherical side and is rotatable along the first dimension for deployment of the substantially flat side, wherein the substantially flat side of the turret platform substantially conforms to a vehicle surface when the turret platform is in a stowed position;

a first rotating mechanism within the base configured to rotate the turret platform perpendicular to a nominal direction of flight of a vehicle;

a Coudé

path configured to provide a path for a high energy laser beam from the base via a first support arm of the two support arms to a target;

a second rotating mechanism in at least one of the two support arms and configured to rotate the base perpendicular to an azimuth axis of the base; and

one or more fast steering mirrors configured to maintain proper beam location and orientation of the high energy laser beam through the Coudé

path to the target.