Course 1. Introduction to High Energy Laser Systems
Classification: Unclassified, Public Release
Instructor: John Albertine, Consultant
Duration: Half-day course, starts at 0800
CEUs awarded: 0.35
Course Description: This lecture will introduce the field of HEL weapons and
their associated technologies using an interweaving of technical requirements, history, and
accomplishments. The basic attributes of HEL weapons will be covered, leading into discussions of
laser-material interaction, lethality, potential weapon applications, system requirements, laser
power scaling, propagation, and beam control. DoD interest in tactical applications, current
technical issues, and areas of research emphasis will be highlighted.
Intended Audience: This course is geared to those with a technical background who seek
an overview of HEL technology and the current state of the art. Individuals who are beginning to
work in the field or technical managers who wish an integrated overview would benefit from the class.
Instructor Biography: Mr. Albertine has his B.S. and M.S. in Physics from Rose Polytechnic
Institute and Johns Hopkins University respectively. Prior to working for the Navy, he was a senior
staff physicist in the Space Division of The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. From 1976
through 1997, he worked in the Navy's High Energy Laser (HEL) Program Office, directing the Navy’s
technology development for the last 15 years. During that time, he led the development and test of
the first megawatt class HEL system in the free world. He retired from civil service in 1997 and
now consults for OSD, the Air Force, ONR, the Navy HEL program office, and in the Directed
Energy field. Mr. Albertine was a member of the Air Force Science Advisory Board and has served as Executive
Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of the Directed Energy Professional Society. Mr.
Albertine is also a DEPS Fellow.
Course 2. Introduction to Wave Optics Beam Propagation
Classification: Unclassified, Public Release
Instructor: Andy Motes, Schafer Corp.
Duration: Half-day course, starts at 0800
CEUs awarded: 0.35
Course Description: This course will provide an introduction to wave optics simulation, a high
fidelity simulation approach widely used in the design and development of laser weapons systems.
The course consists of four parts: 1) a general introduction to the basic theory and concepts underlying
wave optics simulation, 2) a discussion of the most commonly used wave optics propagation algorithm
(the split-step Fourier transform method), 3) a discussion of an alternative propagation algorithm,
based on the Finite Difference Method, and 4) the use of these algorithms to model optical propagation
through random media, e.g. propagation through atmospheric turbulence.
At the end of the class, students will understand the theoretical foundations for wave optics simulation
techniques, the kinds of systems and phenomena they can be used to model, and the basic methodology
involved. Mathcad demonstrations will be used to illustrate major points and all the Mathcad scripts
used will be provided to the students.
Intended Audience: Newcomers to the field of computer simulation of laser systems and/or
optical imaging systems or managers with some background in science and engineering will benefit
the most from this course.
Instructor Biography: Dr. Motes is currently Director of the Directed Energy Group and
Director of Software Development at Schafer Corp. He taught Astronautical Engineering at the U.S.
Air Force Academy and Physics and Engineering at John Brown University. He is the author of five
books and seven commercial software programs of which two deal with laser beam propagation.
Course 3. Transitioning DE Technology to the Warfighter
Classification: Unclassified, Public Release
Instructor: Bill Decker, Defense Acquisition University
Duration: Half-day course, starts at 0800
CEUs awarded: 0.35
Course Description: The DE community has attempted to transition HEL and HPM systems to
the warfighter several times in the past two decades, with no success to date. This course will
focus on the shortcomings of our efforts to work the requirements, budget and political processes
to have a broadly endorsed DE program of record. Topics include:
- Where are we today? Review of DE programs past and present to review lessons learned.
- The Defense Acquisition System, including the impact of the Interim DoD Instruction 5000.02
- The Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System
- The Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution System
- The political environment in which these three systems operate
- How non-DE programs are successful
- Description of our action plan:
- What DEPS is doing/has done
- What you can do - and progress to date (a beginning, but no success)
This will be a workshop environment, where participants will be expected to contribute suggestions and
share lessons learned (both good and bad).
Intended Audience: Program managers, industry and government leaders, scientists and engineers
committed to having our Warfighters benefit from DE technology.
