AL) A U+b 928 FORLIGN TECHNOLOGY UIV IRIGHT— PATTERSON AFB OHIO FIG 20/5

MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF LASERS. (U)

MAR 71 N USHAKUV . H GEORGIYEV

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M~GROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART
 FTD—ID (
RS)I— 0265—77 I

FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY DIVISION

MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF LASERS

by

i’~ . Ush akov , M. G eorgly ev

D DC
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Approved for public release;

distribution unlimited.

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~~ ~~~ EDITED TRANSLATION
FTD—ID(RS)I— 0265—77 28 March 1977

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77- C- OJ//
MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF LASERS
By: N. Ushakov , M. Georgiyev

English pages: 11

Source: Voyenna Tekhriika , Nr 10, 1976 , PP. 23— 2~4.

Country of origin : Bulgaria

Translated by: LINGUISTICS SYSTEMS , INC .
F33657—76— D— 0389
K. Bennett Howe
Re quester : FTD/ETDO
Approved for public release; distribution unlimited .

THIS TRANSLATION IS A RENDITION OF THE ORIGI.

HAL. FOREIGN TEXT WI T HOUT ANY ANALYT ICAL OR
ED ITORIAL COMMENT. STATEMENTS OR THEORIES PREPARED BY:
A DVOCATEDOR IMPLIEDARE THOSE OF THE SOURCE
AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE POSITION TRANSLATION DIVISION
OR OPINION OF THE FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY DI. FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY DIVISION
VI SION. WP.AFB , OHIO.

FTD ID (
RS)I—0265—77 Date 28 MAR 19 77

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MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF LASERS

Engineer Cylone l N. Ushakov and Engineer Lieutenant Colonel

M . Georgi~~i, C andidate in Engineering

In the foreign press it is reported that an on-board night-

time sy st em for reconno iter ing gr oun d o bjects with a gas l a s e r

with a power of 20 mW with a resolution of 1 mrad and a scanning

angle of 3O_ 1~O 0 has been developed. This comparatively low

power make s it possible to obtain high-quality photographs from

an altitude of 1450-900 m with a carrier flight speed of 5.

50 km/h .
It is also reported that a system with an emissive powe r of

0.2 W’, a resolution of 0.3 mrad , and a scann ing ai gle of

with a carrier flight speed of 1100-220 ken/h has been developed.

The use of laser stations for illumination , especially on

board remote-controlled vehicles in combi nation with instrume nts

for night-time observation and television equipment for recon—

noiteririg and targeting appears to be promising .

One of the systems which has been deve loped , for example ,

Includes a compact gyrostabilized television system connected

with a laser unit for illumination. The television camera of

the system has a variable-focus objective lens which makes it

0
psoolbie to obtain a field of vision of from to 20 . An

aluminum- yttrium garnet laser generate s pulses lasting 20 ns

and an energy of 50 mj. The laser illumination uni t is intended

FTD-ID (RS)I-026S--77 1

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Inbond&d to be comb ined with an infrared uni t for observing

the area in the dark .

The deve1opn~ nt of a ni ght sight f o r h e l i c o p ters , tanks ,

and ground transportation wh ich is ca p ab le of o pe rat ing b oth
in a passive mode and In an active mode with a pulse laser

for illuminating t he targe t and d eterm inin g the d istance to it

also has been reported.

FOR WEAPON CONTROL

Laser command systems , laser ray a iming systems , and semi-

automat ic aiming systems with laser Illumination of the target
are used in fore ign countries.

The AN /AVQ-lO aircraft system , which the American s used

in Viet Nam , is desi gned for aiming aerial bombs with electronic-
op t i c a l heads f o r hom i ng in on bridge s , ant ia ir c r a f t mi ssles
and artillery , tank s , ind ividual wea p ons , fuel tanks , and other
entrenched de fensive positions.

S t a b i l i z a t i o n of the line of sight of the laser unit for

illumination In combination with a television camera and an

Indicator is used in this system. Aiming the bombs with the

use of lasers ensures high accuracy of striking the targe t (the

FTD-ID(RS)I-0265-77 2

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e rror is 3-5 en , while the usual bombs have an error of 90-120 m).

