Engineering firm upgrades to Leica image-capture system
Officials of Woolpert, LLP, in Dayton, Ohio, are upgrading their image-capture system to the Leica ALS50 airborne laser scanner from Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping in Atlanta. Woolpert, an engineering and architecture consultant, cite the Leica ALS50's ability to gather extremely dense data at speeds between 20 and 40 percent faster than competing systems. Woolpert can collect the same amount of data in one sweep that previously required three sweeps to collect, Leica officials say. The ALS50 measures the topography of the Earth's surface by acquiring large sets of ground surface xyz coordinate triplets. The laser radar-based scanner does this by using a laser range from the aircraft in combination with position and attitude data derived from satellite navigation systems and inertial subsystems. Data from the ALS50 can support new mapping applications such as 3-D modeling better than it could if obtained by traditional methods. Woolpert will use the ALS50 when conditions such as excessive cloud coverage prevent DEM collection using traditional aerial photography. For more information contact Leica Geosystems online at www.gis.leica-geosystems.com.
CMC Electronics to supply infrared detectors for Joint Strike Fighter
Systems designers at the Northrop Grumman Corp. Electronic Systems Sector in Baltimore are looking to CMC Electronics Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, to supply megapixel infrared detector assemblies for the electro-optical distributed aperture system on the future F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The distributed aperture system is a suite of six sensors that provides spherical coverage around the aircraft for missile threat warning, navigation, and situational awareness. The aperture system also will be part of the F-35's electro-optical targeting systems pod.
Companies team to offer optical-fiber fusion-splicer software
Officials of Ericsson Network Technologies AB in Stockholm, Sweden, and 3SAE Technologies in Franklin, Tenn., are offering an automated software package for splicing large fibers in the Ericsson FSU 995-series fusion splicer. The FSU995 Auto Alignment Software has Windows 98, 2000, and XP compatibility, and is configured to communicate through a GPIB interface to an Agilent detector connected to a laser source via fiber. Other detector brands can be added as necessary, company officials say. For more information contact 3SAE Technologies by phone at 615-778-8812 or online at www.3sae.com.
BAE Systems laser hits bullseye in missile-defense test
Scientists at BAE Systems used one of the company's laser seekers to guide a 70-mm rocket to a bullseye on a small target nearly two miles from its launch point, BAE officials say. The flight test supports the U.S. Army's Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System, otherwise known as the APKWS. The BAE device was a distributed aperture semi-active laser seeker, which takes advantage of several distributed apertures to convert an unguided munition into a precision weapon able to destroy enemy lightly armored targets while keeping collateral damage to a minimum, BAE officials say. This test was part of the APKWS system develop and demonstration flight program. The 70-mm laser-guided rocket used a mid-body fin-mounted guidance system to hit within a meter from the target center during an Aug. 28, 2003, flight test at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Leading the APKWS program is the BAE Systems Information and Electronic Warfare Systems division in Nashua, N.H.
