The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Has Completed Flight Tests of The Beam Director Concept

Can be used with directed laser energy systems integrated into aircraft.

The Hybrid Aero - Effect Reducing Design with Realistic Optical Components (HARDROC) team, along with prime contractor MZA Associates, developed and tested the low power and sub-scale beam director.

The test was to evaluate the ability of various aerodynamic flow control techniques to reduce the optical and mechanical distortions imparted to laser beams leaving an aerial platform moving at high speed, the team said in a statement.

"Using state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics, or CFD, simulation techniques, we were able to demonstrate a significant reduction in aero effects across a wide range of speeds and viewing angles," said Dr. Scott Sherer, CFD Lead for the HARDROC program.

HARDROC Beam Guiding Program Manager Rudy Johnson said the system was a leap forward in technology to minimize aerodynamic degradation.

"This series of flight tests shows the effectiveness of flow control to reduce aerodynamic effects on the beam director," he said.

Flow control at the heart of HARDROC has been under development for several years by the researchers at AFRL.

The Aerospace Systems Directorate team worked closely with their counterparts in the Directed Energy Directorate and drew on previous efforts in beam director development to advance the technology used in the HARDROC Program.

The resulting design is tested in environmental chambers as well as a wind tunnel to ensure functionality and performance under load before culminating in flight testing on business jets during the summer and fall of 2022.

During flight tests, the aircraft travels at high speed and various sensors are used to measure aerodynamic disturbances.

The data shows that the HARDROC beam director enlarges the envelope over which airborne directional energy systems can operate, providing a 360-degree field of view across extended speed regimes with reduced size, weight and power.