Airborne Aero-Optics Laboratory - Transonic (AAOL-T)

Abstract : This report covers the third year of the Airborne Aero-Optics Laboratory-Transonic (AAOL-T) program. Aero-optics severely limits an airborne directed-energy systems lethal field of regard; aero-optics refers to the deleterious effect that the density fluctuations in the flow have on an airborne optical system. The AAOL-T program studies aero-optical aberration problems from experimental, theoretical and computational approaches; the most unique part of the program is that we also perform flight tests using Falcon 10s, capable of testing at greater than Mach 0.8.The program makes use of two aircraft, one to project a small-aperture, diverging beam toward an optical turret on the second, laboratory aircraft. The third year of the program has been productive with thirty-one flights flown in support of both the baseline program and to support AFRL/DARPA 40 ABC Turret testing, of which 5 flights plus seven at the end of September 2014 were under the baseline program. During the baseline program, extensive measurements of aero-optical environment around both hemisphere-on-cylinder and hemisphere-only turrets were performed for Mach range between 0.5 and 0.8.