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DIRECTED ENERGY PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY

Abstract: 24-Systems-065

UNCLASSIFIED, PUBLIC RELEASE

Hammerhead™ Beam Director Assembly Prototype Build Experience

Lockheed Martin-Orlando has built two Hammerhead™ Beam Director Assemblies (BDAs) for integration into ground-based mobile and fixed Laser Weapon Systems (LWS) over the past couple of years. We have gained experiences through the integration, assembly, and test during these efforts, which we would like to share with the community.

The Hammerhead™ is a BDA for use primarily on ground vehicles or used for fixed sites or adapted for use on naval vessel applications. The BDA provides greater than hemispherical coverage using a multi-axis gimbal. Currently, the high energy laser’s nominal clear aperture is 30cm (roughly a foot) and is mounted to the left of the central main azimuth pedestal. On the right side, the Auxiliary Bay contains several sensors like cameras and laser rangefinders and is easily reconfigurable for different applications.

We have gained valuable knowledge during the development, integration, assembly, and test of BDAs, and about their integration into the higher-level LWS. A key element of our process was early-on collaboration amongst Engineering, Production Operations, Global Supply Chain, the prime integrator, and the US Army to move towards a future of manufacturing a larger quantities of these complex High Energy Laser Weapon systems. In collaboration with the US Army/Radiance we are advancing and maturing Manufacturing Technology to develop process improvements for laser weapons as they emerge from a prototype environment to low-rate production systems. These projects span a breadth of processes that include cleanroom/component cleaning processes, tooling development, optical alignment standardization/optimization, electrical/mechanical improvements, and other tasks that are driving our Manufacturing Readiness Level higher.

UNCLASSIFIED, PUBLIC RELEASE