PHYSICS ASSIGNMENT

APPLICATIONS OF LASERS IN DEFENCE

Lasers and laser technologies are widely used in defense and security fields.
Applications include perimeter security, range-finding, target illumination,
monitoring of hazardous gases, and illumination. Having to pass the critical
qualification criteria required for deployment in defense applications has helped
make diode laser technology one of the most reliable photonics technologies
available today.

A rangefinder is a device that measures the distance from the observer to a target
for the purposes of surveying, auto-focusing or accurately aiming a weapon.
Whether you are pointing at a specific location or adjusting your line-of-sight,
lasers can help accurately assess the situation. Designed for continuous-wave
operation and boasting impressive life spans, the compact and low power
consumption diode lasers can really make a difference in this application area. In
2014 alone Modulight delivered 400,000+ lasers to the leading range-finding
laser companies. We believe this to continue to increase as automotive industry
starts to adopt our lasers this year. We believe both Japanese and European
automotive companies are going to use Modulight processed lasers in their next
generation collision avoidance systems.
Illumination is a critical part of battlefield conditions. Shadows offer good places
to hide, while bright areas are more exposed. It is often beneficial to fight with the
sun or other light source behind one’s back giving the enemy a disturbing visual
glare and partially hiding one’s own movements in backlight. If natural light is not
present, searchlights and flares usually at near IR wavelengths, can be used both,
directly and from the air. However, the use of an illuminator may also disclose
one’s own hidden position, so the use of eye-safe illuminators, not visible with
conventional imaging technologies, may be desired. In fact it’s quite interesting
that the eye-safe laser technology Modulight developed during the last decade
was eventually adopted only in the military use while all commercial sports and
recreational ranges-finders by any company today still seem to use the older near-
IR technology.
Fiber optics is the ideal way to do that. Impervious to lightning, water, frost, dust,
or sunlight, optical fiber provides a higher level of security while reducing
personnel costs. Modulight lasers have been widely used in securing US bases in
Middle-East and Africa.

Laser technology has observed a great advancement over the last few decades.
This technology is used for a wide range of applications including medical
sciences, military, industrial manufacturing, electronics, holography, spectroscopy,
astronomy and much more. Military operations often demand a secure and timely
transmission of a massive amount of information from one place to another. Until
now, the military has relied on the radio spectrum for effective communication,
which is vulnerable to security threats and susceptible to electromagnetic
interference (EMI). Also, this spectrum is hard-pressed to meet the current
bandwidth requirement for high-resolution images, on-air video conferencing and
real-time data transfer. Therefore, the focus has shifted to visible and infrared (IR)
spectrum using laser technology which is capable of providing secure data transfer
because of its immunity to EMI. The probability of intercepting a laser signal is
very low due to its narrow beam divergence and coherent optical beam, making
the laser a suitable candidate for secure military tactical operations. Besides the
communication aspect, the highly directive nature of a laser beam is also used as
a directed energy laser weapon. These highly powerful and light weighted directed
energy laser weapons are very cost-effective countermeasures for airborne
threats. Furthermore, laser sensors are deployed in the battlefield or in space for
tracking the path of a wide range of military vehicles like missiles, unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs), fighter aircraft, warships, submarines, etc. Advancements
in space operations and laser technology have offered synergistic possibilities of
using lasers from space-based platforms during military operations. In this paper,
we are providing our readers with a comprehensive study of laser applications,
used by the military, to carry out tactical operations on the ground or space-based
platforms. Also, an intensive investigation on the development of laser technology
for sensors, range-finders and target designators that are used for intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) is presented in the paper. The advancement
of laser communication for military purposes and its current state of the art is
reviewed as well as some recent scientific developments in the area of high-energy
directed laser weapons are discussed, which have revolutionized military
battlefields. Therefore, this manuscript highlights recent trends and engineering

Breakthrough for the use of lasers in tactical operations.