Instructor Biography: Mr. Decker is currently the Director, Technology Transition Learning
Center of Excellence, Defense Acquisition University and concurrently is a Professor of Engineering
Management. His experience includes over 35 years in electro-optics with ten years experience in high
energy laser systems, including THEL, ABL, ATL, HELLADS and HELTD, all while employed by Brashear
(a division of L-3 Communications) in Pittsburgh, PA. Mr. Decker holds a MS in Physics from the
Naval Postgraduate School and a BS in Engineering from Cornell University. He currently consults
for Heraeus Quartzglass America in addition to his DAU efforts.
Course 4. Introduction to Beam Control
Classification: Unclassified, Public Release
Instructor: Richard Guthrie, Lockheed Martin
Duration: Full-day course, starts at 0800
CEUs awarded: 0.70
Course Description: This class will include an overview of existing beam control technologies and
will look at beam control systems envisioned for the future. The class starts with the development of
performance equations of a propagated laser beam and shows how disturbances, like jitter, degrade performance.
Supporting technologies that include random data processing techniques and control system design will be
reviewed prior to discussing beam control designs. Pointing and tracking beam control components and systems
will be discussed. The topics of gimbal systems and alignment systems will be described and math models
developed. Controls modeling for adaptive optics will be presented. The concepts for future fiber laser
beam control systems will be introduced. The students will obtain an introduction to the topics mentioned
above and will be given a copy of the book "Beam Control for Laser Systems" by Paul Merritt
Topics to be covered include:
- System performance equations
- Use of random data to characterize a control system
- Classical design of a control loop
- Small angle jitter control
- Large angle pointing control, gimbals
- Tracking algorithms
- Adaptive optics controls modeling and introduction to fiber systems
- Analysis of a complete beam control system
Intended Audience: The class assumes the students have an engineering background and understand
the use differential equations. The class is aimed at persons who will be analyzing beam control system
performance, but also should be of use to managers who desire to understand the techniques available for
analysis of beam control systems. The class will cover the necessary introductory material, but will
progress through this material at a fast pace.
Instructor Biography: Mr. Guthrie (BS Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; MS Physics,
Florida Atlantic University) is currently a Senior Staff Systems Engineer with Lockheed Martin Missiles
and Fire Control, where he leads a small team working on the division’s high energy laser [HEL] efforts.
Prior to that, he was the System Architect of the Optical Control Element for the Advanced Tactical Laser
[ATL] and the lead system engineer for the Laser Optics Assembly of the Tactical High Energy Laser [THEL].
He has participated in many of the significant HEL programs including the Space Based Laser Integrated
Flight Experiment [SBL-IFX] and the Experimental Laser Device [XLD]. His experience spans a variety of
technologies relevant to HEL DE including system architecture, system engineering, and acquisition,
tracking and pointing system design.
Course 5. Tri-Service Lethality
Classification: Unclassified, Limited Distribution D, US Only (Restricted to U.S. citizens who are
employees of the U.S. Department of Defense or its contractors)
Instructors:
- Dr. Christopher Lloyd
- Dr. Peter Wick
- Mr. Chuck Lamar
- Mr. Robert Ulibarri
- Mr. Darren Luke
- Mr. Bryan Knott
- Mr. David Loomis
Duration: Full day, starts at 0800
CEUs awarded: 0.7
Course Description: The Tri-Service Lethality short course consists of two distinct sessions as described below.
The Lethality Testing/Equipment Session will provide a discussion of all elements of HEL Lethality testing.
The course will address data collection standards to be applied during the planning and execution of the test to
assure meaningful and accurate data is collected. It will describe measurement techniques for measuring beam
profile and other laser parameters during the execution of the test. Experimental test setup and processes
will be described along with data acquisition requirements for targets, facility and test conditions as well
as the instrumentation and equipment necessary to acquire those measurements. The testing session will conclude
with a discussion of testing strategy for successful conduct of Dynamic Testing. This will include development
of test matrices to describe all the key test parameters as well as techniques and methods to execute HEL
Lethality full scale target testing.
