Lasers

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded $139,808,430 for modification P00009 to a previously awarded, fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-16-D-1002). This modification increases the ceiling of the contract to procure up to 12,000 additional Precision Laser Guidance Sets for the Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (68.23 percent); Cincinnati, Ohio (10.1 percent); St. Louis, Missouri (9.38 percent); Odessa, Missouri (4.37 percent); Simpsonville, South Carolina (4.03 percent); Minneapolis, Minnesota (1.68 percent); and various locations within the continental U.S. (2.21 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2020.

For the Air Force, the daily use of a laser as a weapon itself is coming. The youngest of the U.S. military services, founded more than a decade before the laser’s invention, is looking to incorporate the high-energy systems into its warfighting arsenal.

The High-Repetition-Rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS) being developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory recently completed a significant milestone: demonstration of continuous operation of an all-diode-pumped, high-energy femtosecond petawatt laser system. The system now is ready for delivery and integration at the European Extreme Light Infrastructure Beamlines (ELI Beamlines) facility project in the Czech Republic, where it will be used for conducting experiments.  

Leidos Inc. S&R and Intelligence Systems Services, Reston, Virginia, was awarded on May 29, 2015, a not-to-exceed $7 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for laser interaction testing. Contractor will provide well-controlled experimental procedures to quantify the effects of high power continuous-wave (up to MW Class) and high energy pulsed (kJ) lasers interacting with individual materials, multi-material subsystems, and/or fully functional targets. Work will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be complete by May 28, 2020. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with six offers received.

 
Boeing Defense, Space and Security, Orlando, Fla., will provide the U.S. Air Force with a lightweight, compact laser targeting system designed to improve the effectiveness of battlefield airmen on Close Air Support missions. The $3 million contract award includes design, development, delivery, training and sustainment for the Line of Sight – Short (LOS-S) integrated targeting system, as well as priced options for production systems. With all options exercised, the contract has a potential total value of more than $100 million. 

The U.S. Army Program Executive Office Soldier delivered 300 sets of the AN/PSQ-20 Enhanced Night Vision Goggles (ENVG) to the 10th Mountain Division, the first unit other than special forces to receive them. The ENVG incorporates image intensification and long-wave infrared sensors into a single integrated system. It has a thermal camera that increases mobility and situational awareness regardless of light, weather or battlefield conditions, and it offers faster threat recognition.

U.S. Army researchers have developed micro materials that fold when hit with a low-intensity laser. The advance may eliminate the need for relatively bulky power systems—such as battery packs—on tiny robotic systems. It also could enable robotic microthrusters, unattended ground sensors, or even—theoretically—programmable, easily changeable camouflage patterns.

The microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are shaped like stars with four, six or eight legs. The legs fold—like origami—when heated slightly with light from a low-level laser. That folding action is accomplished without the materials being tethered to batteries, wires or other any other power supply.