Systems f o r tar get illuminat ion b oth for inde p endent o p era-
tion of an aircraft and for dual operation have been developed

in foreign countries. In the latter case the target is illumi-

nate d front the carrier which , as a loiterer out s i de the zone

of fire of the anti-aircraft artillery , ensure s that the laser

be am will be held on the target. The light reflected from the

target strike s the receiving cell of the head for ho iing the
bomb , which is dropped from the attack aircraft.

Ac cording to information in the American press , deve lo p-

ments connected w i th the use of p ilotle ss a ir c r a f t and minia-
ture , remote—controlled aircraft as carriers of the illumination
uni t have begun. These are equipped with apparatus for locating

targ e ts an d t r a n s m i t t i ng the image s to t he control po int by

television.

In the opinion of the American experts these me thods ensure

the achievement of the goal of direct air support with min imum

losses , since the miniature aircraft have a small radar reflect-

ing cpaacity and consequently are hard to hit with antiaircraft

we apons .

Units for illumination of a targe t from a helicopter or

from a ground observation post for directing aircraft also are

FTD-ID (RS)I-0265-77 3
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being developed. The development of a laser target indicator

mounted on a tripod or stand (portable ) which is designed for

aiming guided missiles with a semi-automatic laser aiming system

is envis ioned. The forward aircraft controller , w ho mans the

illumination unit , f i n d s the t a r get and r ad ios the pi lot of the

airplane or helicopte r equipped with rockets. The aircraft

make s a bombing run , and the controlle r i lluminates the targe t

with the laser beam. After the homing head acquire s the targe t

the rocket is launched.

Fig. 1. Structural diagram

of a pulse laser distance
finder; 1 pumping lamp ;
-

2 qualit modulator ;
-

3 -
ruby; dynamic ampli- -
fication regulator; .5 -

3 preamplifier and pulse

2~
former; 6 photoelectric-

multiplier; 7 inter— -

• ference filter; 8 trigger; — :-.

4
9 — gate circuit; 10 -
indicator.
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Fig. 2. Sbructural diagram

• • of a l o c a t i o n system w i t h
~ 0 automatic tracking : 1 gas 0
- -
-

laser ; 2 modulator; 3
collimator; J . reflector;
.5 parabolic~ mirror; 6 -
—

-
photomultiplier of the
distance unit; 7 filters ; -

8 - f l a t mirror; 9 -
tracking system ; 10 di- -

sector; 11 manual control -

equipment; 12 servosysteni . -

The principle of semi-automatic laser aiming also is used

in the deve lopment of guided artillery shells and rockets of

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the ground-ground type desi gned for attacking t anks , armor ed
t r ans porters , reinfor ced b unk e rs , and other objects .

IN COMM UNICATIONS

Laser systems , which hav e two b asic advant ages over radio

communication systems - precise aiming of the be am and a wide

band of transmission f r e quenc ies -
, are used in communications.

The directivity of the emission of a laser system wi th a

forming lens is characte r i zed by s ta b i l i t y of the ang le of ex-
pansion in second s of arc . This practicall y exclud e s th e pos-

sib ilit y of interception of the information transmitted. Ac-

cording to the me thod of receiving optical signals there are

two basic type s of laser communications systems . Optical

heterodyning (
photomiAing ) is used in system of the first type .
The si gnal s r ece iv ed are mixe d w i t h t he emi ssion o f th e local
oscillator and then the pulses of different frequency are sepa-.

rated. The useful information is extracted after rectification

of the signal. Direct rectification of the laser signals re-
ceived is performed in systems of the second type . The receive r

reacts only to variation in the intensity of the carrier fre’

quency and the e n t i r e information on the optical fre q uency and

phse is lost.

As a re ceiving method photomixing has po tential advantage s

S
_ _ _ _ _ _

ove r direct detection. Howeve r, its realization require s

spacial orientation of the wave fronts (the angle be tween the

h e terodyn ing front s and the signal beam must be no larger than
10 rad).