The Modeling & Simulation Tools/Techniques Session will describe the models, codes and tools utilized
to analyze and predict Laser System performance in a variety of ground-based, air-based and at-sea based scenarios.
Model discussions will include high-fidelity physics based models as well as fast-running codes to provide vulnerability
assessment for system level modeling codes. The high-fidelity modeling will describe the key parameters and the physics
associated with laser / material interaction. Engineering-level modeling codes will be described that identifies the
key target and laser parameters used to analyze a wide set of target scenarios and engagements. The full scope of
end-to-end modeling will be described as used in DoD Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) decision processes. This session
will be concluded with a description and demonstration of the HEL JTO published Laser Lethality Knowledge Base.
Intended Audience: Students attending this course should have an undergraduate degree in science or engineering.
The course is tailored for the system program manager, system designer, and the lethality analyst who are interested in
learning the full gamut of HEL lethality and target vulnerability analysis and testing. Experience in the field would be
helpful but not necessary.
Instructor Biographies: Dr. Christopher Lloyd is currently leading the Navy’s High Energy Laser Lethality program.
He has been a Lead Scientist at NSWC Dahlgren since 2009, where he serves as the Lethality IPT Lead for the Solid State
Laser-Technology Maturation program (SSL-TM). He worked at the Naval Research Laboratory for 9 years, supporting
material fabrication and laser testing efforts for PMS-405 and NSWC Dahlgren. He has coordinated several HEL lethality
field and laboratory tests and collaborated jointly with the Army and Air Force lethality teams to support the Navy’s
SSL-TM, HEL JTO and Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) laser programs. Dr. Lloyd received his Ph.D. in Physical Sciences
from George Mason University in 2009.
Dr. Peter Wick is a Lead Senior Scientist at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. He received his
B.S. in Chemistry from the Virginia Military Institute in 1990 and Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Purdue University
in 1995. Upon arriving at NSWC Dahlgren in 1995, he worked in the chemical and biological department, mainly focusing
on instrument development and data acquisition up until 2007. He was brought into the high energy laser group in 2007
to develop instrumentation and diagnostic/algorithm capabilities to support laser weapon system lethality and development.
He has been involved in several HEL field test events over the years and used his instrumentation background to perform
system assessments via testing for various laser system platforms.
Mr. Chuck LaMar leads the U.S. Army High Energy Laser Lethality program. As such, Mr. LaMar led the Directed Energy
Alternative system engineering for the recent U.S. Army Analysis of Alternatives. He is also the program manager for
the Army’s Solid State Laser Testbed; a facility dedicated to lethality and propagation studies for High Energy Lasers.
In addition, he represents the Army on the JTO Lethality and Beam Control TAWG. He has written over 50 professional
papers and publications in the field of High Energy Lasers.
Mr. Robert Ulibarri is a Senior General Engineer with AFRL working in the laser effects branch. He has been involved
in effects testing and analysis for over 15 years specifically supporting SBL, ABL and, currently, evaluation of tactical
targets of interest to the Air Force. He has conducted numerous laser effects field tests at such facilities as HELSTF
and AEDC. He is currently supporting the High Energy Laser - Future Air Dominance Study (AFRL/ACC study) and the
upcoming DLWS field test effort. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of New Mexico.
Mr. Darren Luke is a Mechanical Engineer for the Air Force Research Laboratory Laser Effects Research Branch.
He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of New Mexico with an emphasis in
Computational Solid Mechanics. He has 10 years experience in high fidelity model development for laser effects
applications with an emphasis in thermal transport, laser-material interaction, high temperature progressive damage
plasticity, fracture mechanics, fluid dynamics, V&V methods, uncertainty quantification, finite element analysis and
particle methods. He has been involved in laser vulnerability studies for tactical and strategic targets and is
currently the laser effects modeling lead at AFRL/RDLE and is the synergistic effects IPT lead for the multi-disciplinary
Integrated Weapons Environment for Analysis program.
