Innovative Shortwave Infrared High Energy Laser Source and Coupled Imager

SBIR · Phase: BOTH · Topic DON27BZ02-NV025 · Solicitation 27.BZ

The Navy desires a short wave infrared high energy laser illuminator and coupled range-gated imaging sensor, including optics, operating in 1.9-2.5 micron wavelength to increase engagement ranges in adverse marine atmospheric conditions that include absorption, Mie and Rayleigh scattering, thermal blooming, etc. and able to operate in continuous wave (CW) or pulsed operation modes – at a variable power level up to kilowatt powers (average). Adjustable wavelength tunability to match to optimal atmospheric penetration and transmission within the band specified is required. If the entire band is not accessible, then rationale must be provided for limitation or selections made. In addition, it requires these to be ruggedized, so they are suitable to be installed on maritime platforms (i.e., ships, USMC ground vehicles, and aircraft) and be in a wavelength regime that is considered “eye-safer” when considering issues of defuse reflection or scatter when nearby observers are present. Gimbal and optics development or advancements in the shortwave infrared regimes may be offered but are not the primary technical objective in consideration for this topic. Recent advances in laser sources [Ref 1] with high beam quality at the 2 micron wavelength, using Holmium and Thulium doped fiber optic-based power gain amplifiers, have shown a potential pathways for innovation to reach higher average powers (in Continuous Wave operation) in the multi-kilowatt regime, within the 2.0 to 2.4 micron (µm) band and falling within an atmospheric spectral short-wave infrared (SWIR) transmission band due to their low absorption of light by atmospheric water vapor. A pulsed system with a pulse gated optical imaging sensor offers the unique opportunity to not only provide a simple Laser Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) capability but also provide doppler-based discrimination information on the imaged objects – which could exceed systems’ capabilities typical from the 1.0-1.6 micron near infrared (NIR) band. The marine wave boundary layer (MWBL) can have higher scattering properties when comparing NIR to the selected SWIR bands, and is considered less detectable using widely available commercial, uncooled sensors than standard visible to NIR based illumination systems. A system that can operate in either CW or coupled pulse modes with a time resolved, range gated sensor and with high resolution windowing is the primary objective of this topic. The Navy and Department of War seeks a unified approach with a scalable prototype device for use in evaluation for Electro-magnetic (EM) Spectrum warfare with an objective of gaining military advantages and achieving freedom of action across missions in support of maritime, surface warfare. However, the one system should show an ability to handle two separate capabilities developed through scaling. The first is development of a small, compact, lightweight SWIR (2.0-2.4 wavelength) high energy laser illuminator and coupled range-gated imaging sensor, including necessary optics suitable for short range sensing from small (group I or II) unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. While shorter ranges are acceptable for these missions (tens to hundreds of meters), the need for higher power still exists to conduct object discrimination at longer range (kilometers) and collect as much information (e.g., doppler shifts) from sensors as is technically possible. These smaller devices may diverge because of the requirements of size, weight and power (SWaP) toward a lower power-ganged diode array of microbolometers that has sufficient optical gain sensitivity to achieve doppler data, at the sacrifice of higher resolution spatial data typically obtained from devices that are based on focal plane arrays. Hybrid approaches combining sensor types shall be considered. Imaged target objects are expected to be in centimeter to meter size, and either stationary or have relatively low velocities (meters per second). At the other end of the scale, a d…

SBIR/STTR 은 미국 중소기업만 지원할 수 있습니다(Small Business Act 법정 요건). • 계열사를 포함해 상시 종업원 500명 이하 • 미국 시민 또는 영주권자 1인 이상이 50%를 초과해 직접 소유·지배 • 미국 내 사업장을 두고 주로 미국 내에서 사업을 영위할 것 • 수행책임자(PI)의 주된 근무처가 신청 기업일 것 출처: https://www.sbir.gov/faq/eligibility-requirements

Primary country

🇺🇸 United States

Also eligible

None

Foreign companies

No

Local entity

Required

Location condition

미국 내 사업장을 두고 미국 시민·영주권자가 50%를 초과해 소유한 중소기업만 신청할 수 있습니다(법정 요건).

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Official URL

https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/

Application URL

https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/

Last fetched

2026.11.06

Human review

Not reviewed — check the official announcement

First seen

2026.11.06

Data status

Auto-collected, not reviewed

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