UES seeks materials that protect Air Force sensors and weapons from lasers

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio - Electro-optics experts at UES Inc. in Dayton, Ohio, are conducting materials experiments to help safeguard U.S. and allied sensors and military systems from lasers and laser weapons.

Officials of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, have announced a $44.7 million contract to UES for research work involved in the Laser Materials for Blue Systems Survivability (LaMBSS) project.

LaMBSS seeks to investigate materials interaction effects and response to external sources. UES experts will characterize a variety of materials in support of technology development programs using these materials for a variety of applications, Air Force officials say.

Future laser weapons will pose serious threats to U.S. and allied sensors and weapon systems.

UES will determine the effects of lasers on materials, structures, and sensors, and provide advanced laser-hardened materials and techniques, including existing or newly developed materials for structures, integrated optics, and detector technologies, as well as materials and component configurations for sensing or imaging applications.

UES experts will perform materials-response experiments on several kinds of materials, analyze materials degradation phenomena, characterize emerging hardened materials, and evaluate the system response of components and optical sensing to the effects of lasers.

UES experiments will be in laboratory, field, or range conditions, and simulated atmospheric, flight, and space environments to characterize their effects on the performance of these materials.

UES specializes in characterizing and modeling of advanced structural alloys and intermetallics, light metallic alloys, ceramics, and ceramic matrix composites. The company also conducts advanced analytical and experimental research in aerospace weapons power systems, electrical power systems, energy conversion and storage, and hypersonic structural integrity.

UES will do the work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and should be finished by June 2023.

FOR MORE INFORMATION contact UES Inc. online at www.ues.com.