Modulight solutions for security & defense applications

Laser range-finding and scanning

Wavelength: 850–1550 nm
Power: up to 30 W
Pointing and illumination
Wavelength: 635 nm, 690 nm, 830 nm, 1550 nm
Power: 50 mW – 35 W
Perimeter security
Wavelength: 1310–1550 nm
Power: 3–100 mW
 LASER BOMBING
A laser-guided bomb (LGB) is a guided bomb that uses semi-active laser
guidance to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than an unguided
bomb. First developed by the United States during the Vietnam War, laser-guided
bombs quickly proved their value in precision strikes of difficult point targets.
These weapons use on-board electronics to track targets that are designated by
laser, typically in the infrared spectrum, and adjust their glide path to precisely
strike the target. Since the weapon is tracking a light signature, not the object
itself, the target must be illuminated from a separate source, either by ground
forces, by a pod on the attacking aircraft, or by a separate support aircraft. Data
from Vietnam showed that laser-guided bombs achieved direct hits nearly 50% of
the time, versus just 5.5% for unguided bombs. Because of this dramatically higher
precision, laser-guided munitions can carry less explosive and cause less collateral
damage than unguided munitions. Today, laser-guided bombs are one of the most
common and widespread guided bombs, used by a large number of the world's air
forces.

DEVELOPMENT
Laser-guided weapons were first developed in the United Kingdom and United
States in the early 1960s. The United States Air Force issued the first development
contracts in 1964, leading to the development of the Pave way series, which was
used operationally in Vietnam starting in 1968. Although there were a variety of
technical and operational problems, the results were generally positive. LGBs
proved to offer a much higher degree of accuracy than unguided weapons, but
without the expense, complexity, and limitations of guided air-to-ground
missiles like the AGM-12 Bullpup. The LGB proved particularly effective against
difficult fixed targets like bridges, which previously had required huge loads of
"dumb" ordnance to destroy.
It was determined that 48% of Pave ways dropped during 1972–73
around Hanoi and Haiphong achieved direct hits, compared with only 5.5% of
unguided bombs dropped on the same area a few years earlier. The average Pave
way landed within 23 feet of its target, as opposed to 447 feet for gravity bombs.
The leap in accuracy brought about primarily by laser guidance made it possible to
take out heavily defended, point objectives that had eluded earlier air raids.
The most dramatic example was the Thanh Hua Bridge, 70 miles south of Hanoi, a
critical crossing point over the Red River. Starting in 1965, U.S. pilots had flown
871 sorties against it, losing 11 planes without managing to put it out of
commission. In 1972 the “Dragon’s Jaw” bridge was attacked with Pave way
bombs, and 14 jets managed to do what the previous 871 had not: drop the span,
and cut a critical North Vietnamese supply artery.
In the wake of this success, other nations, specifically the Soviet Union, France,
and Great Britain, began developing similar weapons in the late 1960s and early
1970s, while US weapons were refined based on combat experience.
In October 2010, India developed its first Sudarshan laser-guided bomb with the
help of IRDE, a lab of DRDO. This is a part of ongoing research to achieve self-
dependency in the area of defense.
The United States Air Force and other air forces are now seeking to upgrade their
LGBs with GPS guidance as a back-up. These weapons, such as the USAF Enhanced
Guided Bomb Unit (part of the Pave way family), use laser designation for
precision attacks, but contain an inertial navigation system with GPS receiver for
back-up, so that if the target illumination is lost or broken, the weapon will
continue to home in on the GPS coordinates of the original target.

