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The ILG team
consists of a core of experts in military laser design with
experience from a variety of notable military and spaceborne
laser programs. These include space-launched laser radar transmitters
for several Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”)
experiments, the Mars Observer Laser Altimeter (MOLA) transmitter
designed to map the surface of Mars, and several military laser
rangefinder/target designators and electro-optic countermeasure
(EOCM) transmitters. More recently, these individuals have developed
high performance laser transmitters for laser bathymetery and
other laser radar systems.
Lasers are increasingly being used for defense applications,
such as targeting of conventional weapons, and remote detection
and identification of targets. Ionatron recently completed the
first phase of a program for a customer to use its lasers to
remotely detect and identify traces of chemicals and explosives
in the atmosphere. The customer has requested and is evaluating
a follow-on program proposal. Other military applications for
high performance lasers include laser imaging, spectroscopy,
communications, and tactical weapon and countermeasure applications.
Ionatron’s newly formed laser group will take a lead in
pursuing both new military applications for its ultrashort pulsed
lasers, as well as development and production programs for other
more established military laser technologies.
Ionatron is a pioneering developer of directed energy technologies
for defense applications, most notably Laser
Guided Energy (LGE) which utilizes Tera-Watt class ultrashort
pulse lasers coupled with patented and proprietary high-voltage
technologies to accurately and efficiently deliver high energy
electrical discharges to targets. The newly formed laser team
will be responsible for transitioning Ionatron’s developmental
LGE laser architectures into compact and rugged military laser
hardware, and the manufacture of those laser subsystems systems
for fielding.
Dana Marshall, President and CEO of Ionatron
commented: “Translating our Laser Guided Energy technology
into hardware that can operate reliably on the battlefield is
a unique challenge. Our recent Navy
LGE contract award includes a significant laser development
effort toward that goal. I am confident that we will be well
prepared to meet that challenge for our customers as our LGE
technology advances and we benefit from the technical capability
and experience of this specialized laser engineering team.”
Mr. Marshall continued: “The military has found many
powerful uses for lasers, and Ionatron’s unique ultrashort
pulse laser technologies offer new possibilities for many important
defense applications. I believe we’ve assembled an excellent
team to pursue the growing opportunities in this area. While
the primary impetus for the formation of this group was supporting
our core technology and its implementation, the potential for
leveraging this capability into the expanding market and demand
for advanced lasers for other military applications provides
us with another potential avenue for significant growth. We
also firmly believe that many of these lasers will have commercial
and industrial markets, as well as uses for Homeland Security
and other security applications.”
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