ABL Closer to Testing

Originally posted by intelgurl
technology readiness level 6.

what does this mean in normal everyday english school kid (17) language please?

justin

Originally posted by intelgurl
technology readiness level 6.

what does this mean in normal everyday english school kid (17) language please and what technology level is ready for production?

justin

From what I understand, science has a technology tree, things that are developed from one thing, such as a stone wheel from 5000 years ago might be of a tech level 1 and then came the rubber tire, which might be, oh say tech level 8.

The ABL laser may have been developed from a simple High Energy laser that was tech level 1, and that tech level 1 laser was probably weak, large, clumsy, inaccurate, and very primitive. As you go through the tech tree, things generally get smaller/bigger, use less energy, be more powerful, amongst other performance upgrades.

A tech level 6 laser most probably is the branch on the tech tree that would be necessary for it to fit into a JSF, as it would have gotten much smaller and more protable from it's parent module.

This is from what I've gathered, I may be wrong. Maybe intelgurl has a different meaning for it, I don't know, but that's what I think might be tech levels.

Shattered OUT...

Originally posted by justin_barton3
what does this mean in normal everyday english school kid (17) language please?
justin

The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is a creation of NASA and the GAO after studying a number of high tech industries to find a way to rate successful product development.
It has since been adopted by the Air Force Research Laboratory, DARPA and probably other R&D defense related organizations.

One of the key factors in developing a new technology is to get it the right size, weight and configuration needed for the end product.
Once this is demonstrated adequately the technology is said to be at an acceptable level for production.

TRLs are on a scale of 1 (lowest level of development) to 9 (highest level of development).
Level 1 would be in the research stage and Level 9 would indicate that the system is fully debugged and probably already in mass production.

Level 7 is generally considered an acceptable level of development to integrate into a working system, but not completely debugged and ready for mass production. In this case, Level 6 indicates the system is working, but if it is going into a mission ready platform you can bet it is in an accelerated program, meaning it is being pressed to be ready for action as soon as possible.

I would consider level 6 to be a couple of steps above a prototype.

The F-35's laser would be fine for installation and use, but as development progressed it would recieve updates or step forward in "blocks".

For a more in depth explanation try the following Link:
"Management of Techology Development"; US Government Accounting Office

[edit on 11-1-2006 by intelgurl]

Originally posted by intelgurl
The Laser concept for the F-35 is a solid state laser in the 100kw range, that means no heavy chemicals to power it. This is sufficient power to neutralize incoming surface to air and air to air missiles as well as other aircraft provided all the sensing and tracking modules have achieved a technology readiness level 6.

I was actually going to ask this. For a while I thought they were using a chemical laser, and I had to wonder how AF generals would feel about carting the "ammo" around for it. Good thing that we have the heroic entry of solid-state lasers. I was kind of hoping for a free-electron laser, but solid-state is cool too. Apparently it looks exactly like the stuff for the Millenium Falcon

In the STOVL F-35B there is a large area behind the cockpit where the lift fan goes. The lift fan is powered by a shaft coming off the F135 engine generating some 27,000 horsepower. By removing the lift fan on the STOVL version, there is more than adequate room and power (via the 27,000 hp shaft) for a 100kw solid state laser.

The only thing that concerns me is that the particular wavelength of light that they create isn't tuneable like the free-electron laser, so it might get nailed by clouds or other blockages. Fortunately, however, this is possibly the coolest idea in all of aviation finally beginning to get a serious looking-at. Step 2: Sharks with laser beams attached to their heads.