Laser designator

Last updated June 06, 2023

A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser-guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire, or the M712 Copperhead round, respectively.

When a target is marked by a designator, the beam is invisible and does not shine continuously. Instead, a series of coded laser pulses, also called PRF codes (pulse repetition frequency), are fired at the target. These signals bounce off the target into the sky, where they are detected by the seeker on the laser-guided munition, which steers itself towards the centre of the reflected signal.^[1] Unless the people being targeted possess laser detection equipment or can hear aircraft overhead, it is extremely difficult for them to determine whether they are being marked. Laser designators work best in clear atmospheric conditions. Cloud cover, rain or smoke can make reliable designation of targets difficult or impossible unless a simulation is accessible through available ground data.

Deployment

Laser designators may be mounted on aircraft, ground vehicles, naval vessels, or handheld. Depending on the wavelength of light used by the designator, the designation laser may or may not be visible to the personnel deploying it. This is the case with 1064 nm laser designators used by JTACs as that wavelength of light is difficult to see under standard Gen III/III+ night vision devices.^[2] Other imaging devices with "see-spot" capabilities to "see" the laser spot are often utilized to make sure the target is being correctly designated. These may include FLIR (forward looking infrared) thermal imagers which normally operate in the MWIR or LWIR spectrum^[3] but have a 1064 nm window in which they can see-spot the laser.^[4]

Airborne

The U.S. Air Force selected the Lockheed Martin's Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) in 2004. It equipped multiple USAF platforms such as the F-16, F-15E, B-1, B-52, and A-10C. It also operates on multiple international fighter platforms. The U.S. Navy currently employ LITENING and ATFLIR targeting pods on a variety of strike aircraft.^[5] The Litening II is widely used by many other of the world's air forces. The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force use the Litening III system and the French use the TALIOS (Targeting Long-range Identification Optronic System),^[6]^{[ circular reference ]} Damocles and ATLIS II.

Ground-based

Many modern armed forces employ handheld laser designation systems. Examples include the AN/PEQ-1 SOFLAM of the United States, the Russian LPR series of handheld devices.

U.S. Air Force Joint Terminal Air Controllers and Marine Corps Forward Air Controllers typically employ a lightweight device, such as the AN/PED-1 Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder (LLDR), permitting them to designate targets for Close Air Support aircraft flying overhead and in close proximity to friendly forces. While many designators are binocular-based and may utilize tripods, smaller handheld laser designators, like the B.E. Meyers & Co. IZLID 1000P exist as well.^[7] Northrop Grumman's LLDR, using an eye-safe laser wavelength, recognizes targets, finds the range to a target, and fixes target locations for laser-guided, GPS-guided, and conventional munitions.^[8] This lightweight, interoperable system uniquely provides range finding and targeting information to other digital battlefield systems^[9] allowing the system to provide targeting information for non-guided munitions, or when laser designation is unreliable due to battlefield conditions.

Gallery

The Soviet-era LPR-1 laser designator.
The LPR-2 laser designator.
The LPR-4 laser designator.
The Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder.
JGSDF Middle range Multi-Purpose missile laser designator.

Related Research Articles

Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation.

A night-vision device (NVD), also known as a night optical/observation device (NOD), night-vision goggle (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows visualization of images in low levels of light, improving the user's night vision. The device enhances ambient visible light and converts near-infrared light into visible light which can be seen by the user; this is known as I² (image intensification). By comparison, viewing of infrared thermal radiation is referred to as thermal imaging and operates in a different section of the infrared spectrum. A night vision device usually consists of an image intensifier tube, a protective housing, and may have some type of mounting system. Many NVDs also include a protective sacrificial lens, mounted over the front lens (ie. objective lens) on NVDs to protect the latter from damage by environmental hazards and some can incorporate telescopic lenses. The image produced by an NVD is typically monochrome green, as green was considered to be the easiest color to look at for prolonged periods in the dark. Night vision devices may be passive, relying solely on ambient light, or may be active, using an IR (infrared) illuminator to better visualize the environment.

The Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator (TIALD) was a targeting pod manufactured by Ferranti/GEC Marconi in the late 1980s and 1990s, and was the UK's primary laser designator for its Paveway series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs).

LANTIRN is a combined navigation and targeting pod system for use on the United States Air Force fighter aircraft—the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon manufactured by Martin Marietta. LANTIRN significantly increases the combat effectiveness of these aircraft, allowing them to fly at low altitudes, at night and under-the-weather to attack ground targets with a variety of precision-guided weapons.

Directional Infrared Counter Measures (DIRCM) are a class of anti-missile systems produced to protect aircraft from infrared homing missiles, primarily MANPADS and similar simple systems.

The AN/ASQ-228 Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) is a multi-sensor, electro-optical targeting pod incorporating thermographic camera, low-light television camera, target laser rangefinder/laser designator, and laser spot tracker developed and manufactured by Raytheon. It is used to provide navigation and targeting for military aircraft in adverse weather and using precision-guided munitions such as laser-guided bombs. It is intended to replace the earlier AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk pod in US Navy service.