M o d u l a t i o n s of several types are used f o r forming laser

si gnals in the t r a n s m i t t e r s of communications systems : ampli-

tude (according to the intensity ), fre q uency, pha se , polarization ,

and pulse-code .

The structure of the laser communications system is deter-

mined by the purpose of the system. Pulse systems with direct

de tect ion are prefe rr ed in short ground lines since the y are

least sensitive to atmospheric disturbances. Their operating

d istance usuall y is limited by the line of sight .

in f orei gn cou n t r i e s
Special investigations were carried out4in order to evalu-

ate the influence of the atmo sphere on laser communication lines.

Testing of a helium-neon laser has shown that the attenuation

of the emis sion along the ground surface is 10 db/km with good

visibility, 15 db/km in fog, and 100 db/km in thich fog.

Closed light-conducting communications line s , which guaran-

tee insignificant loss of energy and are used for short distances

in inultichanne l transmissiôn lines , are be ing developed in

order to eliminate the influence of meteorological conditions

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on communication lines.

The advantage s of laser line s for long-distance communica-

tion can be realized most fully in the uppe r layers of the

atmo sphere an d in space , where the a t t en u a t ion of the rays

is insignificant .

IN NAVI GATION

Laser gyroscope s are f in d ing e ver gr ea ter a pp l i c a t ion in

navigation. They are used in inertial systems for determining

the reference directions of a moving object and receiving in-

formation about angular deviation-~ of the object front the de-

teren ine d d irect ion , and a l so for sta bi l i z a t ion o f the d i f f e r e n t

on-board equipmeyet of the moving object.

The laser gyro sco pe i s an o p t i c a l q uantum gen e rat o r wi th

a finger-shaped resonator made in the form of a system of three

and more mirrors which form a closed circle . Two independent

oppositely directed optical travelling wave s are generated in

the resonator. Their frequencies depend on the speed of rota-
tion of the finger-shaped resonator in the inertial space . The

parameters of the resonator rotation may be determined according

to the difference in the frequencies of the opposite waves.

In comparison with a mechanical gyroscope a laser gyro-

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scope has higher sensitivity. It is not subject to the influ-

ence of the mass and the linear acceleration. It is possible
to operate w i th great rotational speeds of the object itself

up to 1O~ deg/sec). It is ready to operate after 1— 2 s, and

gains (is displaced) 5-6 seconds of arc per day. The value s
of these parameters are respectively three humdred and one and

a half thousand time s smaller than those in mechanical units.

AS AN OFFENSIVE WEAPON

At the present time lasers are not used as weapons of de-

struction. However , according to information in the foreign

press , experiments and testing are being carried out in a number

of capitalistic countries for developing such a we apon.

The attion of this fundamentally new we apon is based on

the high-powe r light emission of lasers. Upon receiving a high

concentration of the energy of hi gh-power lasers , whi ch is gua-

ranteed by the good di re ct ivity of the radi a t i on , the ma t e r i a l

of objects i s gre atly heate d from the outs ide , b oils , and eva-
porates , which causes their destruction. According to the

fore ign experts , this we apon may find application in ground

systems for anti a ircraft and ant imissle defense , a nd also to

be included in the armament of aircraft and ships.

Great attention is being given to the deve lop~ of gas hyd ro-

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dynamic , elec t r o dynam ic , and chemical lasers , the emissive power

of which reache s 200, 100, and 10 kW respective ly in an u n i n t er-

rupted mode .

A c c o r d i n g to the f o r e i g n experts there is the p o s s i b i l i t y

of using laser we apons in armament complexes on aircraft and

in p a r t i c u l a r on future bombers f o r c o m b a t t i n g a t t a c k i n g air-

craft and rockets of the “air-air” and “ground-air” type. It

is proposed that laser we apons may be mounted on aircraft by

the beg inning of the 80’s. It has been bound that it is neces-

sary to guarantee an emissive power of no less than 2 mW in

order to damage the skin of an airplane or rocket.

AS A COUNTER wACTION WEAPON

Foreign c o u n t r ies ar e t r y ing to apply lasers against laser

distance finders , l o c a t or s, communications systems , reconnoiter-

ing and we apon control.