A GBU-10 shortly before it strikes a small boat during a training exercise

The development of laser guided weapons has dramatically improved the

accuracy of weapon guidance and delivery. With the assistance of build-up
guidance kits, general GP bombs are turned into laser-guided bombs (LGBs). The
kits consist of a computer- control group (CCG), guidance canards attached to the
front of the warhead to provide steering commands, and a wing assembly
attached to the aft end to provide lift. LGBs are maneuverable, free-fall weapons
requiring no electronic interconnect to the aircraft. They have an internal semi
active guidance system that detects laser energy and guides the weapon to a
target illuminated by an external laser source. The designator can be located in
the delivery aircraft, another aircraft, or a ground source.
All LGB weapons have a CCG, a warhead (bomb body with fuse), and an airfoil
group. The computer section transmits directional command signals to the
appropriate pair(s) of canards. The guidance canards are attached to each
quadrant of the control unit to change the flightpath of the weapon. The canard
deflections are always full scale (referred to as "bang, bang" guidance).
The LGB flightpath is divided into three phases: ballistic, transition, and terminal
guidance. During the ballistic phase, the weapon continues on the unguided
trajectory established by the flightpath of the delivery aircraft at the moment of
release. In the ballistic phase, the delivery attitude takes on additional
importance, since maneuverability of the UGB is related to the weapon velocity
during terminal guidance. Therefore, airspeed lost during the ballistic phase
equates to a proportional loss of maneuverability. The transition phase begins at
acquisition. During the transition phase, the weapon attempts to align its velocity
vector with the line-of-sight vector to the target. During terminal guidance, the
UGB attempts to keep its velocity vector aligned with the instantaneous line-of-
sight. At the instant alignment occurs, the reflected laser energy centers on the
detector and commands the canards to a trail position, which causes the weapon
to fly ballistically with gravity biasing towards the target.
Designation Guideance System Munition
GBU-2 KMU-421/B SUU-54/b 2000-lb cluster bomb
PAVEWAY I
GBU-10 A/B KMU-351 A/B Mk 84 2000-lb bomb
GBU-12 A/B KMU-388 A/B Mk 82 500-lb SNAKEYE
GBU-12 A/B KMU-420 /B Mk 20 Mod 2 ROCKEYE 500-lb bomb
GBU-12 A/B KMU-342 /B M117 750-lb bomb
PAVEWAY II
GBU-10 D/B KMU-351 E/B Mk 84 2000-lb bomb
GBU-12 C/B KMU-388 C/B Mk 82 SNAKEYE 500-lb bomb
GBU-16 C/B KMU-455 /B Mk 83 1000-lb bomb
SUDARSHAN LASER GUIDED BOMB
Sudarshan is an Indian laser-guided bomb kit, developed by Aeronautical
Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO lab with technological support from
another DRDO lab Instruments Research and Development
Establishment(IRDE), for the Indian Air Force (IAF)

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

The ADE won the project for developing an LGB in 2006. The project aimed to
develop an advanced laser guidance kit for 450 kg (1000 pound) class dumb
bombs to improve their accuracy.The Sudarshan kit incorporates laser guidance
developed by ADE for 450 kg (1000 pound) bombs to improve the accuracy of a
conventional bomb. The guidance consists of a computer control group (CCG),
canards attached to the front of the warhead for steering and a wing assembly
attached to the rear end to provide lift.
The guidance kits for beam riding and providing an accurate flight path have been
fitted at the front and rear ends of the bomb. The laser-guidance seeker, fitted on
the nose of the LGB is a very critical component, which was designed jointly by IIT
Delhi and ADE, with BEL as the production agency. A laser designator is used to
mark a target. The on-board seeker detects the laser light reflected from the
target and signals the kit's control surfaces to guide it towards the designated
target. The seeker provides information on the deviation of the laser sport from
the centre line of the detector. Sudarshan has an on-board flight-control computer
with microelectronic-mechanical systems-based rate gyros. It also has high-
precision linear ball-lead-screw actuators.
TESTING
The ADE had successfully designed, developed and carried out the user trials of
laser-guided bomb kits with the participation of the IAF.
On January 21, 2010, it was reported that two flight trials had been conducted at
the Integrated Test Range at Chandpur, Balasore in Orissa, to test the
effectiveness of the guidance and control systems of laser-guided bombs. The on-
board systems in both the trials worked satisfactorily and had met the mission
objectives. The test was conducted by pilots of the Indian Air Force, who flew the
aircraft and released the bombs as per prescribed standard operating procedures.
On June 9, 2010, user trials of the laser-guided bomb kits were carried out
at Pokhran test range with the participation of the IAF. Flight tests have
demonstrated the accuracy, reliability and performance of these precision air-
launched bombs. The tests were conducted after extensive simulation, design
validation and ground experiments followed by series of flight evaluations.
PERFORMANCE
The kit can guide a bomb within 10 m CEP from its otherwise 400 m to 1000 m fall
off the target. If dropped from normal altitude, it has a range of around 9 km. A
program to extend the kit’s capability to further increase its range using GPS is
ongoing. It is expected to rival GBU-12 Pave way II in performance. However,
reports indicate that the kit may not support bunker buster bombs, forcing the IAF
to look for alternatives.
The successful trials and flight tests in 2010 led ADE to further improve the bomb's
accuracy. The Indian Air Force is upgrading a large number of unguided bombs to
this standard based on the successful results. Sudarshan will be in service with the
IAF bombers squadrons of Mig-27 and SEPECAT Jaguar. Also, several other
fighters in the IAF could carry these bombs for the air-to-ground attack tasks
like Su-30MKI, Mirage-2000 and MiG-29. It might also be used by the Indian
Army for its long range artillery strike weapon and Indian Navy from an on-board
launcher.

