Solving A Difficult Military Beam Alignment Task

Advances in laser technologies have increased the use of lasers in military systems. One such example is the use of a laser system in the periscope of a nuclear-powered submarine. It is essential to provide instrumentation on-board a 6900 ton submarine that offers accurate pitch, yaw, and roll data. As a result of the critical nature of this information, the burden is then placed on the quality of the laser beam, its size, its shape, and its intensity. This paper presents the Ophir-Spiricon BeamGage® alongside the Spiricon SP300 CCD camera as the most accurate way to collect the data from the measurement of these lasers. Download the full case study for more on how these instruments work, as well as the procedures used to analyze each measurement.