As it is reported in the foreign press , test s of counter—

measures against laser homing devices will be carried out .

During these test the experts intend to determine how the ef-
ficiericy of these devices can be reduced.

The possi bility of using lasers which can counteract pas-

sive optical—electronic systems is being particularly explored

FTD-ID(RS)I-0265-77 9
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in fore ign countries. United States Air Force and N avy experts

intend to place the countermeasure system in a containe r sus-

pended front an aircraft. The system include s a laser device

for seeking out the optical systerl of the enemy discovering it

by back-scattering of ¶ts input optics. In the cace of the

discovery of an enemy system , the laser de vice can generate

blinding pulses for ene rgy or information suppression of the

optical system of the enemy .

Measure s to i:icrease protection against disturbances of

laser systems are being t~ ken. Experts in the USA are develop-

ing means of coding the radiation pulses in targe t illumination

units , studying the possibilities of using tight-band filters

in ~‘ecciving channels , and also working to develop last~rs which

-

can be adjusted to wave s of differe~it duration. An adjustable

laser with a pulse powe r of 1 m id, a p iJse recurrence frequency

of 10 Hz , and an adjustable band of O.3~ -O.73 mm has been de-

veloped according to information in the press ,

A characteristic feature of the contemporary stage of de-

velopment of military laser technology in foreign countries is
the transition form scientific research work to the creation

of a nuinb~ r of t e s t models of we aponry and eq u i p m e n t , some of

which are being tested in test areas arid in battle conditions.

In the future work will be carried out basically to increase

FTD-ID (RS)I-0265--77 10
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the efficiency of the generators , to increase the sensitivity

of receiving units , and to reduce their weight , and also to

solve the problems of aiming a tight laser beam at a target.

(taken from “Technology and Weaponry ” with some small abbreviation)

FTD-ID(RS)I-0265-77 11

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S E C U R I T Y C L A S S I F I C A T I O N OF THIS P A G E (W7i.n Data Entered)

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE ~3EFORE C O M P L E TIN G FORM

I. REPORT N U M B E R 2. GO VT ACCESSION NO. 3 REC i PIENT ’ S C A T A L O G NUMBER

FTD— ID(RS)I— 0265—77

4. T I T L E (an d Subtitle) 5. T Y P E OF REPORT & PERIOD C O V E R E D

Trans lat ion

6 P E R F O R M I N G ORG. REPORT NUMBER
MILITARY APPLI C ATI ONS OF LASERS
7. AUTHOR(s) 8 C O N T R A C T OR G R A N T NUMBER(S)

N. Ush akov , M. Georgiyev

9. P E R F O R M I N G O R G A N I Z A T I O N N A M E A N D A D DRESS 10. P R O G R A M E L E M E N T . PRO J E C T . T A S K

A R E A & WORK U N I T NUMBERS
Foreign Technology Division
Air Force Systems Command
U . S. AIR FORCE _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

II . CONTROLLING OFFICE N A M E A N D ADDRESS 12 . R E P O R T D A T E

1976
13 - NUM BER OF P A G E S

___________________________________________________ 11
14 . M O N I T O R I N G A G E N C Y N A M E & ADDRESS (i ( different fr om Contro ll in g O f f ic e ) 15 S E C U R I T Y C L A S S . (of t h i , report)

UNC LASS I FI ED —
ISa DEC L A S S I F I C A T I O N DOWNGRADING
SC H E D U L E

15. D I S T R I B U T I O N S T A T E M E N T (of t h i s R e p o r t )

Approved for p u b l i c r e l e a s e; d i s t r i b u t i o n u n l i m i t e d .

17. D I S T R I B U T I O N S T A T E M E N T (of the abstr act entered ,o B lock 20 , i different from Report)

18. S U P P L E M E N T A R Y NOTE S

19. K E Y WORDS (Continue on reverse side If nece ss ary and identify by block number)

20. AB S T R A C T (Continue on rover.. .idi if n.ce..ary and Identify by block number)

19

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