Advanced Airborne Defensive Laser for Incorporation on Strike Fighter Aircraft: Systems Engineering Capstone Project Report - Designing an Architecture for Protecting Against Missiles

This late 2017 report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction.

This report is a technical and operational analysis of an airborne "hard-kill" laser-based anti-missile system for use on strike fighters. The analysis begins with a set of requirements and a concept of operations showing the function of the Advanced Airborne Defensive Laser (AADL). These concepts are developed into a generalized functional, physical, and allocated architecture for the system. Research was then done into current and near-future technologies to create alternative configurations. The combat performance of these alternatives was simulated using physics- and discrete-event-based modeling. This simulated performance and other factors were scored to develop recommendations for technologies to be incorporated into the design.
For power supply, we recommend the use of the Next Generation Jammer's ram air turbine (called the HiRAT) for airborne power generation. Lithium-ion batteries are recommended for power storage. The recommended technology for the tracking system is the F-35's Distributed Aperture System. Finally, the recommended laser technology is the Ytterbium fiber laser.

I. INTRODUCTION * A. PROBLEM STATEMENT * B. OBJECTIVES * C. SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PROCESS * 1. Problem Definition * 2. Design of Alternatives * 3. Evaluation of Alternatives * D. SCOPE AND DELIVERABLES * E. REPORT ROADMAP * II. PROBLEM DEFINITION * A. EXISTING CAPABILITIES * 1. Laser Transmission System * 2. Target Tracking System * 3. Power Supply System * B. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS * C. HIGH-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS * D. FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS * E. LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS * F. CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS DEVELOPMENT * 1. Scenario 1 - Single Missile Fired at Host Aircraft * 2. Scenario 2 - Multiple Missiles Fired at Host Aircraft * 3. Scenario 3 - Single Missile Fired at Allied Aircraft * 4. Scenario 4 - Multiple Missiles, Allied Target(s) * G. CHAPTER SUMMARY * III. ARCHITECTURE DEVELOPMENT * A. FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE * B. PHYSICAL ARCHITECTURE * 1. Laser Subsystem * 2. Power Supply Subsystem * 3. Tracking Subsystem * C. ALLOCATED ARCHITECTURE * D. CHAPTER SUMMARY * IV. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES * A. ALTERNATIVE DESCRIPTIONS * 1. Laser Subsystem * 2. Tracking Subsystem * 3. Power Supply Subsystem * B. SCORING STANDARDS * 1. Functional Performance (50%) * 2. Aircraft Performance (10%) * 3. Comparative Cost (30%) * 4. Technology Risk (10%) * C. MODELING AND SIMULATION DEVELOPMENT * D. SCORING AND ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES * 1. Laser Subsystem * 2. Tracking Subsystem * 3. Power Supply Subsystem * E. CHAPTER SUMMARY * V. RECOMMENDATIONS * A. ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS * 1. Laser Subsystem * 2. Tracking Subsystem * 3. Power Supply Subsystem, * 4. Optimal Configuration Physical Characteristics, * B. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

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