36 THE FIVE-YEAR OUTLOOK 



tests should provide a base for better transition of ad- 

 vanced technologies to engines on a timely basis. 



A triservice working group has been formed to define 

 an overall plan to develop and demonstrate small engine 

 technology in the I to 7 pound per second airflow class. 

 Those engines are applicable to auxiliary power units, 

 light helicopters, light fixed- wing aircraft, and cruise 

 missiles, all of which are widely used by U.S. armed 

 forces. 



SPACE DEFENSE AND SURVEILLANCE 



The exploitation of space as a medium for important 

 military functions raises the potential for hostile acts 

 against U.S. space assets and presents the need to develop 

 effective space defense and surveillance systems. 



Recent advances in laser technology create possibilities 

 for high-energy laser weapons for use in space. While 

 very long lethal ranges and propagation at the speed of 

 light make lasers uniquely capable for such applications, 

 improvements by orders of magnitude in critical perform- 

 ance factors are required before weapons applications 

 would be possible. The current Department of Defense 

 effort is intended to develop the basic technology to apply 

 those improvements to critical laser design parameters as 

 well as advances in system performance. 



In the past year, there has been substantial progress 

 toward establishing the technology base for chemical laser 

 weapons. Scale system testing has verified that the high 

 fuel efficiency obtained previously with subscale systems 

 also applies to higher power laser devices. In addition, 

 researchers have developed unconventional concepts that 

 equal, and in some cases exceed, the performance of 

 existing devices. The high fuel efficiency and decreased 

 weight attainable when the new concepts are applied 

 could translate into a space laser weapons system of 

 lighter weight or more fuel storage capacity if scaling 

 continues to hold for very high power laser devices. 



The Department of Defense's charged particle beam 

 program is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of sta- 

 ble, predictable propagation of high-power, relativistic 

 electron beams in the atmosphere over distances of mili- 

 tary interest. The essential tool for investigation of at- 

 mospheric electron beam propagation is an Advanced Test 

 Accelerator, now under construction at Lawrence Liver- 

 more Laboratory. The Experimental Test Accelerator, 

 which will serve as its front end, was completed recently, 

 and experiments will be performed in order to extend 

 previous low-energy propagation data. When completed 

 at the end of fiscal year 1982, the Advanced Test Accelera- 

 tor may provide the essential scientific data required to 

 begin planning preprototype weapons systems. 



The principal emphasis in the space surveillance pro- 

 gram has been on advanced visible and infrared detector 

 arrays. The enhanced capabilities of such devices permit a 



variety of surveillance and battle management missions 

 not possible previously. An advanced high-resolution in- 

 frared sensor has been installed in a National Aeronautics 

 and Space Administration (NASA) U-2 aircraft to collect 

 measurements of Earth background and tactical targets. 

 Advanced detector array production for the Defense Ad- 

 vanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) TEAL 

 RUBY experiment, the first on-orbit demonstration of 

 advanced detector technology, will provide a target/back- 

 ground signature data base to support the design of future 

 operational systems. The sensor is expected to be deliv- 

 ered to the U.S. Air Force for integration with the P80-I 

 spacecraft for a planned Shuttle launch later in this 

 decade. 



NUCLEAR TEST VERIFICATION 



Research in nuclear arms tests verification is intended to 

 provide a wider range of sensor options and greater as- 

 surance of detection and identification of nuclear tests. 

 Current efforts involve the development of advanced sen- 

 sor systems and associated data analysis procedures. With 

 recent advances in characterization of seismic sources and 

 wave propagation modeling, and the completion of a 

 worldwide network of high-quality digital monitoring sta- 

 tions, it is now possible to develop source identification 

 procedures based on physical and geometric properties. 



A marine seismic system demonstration program will 

 offer the possibility of monitoring, unobtrusively and at 

 close distances, the most seismically active regions for 

 clandestine underground tests. Such a system would 

 provide significantly enhanced global monitoring ca- 

 pabilities of underground and underwater nuclear tests. It 

 consists of a high-quality, three-component borehole seis- 

 mometer and associated signal conditioning electronics 

 suitable for long-term emplacement in the deep ocean 

 floor The program will demonstrate the feasibility of 

 installing and operating a state-of-the-art seismic detector 

 in a borehole in the deep (5.6 km) ocean floor Application 

 of the seismic data to detection, location, and identifica- 

 tion of underground explosions will depend on analysis 

 techniques developed under ongoing programs in seismic 

 source and signal propagation theory and advanced data 

 processing. 



The marine seismic system program was initiated in 

 late fiscal year 1979, and the design for the system was 

 completed at the end of fiscal year 1980. Techniques and 

 specialized equipment required for placing the instrument 

 in boreholes in the ocean floor using the drillship Glomar 

 Challenger have been completed. An at-sea test was con- 

 ducted in the mid- Atlantic in early 1981 to verify operation 

 of the equipment and to gather initial data on seismic noise 

 reduction in that environment. The sensor, with associated 

 electronics required for data acquisition and storage, will 

 be developed by early 1982, and deployment of the system 