Mr. Bryan Knott received his degree in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering from Virginia Tech, after which he began work
for the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. For the past 14 years, Mr. Knott has worked in the Lethality
and Effectiveness Branch performing analysis for both kinetic energy and directed energy weapon systems. Mr. Knott has
also worked on the development of various M&S applications and he is currently the model manager for the Effectiveness
ToolBox (ETB) and the Laser Vulnerability Tool (LVT). Mr. Knott is a member of the HEL JTO Lethality TAWG and is the
NAVSEA representative for the HEL JTO M&S TAWG.
Mr. David Loomis is providing program management and technical support to the High Energy Laser Joint Technology
Office. He led an effort to develop a set of Laser / Material Interaction data summaries and to integrate those data
summaries into a Laser Lethality Knowledge Base that was published by the HEL JTO. He led an effort to perform a
Beam Control Systems Study that reviewed and analyzed the state of the art of HEL Beam Control Technology delivering
a comprehensive report to the HEL JTO that describes the state of the art and provides recommendations for advancing
the Beam Control technology. Mr. Loomis was the Lockheed Martin Program Manager for the Zenith Star / Alpha - LAMP
Integration Program that achieved several technology firsts including development of uncooled optics, design and
fabrication of state of the art bandwidth deformable mirror and fast steering mirror, successful application of
holographic optical elements on a 4 meter segmented primary mirror and development of the largest PtSi area focal
plane array. Mr. Loomis was responsible for the test planning and test operations of all the Surface Navy Weapons
System RDT&E programs including the Standard Surface to Air Missile, the Standard Arm Missile, the Standard Active
Missile, the Vertical Launch System, the Surface Launched Harpoon, the Surface Launched Tomahawk, the Phalanx Close
In Weapons System, the Rolling Airframe Missile, the 5 inch and the 8 inch Guided Projectiles.
Course 6. Laser Deconfliction
Classification: Unclassified, Limited Distribution C, US Only (Restricted to U.S. citizens who are
employees of the U.S. Government or its contractors)
Instructors:
- LeAnn Brasure, Schafer
- Heather Witts, JFCC SPACE/J95
Duration: Half-day course, starts at 1300
CEUs awarded: 0.35
Course Description: This course is intended to teach the "Why, Who, What,
How and What's New" of Predictive Avoidance (PA) - the process by which
space assets are protected from accidental illumination by lasers. Airspace
Deconfliction (AD) - protecting air assets - will also be briefly discussed.
PA and AD are critical pieces of the testing process for DoD high energy
laser (HEL) systems and a knowledgeable and proactive approach by the
testing organization can maximize test windows and minimize frustration.
The goal of this course is to familiarize the student with the reasons
behind PA, the process for working with the Laser Clearing House (LCH) as
well as tools and points of contact available to hopefully simplify and
clarify the process. In addition the course will cover efforts in the
community to standardize the process and make the safety requirements more
in line with current probabilistic risk assessment methodology.
Topics to be covered include:
- Intro (who, what, where, when, how)
- Policy - Defining the environment, present and future
- Implementation - How do we keep assets safe
- Analysis - How do we identify risks, to include tools available
- Initiatives - What is being done to update PA and AD systems to better support future HEL operations
Intended Audience: Anyone who is currently involved or anticipates
involvement in laser testing will benefit from this course. Test planners
and managers as well as those technically involved with the testing arewelcome.
Instructor Biographies: LeAnn Brasure works for Schafer Corporation
supporting the HEL JTO as part of their technical team. She graduated from
the University of Michigan with a BS in Physics and was commissioned as a
second lieutenant in the Air Force. She obtained her Master's Degree in
nuclear physics through the Air Force Institute of Technology and retired
from the Air Force after 24 years of active duty service. During her active
duty time she had assignments including WSMC (Vandenberg AFB), AFTAC
(Patrick AFB) as well as a physics instructor at the Air Force Academy. She
began to focus on solid state lasers during her assignment as an AFRL
Laboratory Representative at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Her
last assignment was with AFRL at Kirtland AFB as the Solid State Laser
Branch Chief. Her role as a part of the HEL JTO team is to monitor current
technology projects and help define new technology development programs such
as the JTO's Predictive Avoidance and Airspace Deconfliction effort.
