AOCM program 1992 to 1993 status report: Basilisk subscale laser experiments

This report summarizes the work performed by the Advanced Optical Counter Measures (AOCM) program from January 1992 to February 1993, funded by the US DOD and administered by the US Army`s Night Vision and Electro-optics Directorate (NVEOD). The AOCM program objective was the development of an advanced anti-sensor weapon system, the Basilisk laser. Basilisk is a high power, white light laser. Its compact size permits deployment on a variety of platforms, including the Bradley Fighting vehicle, where Basilisk would augment the Bradley`s conventional weapon systems. The effectiveness of Basilisk was recently demonstrated in a series of battlefield simulations, CTAS 2.5, where its Mission Defeat Score was eight times higher than lower energy anti-sensor laser systems. In November 1991, a five phase strategy was proposed to develop the Basilisk white light laser system. This report documents the experimental activities performed by the AOCM program and describes several major experimental milestones we achieved during the first year of funding. The focus of this report is on a series of subscale experiments to demonstrate key laser physics and engineering technologies