Our Directed-Energy Work in Albuquerque

But the SAIC folks who run the chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) at this branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory (in Albuquerque, New Mexico) do not seem distracted from testing this smaller version of the same type of laser that could be used to shoot down ballistic missiles.

This "high-energy laser" is representative of a directed-energy weapon that could be developed to stop or disable targets hundreds of miles away. The government is interested in high-energy lasers and other directed-energy weapons, such as high-power microwaves — which can stop a vehicle by temporarily disrupting its ignition system electronics — for a variety of offensive and defensive purposes. (For instance, lasers can strike at light speed with little or no collateral damage.)

The challenge: testing

The revolutionary nature of these new weapon systems highlighted a shortfall in the Department of Defense — our test ranges and test facilities do not have the proper capabilities to fully test these new types of weapons. As a result, the federal government asked SAIC to be the lead systems integrator on the Directed Energy Test and Evaluation Capability program, also known as DETEC. The program will develop and field capabilities to address key, high-priority test and evaluation shortfalls identified in the DETEC Tri-Service Study that SAIC completed in September 2004.

"What this entails is defining and developing 12 capabilities that will be used by the government's test and evaluation community to assess both their laser and microwave programs," said Laury Decker, SAIC's program manager for DETEC. "We currently have two capabilities on contract — Target Reflected Energy Measurement (TREM) and Target Subsystems Protection (TSP). They're both on the laser side of what we're trying to address."

The TREM capability is being developed to provide a time-stamped measurement of laser power that reflects off of a target at up to 20 angles. In addition, the laser power is recorded by devices analogous to camcorders that are placed around the perimeter of a test area; the data is collected and used to further improve the "laser range safety tool" to help ensure accurate measurements, according to Decker.

"With some of the other capabilities, we will be trying to determine exactly what is being received by the outer skin of the (ground) target and we're trying to measure that," according to Decker. "The difficulty is that the measurement methodology (such as inserting sensors into the skin of the target) can interfere with your test by changing how the target responds."

Protecting subsystems

In contrast, the Target Subsystems Protection capability is being developed to protect a target's flight termination system (the system that can detonate a test target, such as a missile, if it goes off track.) The TSP also protects the target's controller and telemetry packages from the effects of a laser.

"This refers to when you're engaging a target with one of these lasers — there are certain safety measures you want to do to that target so that you get a lot of data out of your test," said Decker.

In fact, the Target Subsystems Protection is similar to the TREM risk reduction work, however, the airborne aspect makes things much more complicated.

The LSI role

As the lead systems integrator (LSI) on DETEC (which is managed by the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation), our work ranges from defining and developing the 12 test and evaluation capabilities to helping ensure that they are properly integrated at the test ranges.

"DETEC LSI is one of many examples where our test and evaluation business has been leveraged to move into new markets, in this case, the systems engineering and integration field," said Chuck Zang, who manages SAIC's Engineering, Test and Analysis Business Unit.

Overall, we're executing very well and the customer is giving us "kudos" for being noticed in the scientific community at large, according to Decker. "We recently went to a professional conference in Albuquerque and it seemed that every other presentation had a reference back to DETEC."