Jamie Bennet
BlueHalo has turned over and installed its first high-energy laser diagnostic tool at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia.
The Laser Instrumented Diagnostic Suite is among four units that will be delivered to U.S. Navy test sites across the country, BlueHalo said Thursday.
The company won the contract to develop LIDS in April 2020, after responding to the Department of Defense’s call for prototypes of HEL diagnostic tool.
The novel technology, which was demonstrated in April 2022, measures power versus time in HEL systems with a capacity of up to 150 kW. It generates irradiance data between laser shots, as well as spot size, centroid and centroid drift, peak beam and meteorological data after shots.
“Before LIDS, there was no comprehensive diagnostic tool to support the significant testing and calibration requirements of these systems,” noted BlueHalo Chief Technology Officer Vikram Manikonda. “LIDS is a critical new resource for our national defense customers–increasing the accuracy and efficiency of laser weapons while reducing test and operational costs to support mission success.”
