Guided Missile Laser Shadowing for Vehicle Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicles, particularly aircraft with low maneuverability, are vulnerable to high-energy laser attacks that can cause severe damage within seconds, and existing protection methods are inadequate in effectively shielding against such threats.
Innovation Solution
A sensor system detects laser radiation and deploys a guided missile to intercept and shade the vehicle, using image processing and control units to determine the laser source and maintain a shadowing corridor, ensuring the vehicle is protected from high-energy laser beams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a guided missile is deployed to intercept and shade the vehicle, then the vehicle is protected from laser radiation, but the response time and complexity of the protection system increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor system continuously monitors for laser radiation before it reaches the vehicle, enabling early detection and activation of the protective missile. This preliminary action allows the missile to be launched at the optimal moment to establish a shadow corridor, maximizing protection effectiveness while minimizing the actual exposure time of the vehicle to laser radiation.
Solution Approach 2:
The guided missile serves as an intermediary object positioned between the laser source and the vehicle. By deploying this intermediate body into the laser beam path, a shadow corridor is created that blocks laser radiation from reaching the vehicle, thus protecting it without requiring direct countermeasures at the vehicle itself.
2Reliability
If a guided missile is used for shadowing, then protection coverage is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guided missile is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a protective shadowing object and as a platform carrying sensor systems for laser detection. This universal design allows the same object to perform multiple functions - blocking laser radiation while simultaneously monitoring the threat environment, thereby reducing the need for separate dedicated sensor systems and simplifying the overall protection architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective missile is equipped with its own sensor system and control mechanisms, enabling it to autonomously detect laser radiation, determine the optimal shadowing position, and maintain the protective corridor without continuous external control. This self-service capability reduces the complexity of external control systems and makes the protection mechanism more independent and reliable.
3Measurement precision
If the sensor system restricts detection to a specific wavelength band, then detection precision is improved, but the ability to detect different laser types is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor system employs local quality by focusing detection efforts on specific wavelength bands where high-energy lasers operating in the atmospheric window are most likely to be detected. Rather than attempting to detect all possible laser wavelengths equally, the system optimizes sensitivity for the most critical threat spectrum, achieving high detection precision for the most dangerous laser types while maintaining adequate coverage through the missile's mobility and repositioning capabilities.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method effectively prevents high-energy laser beams from penetrating the vehicle by quickly positioning a guided missile to intercept the beam, thereby protecting sensitive areas and preventing damage, even when the vehicle has already been illuminated.
Implementation Method 1
The sensor system absorbs the radiation and converts it into a measurement signal
Implementation Method 2
a guided missile flies into the laser beam, thereby shadowing the vehicle. The laser beam can no longer penetrate the vehicle, or only weakly, and the vehicle is protected by the shadow
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for protecting a vehicle (2) from an attack by a laser beam (8). Effective protection can be achieved if a sensor system (14) detects laser radiation from the laser beam (8), and a guided missile (12, 14) flies into the laser beam (8) and thereby blocks the vehicle (2).