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Aviation History
1987
1987 - 0019.PDF
SCIENCE/SCOPE Dispensing 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) of optical fiber from a spool at speeds of many hundreds of feet a second is just one new technology developed for an advanced anti-armor weapon, the U.S. Army's Fiber Optic Guided Missile (FOG-M). Engineers at Hughes Aircraft Company devised techniques 20 years ago to dispense steel wire from the aft end of the Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missile. The longer plastic-coated glass fiber for FOG-M, however, presented a more difficult challenge. While the steel wire used for the TOW missile stacks neatly like pipe when wound, the more viscous optical fiber coating tendency to pinch required new winding technology. FOG-M provides ground forces with in-flight sighting capability through the fiber optic link that allows the mobile gunner to safely search out targets while concealed behind hills or other protective terrain. U.S. Navy F/A-18 pilots will be able to see as though it were daylight while conducting low-altitude, high-speed missions at night using a Thermal Imaging Navigation Set (TINS) system developed by Hughes for McDonnell Aircraft Company. The TINS features a thermal sensor that displays a TV-like image of the terrain ahead on the pilot's head-up display. Ground objects and terrain are clearly viewed in a one-to-one real scene projection. Pilots are able to see in total darkness and through battlefield smoke and haze. TINS will be carried in a pod and mounted in a fixed, forward-looking position. Hughes will build five development systems, one of which will be used for flight testing. Delivery of these units is scheduled for fall of 1987. Brazil has expanded its telecommunications service now that the new Brazilsat 2 satellite has gone into operation. The spacecraft joins Brazilsat 1 in uniting the wilderness along the Amazon Basin with the more populated regions in the south. The two satellites carry telephone, TV, and data services. Spar Aerospace Ltd. of Canada built the Brazilsats under license from Hughes for EMBRATEL, Brazil's state-owned telecommunications agency. Hughes supplied antenna reflectors, solar cell arrays, propulsion systems and other electronic components and subsystems. Sidewinder missiles can knock out enemy aircraft more effectively because of an advanced proximity sensor. The device, designated DSU-21/B Active Optical Target Detector, uses an infrared laser system that detects the enemy aircraft. Upon determining that the target is within lethal range of the Sidewinder missile, the DSU-21/B commands the warhead to explode. Compared with earlier passive sensors, the DSU-21/B is more capable, more reliable, and less sensitive to false alarms. The Santa Barbara Research Center, a Hughes subsidiary, has delivered more than 20,000 of the units. The company has also developed a ruggedized test set which will allow testing of the DSU-21/B in the field to maintain an ultra high confidence in flightworthiness. An in-country facility is also available for performing recommended periodic service life maintenance. Tanks gain an important tactical advantage when equipped with laser tank fire control systems because they are more likely to score direct hits from farther away. The system calculates the distance to a target in the instant it takes a laser burst to bounce back. A computer uses this information—along with such data as crosswind, cant (tilt), temperature, and gun wear—to calculate the firing ballistics. Hughes builds and licenses laser tank fire control systems for most of the main battle tanks in the free world. For more information write to: P.O. Box 45068, Los Angeles, CA 90045-0068 USA © 1987 Hughes Aircraft Company Subsidiary of GM Hughes Electronics HUGHES
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