Blue Laser for Submarine Laser Communications (SLC) and Non-Acoustic Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
Program Manager: Dr. Larry Stotts
The goal of the DARPA Blue Laser for Submarine Laser Communications (SLC) and Non-Acoustic Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) program is to develop a high wall-plug efficient, Blue Light (455nm), Solid-state Laser.
Foreign submarines are quieter than ever before, and there is a pressing need for improved ASW capabilities, particularly in shallow water (above the thermocline) and littoral areas of operations. Coordination between multiple assets such as aircraft, surface ships, and submarines is critical to an effective ASW campaign. Integration of submarines into an overall ASW effort, arguably the most effective platform for wide area search and tracking, has traditionally been hampered by lack of or minimal communications to the submarine while deep.
The Navy is currently investing in new and previously demonstrated techniques for communicating with submarines at speed and depth for coordinated ASW operations. These techniques most commonly use either trailing wires or towed buoys for submarine communications, which impose limitations on the submarine's maneuverability and stealth, and therefore negatively impact the submarine's ability to fully conduct ASW operations. An airborne laser which could penetrate shallow water would permit submarine communications without the restrictions of floating wires or buoys.
This program is intended to develop the world's first wall-plug efficient laser that operates both at an optimum water transmission band of open ocean water and at the wavelength of a Cesium Atomic Line Filter. This laser has the potential to improve the detection depth of a NAASW lidar system by a significant factor for the same reasons it could improve submarine communications.