Heather (Lehmann) Witts is the Deputy Chief of the DE Branch of the JFCC
SPACE/J95 Unified Space Vault. In that role she is primarily responsible for
carrying out the Laser Clearinghouse mission. She was accepted into the
Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate (NuPOC) Program in 2001 and graduated
from Luther College with a BA in Math and Physics in May 2003. She received
her commission in December 2003, completed sea tours on USS IWO JIMA and USS
DWIGHT D EISENHOWER, and passed the nuclear engineers exam. In August 2008,
then LT Lehmann reported to JFCC SPACE/J95 at Vandenberg AFB as Deputy Chief
of the Directed Energy Branch where she spent most of her time dedicated to
carrying out the LCH mission. In late 2010 she transitioned out of the
active force, into the Navy Reserves, and became an AF civilian - remaining
in a similar position at JFCC SPACE. She obtained a Masters Degree in
Engineering Management and was married in 2011. Ms Witts is presently the
primary point of contact for the LCH mission.
Course 7. Synergistic DE/KE Analysis -- Transiting the M&S Pyramid
Canceled
Course 8. Introduction to Using GASP for the Simulation of Solid State Lasers
Classification: Unclassified, Limited Distribution C, US Only (Restricted to U.S. citizens who are
employees of the U.S. Government or its contractors)
Instructors:
- William D. McGrory, AeroSoft, Inc.
- Reece E. Neel, AeroSoft, Inc.
Duration: Half-day course, starts at 1300
CEUs awarded: 0.35
Course Description: The course will provide hands-on exposure to using the GASP software package for
modeling the gain medium and optical cavity of a solid state laser. The student should have a basic knowledge of
the capabilities and limitations of the GASP software as it is applied to modeling a SSL system. The student
should be familiar with the different physical models which comprise the coupled physics problem, including but
not limited to the gain medium, optical pumps, resonator optics and cooling environment. Users will be introduced
to the stand-alone database used to describe the rate constants and related optical parameters modeled in SSL systems.
They will also walk through the problem setup used to describe the physical model of a simple lasing media.
Pump physics and coupling with a resonator optics model will be covered. The student will provide their own
laptop. The course will include a demonstration version of the GASP software for installation on personal computer.
Electronic copies of course material and sample problems will also be provided.
Topics to be covered include:
- Introduction and brief history of the GASP software package
- Hands on walkthrough #1 Simple End-Pumped Nd:YAG Laser
- Introduction to the modeling coefficients database manager
- Hands on walkthrough #2 Water-cooled transversely pumped slab laser
Intended Audience: This course is intended for researchers in the area of high energy solid state laser
design, including but not limited to thin-disk lasers, planar wave guide lasers and slab lasers. An undergraduate
education in science and engineering is assumed. Scientists and Engineers responsible for the design of SSL systems
and for the prediction of their performance would most directly benefit. However, experimentalists can benefit
from an understanding of the capabilities of the software. Knowledge of required inputs to the modeling software
and the volume of output extracted from the simulation can assist the experimentalist in selection of relevant
measured quantities.
Instructor Biographies: Dr. McGrory is the President and Chief Scientist at AeroSoft. He has over 20
years of experience in the development and application of computational fluid dynamics software. Dr. McGrory has
been responsible for the oversight of all high energy laser modeling efforts at AeroSoft since their inception in
1996. Recently, Dr. McGrory has been responsible for the software architecture for GASP which enables the coupling
of the numerous physical modeling solvers required to simulate DPAL and SSL systems. Dr. McGrory received his Ph.D
in Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Tech in 1991.
Dr. Neel is a Senior Research Scientist and Director of Applications and Customer Support at AeroSoft. He has
over 15 years of experience in the development and application of computational fluid dynamics software. Dr. Neel
has been the principal investigator on all AFRL and HEL-JTO sponsored DPAL and SSL research efforts. He is currently
the Principal Investigator for the HEL-JTO SSL modeling effort. Dr. Neel received his Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering
from Virginia Tech in 1997
