Laser command guidance system
US4153224A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 29, 1976 |
| Grant date | May 8, 1979 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 29, 1996 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF41G7/2293
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A guidance system is provided for flight vehicles which establishes a reference direction in space by means of two pulsed laser beams. The desired direction is remotely determined and an optical tracker on the flight vehicle is then gated ON by a first pulsed laser beam wih a fixed time delay following receipt of a pulse on board the vehicle. A second pulsed laser beam is fired in a direction to intersect the desired flight path at a set distance from the vehicle, and at a time such that a pulse of the second beam crosses the desired path, and returns to the missile during the time while the tracker on the vehicle is gated ON, so that the tracker receives energy from the backscatter from the atmospheric segment illuminated by the pulse, and causes the vehicle to travel in the desired direction.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.