LGS Completes US Defense Project

LGS Innovations LLC said has completed a two-year laser radar technology (LRT) project in partnership with the Strategic Technology Office of DARPA, a part of the U.S. Department of Defense.

The LRT program supports the development of detector arrays and laser transmitter technologies that could improve the ability for a lidar system to switch between settings geared to detect objects of interest and settings geared to hone in and provide additional insight on the selected object.

“This breakthrough required developing a laser with the ability to produce a wide range of optical waveforms and the ability to change waveforms in real time while operating at full power,” said Stephan Wielandy, chief scientist for photonics applications at LGS. “To our knowledge, no laser with the ability to meet all of these waveform agility requirements has ever been made before.”

Lidar has been widely used in military operations, such as those in Afghanistan, due to its ability to provide quick, accurate, high-resolution 3D imagery from aerial platforms that can cover wider areas of terrain, the company said.

LGS delivers technology for networking and communications in government, infrastructure and commercial enterprises. It offers research, development and solutions in wireless communications, radio frequency spectrum analysis, cybersecurity, fiber optic, free-space optical communications and mobile broadband.