The Lockheed Martin Sniper is a targeting pod for military aircraft that provides positive target identification, autonomous tracking, GPS coordinate generation, and precise weapons guidance from extended standoff ranges.

Targeting pods (TGP) are target designation tools used by attack aircraft for identifying targets and guiding precision-guided munition (PGM) such as laser-guided bombs to those targets. The first targeting pods were developed in conjunction with the earliest generation of PGMs in the mid-1960s.

The AN/AAQ-28(V) Litening targeting pod is an advanced precision targeting pod system currently operational with a wide variety of aircraft worldwide. The research and development of the Litening was first undertaken by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems' Missiles Division in Israel, with subsequent completion of Litening I for use in the Israeli Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infrared search and track</span> Method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation

An infrared search and track (IRST) system is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters.

An infrared countermeasure (IRCM) is a device designed to protect aircraft from infrared homing missiles by confusing the missiles' infrared guidance system so that they miss their target. Heat-seeking missiles were responsible for about 80% of air losses in Operation Desert Storm. The most common method of infrared countermeasure is deploying flares, as the heat produced by the flares creates hundreds of targets for the missile.

Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) is a system which allows ground forces, such as Forward air controllers (FAC), to see what an aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is seeing in real time by receiving images acquired by the aircraft's sensors on a laptop on the ground. There's little time delay and usage of ROVER greatly improves the FAC on the ground reconnaissance and target identification which are essential to close air support.

The Lockheed Martin AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk is a FLIR, laser designator, and laser tracker pod system for use with laser-guided munitions.

The GBU-44/B Viper Strike glide bomb was a GPS-aided laser-guided variant of the Northrop Grumman Brilliant Anti-Tank (BAT) munition which originally had a combination acoustic and infrared homing seeker. The system was initially intended for use from UAVs, and it was also integrated with the Lockheed AC-130 gunship, giving that aircraft a precision stand-off capability. The Viper Strike design is now owned by MBDA.

FILAT pod is an airborne targeting pod designed to provide aircraft with all weather/night attack capabilities. It was first revealed to the public at 1998 Zhuhai Air Show, and it is designed by the 613 Institute of AVIC.

Operation Shed Light was a crash development project in aerial warfare, initiated in 1966 by the United States Air Force to increase the ability to accurately strike at night or in adverse weather. During the 1960s the United States military worked hard to interdict the movement of men and materiel along the Ho Chi Minh trail. The North Vietnamese were experts in the use of weather and darkness to conceal their movement, and understanding the superiority of American air power put their skills immediately to good use. US forces seeking to impede the steady flow of supplies attempted to locate largely static targets during the day with poor results.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northrop Grumman Guardian</span>

The Northrop Grumman Guardian is a passive anti-missile countermeasure system designed specifically to protect commercial airliners from shoulder-launched missiles, using directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Precision-guided munition</span> "Smart bombs", used to strike targets precisely

A precision-guided munition is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the First Gulf War guided munitions accounted for only 9% of weapons fired, but accounted for 75% of all successful hits. Despite guided weapons generally being used on more difficult targets, they were still 35 times more likely to destroy their targets per weapon dropped.

The AN/PEQ-1 also known as a Special Operations Forces Laser Acquisition Marker or the Ground Laser Target Designator (GLTD) is a U.S. military laser designator designed for use by special operations forces (SOF), including Combat Control Teams (CCT), Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC), and Tactical Air Control Parties (TACP), under rugged field conditions. Using the SOFLAM, soldiers can mark targets for close air support and artillery; in combination with GPS systems it can also generate coordinates for precision guided munitions. With the SOFLAM and other target designators, support fires can be called in extremely close to friendly forces while avoiding friendly fire.

References

↑ U.S. Marine Corps (4 April 2018). "MCTP 3-10F Fire Support Coordination in the Ground Combat Element" (PDF). Marines.mil. pp. Appendix K. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
↑ "Differences between Gen3 and 4G image intensification technology" (PDF). Photonis Night Vision. October 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
↑ "Thermal Camera Specs You Should Know Before Buying". FLIR.com. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
↑ Donval, Ariela; Fisher, Tali; Lipman, Ofir; Oron, Moshe (1 May 2012). "Laser designator protection filter for see-spot thermal imaging systems". Proceedings of SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing 2012. 8353 (Infrared Technology and Applications XXXVIII): 835324–835324–8. Bibcode:2012SPIE.8353E..24D. doi:10.1117/12.916966. S2CID 122190698 . Retrieved 16 July 2022.
↑ "Fact Sheet - LITENING II". 24 June 2003. Archived from the original on 24 June 2003.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑ fr:Pod Talios
↑ "IZLID 1000P". B.E. Meyers & Co. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
↑ "Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder (LLDR)" (PDF). Northrop Grumman. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
↑ "Photo Release -- U.S. Army Awards Northrop Grumman Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinders Delivery Order Valued at $142.7 Million (NYSE:NOC)". Archived from the original on 2010-03-25.