KAB-500 S-E
KAB-500S-E is a Precision-Guided Munition (PGM) whose guidance system is based
on GLONASS. The weapon can be dropped from aircraft flying at an altitude from
500 meters to 5000 meters and with an airspeed of 500–1150 km/h. The CEP is 7–
12 meters. These bombs were used for the first time in the Russian military
intervention in the Syrian Civil War in September 2015.

KAB-500L aerial bomb in Park Patriot

 KAB-500L aerial bomb in Park Patriot, rear angle

During Desert Storm, the F-111F and the F-117 accounted for the majority of the
guided bomb tonnage delivered against strategic targets. The Navy's A-6E
capability to deliver LGBs was used only sparingly, despite the fact that the 115 A-
6Es deployed constituted almost 51 percent of all US LGB-capable aircraft on the
first day of Desert Storm. Laser sensor systems demonstrated degradation from
adverse weather, such as clouds, rain, fog, and even haze and humidity.

Videotapes of LGBs precisely traveling down ventilator shafts and destroying

targets with one strike, like those televised during and after Desert Storm, can
easily create impressions about the effect of a single LGB on a single target, which
was summed up by an LGB manufacturer's claim for effectiveness: "one target,
one bomb." The implicit assumption in this claim is that a target is sufficiently
damaged or destroyed to avoid needing to hit it again with a second bomb, thus
obviating the need to risk pilots or aircraft in restrikes. However, evidence does
not support the claim for LGB effectiveness summarized by "one target, one
bomb." In one sample of targets from Desert Storm, no fewer than two LGBs were
dropped on each target; six or more were dropped on 20 percent of the targets;
eight or more were dropped on 15 percent of the targets. The average dropped
was four LGBs per target.

In Desert Storm, 229 US aircraft were capable of delivering laser-guided

munitions. By 1996 the expanded installation of low-altitude navigation and
targeting infrared for night (LANTIRN) pods on F-15Es and block 40 F-16s had
increased this capability within the Air Force to approximately 500 platforms.

JOINT DIRECT ATTACK MUNITION

The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a guidance kit that converts unguided
bombs, or "dumb bombs", into all-weather precision-guided munitions. JDAM-
equipped bombs are guided by an integrated inertial guidance system coupled to
a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, giving them a published range of up to
15 nautical miles (28 km). JDAM-equipped bombs range from 500 pounds (227 kg)
to 2,000 pounds (907 kg). When installed on a bomb, the JDAM kit is given a GBU
(Guided Bomb Unit) nomenclature, superseding the Mark 80 or BLU (Bomb, Live
Unit) nomenclature of the bomb to which it is attached.
The JDAM is not a stand-alone weapon; rather it is a "bolt-on" guidance package
that converts unguided gravity bombs into precision-guided munitions (PGMs).
The key components of the system consist of a tail section with aerodynamic
control surfaces, a (body) strake kit, and a combined inertial guidance
system and GPS guidance control unit.
The JDAM was meant to improve upon laser-guided bomb and imaging
infrared technology, which can be hindered by bad ground and weather
conditions. Laser seekers are now being fitted to some JDAMs.
From 1998 to November 2016, Boeing completed more than 300,000 JDAM
guidance kits. In 2017, it built more than 130 kits per day.