Army receives Northrop laser

APOPKA, Fla., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Northrop Grumman has delivered its new All Semiconductor Airborne Laser Threat Terminator to the U.S. Army's Information and Intelligence Warfare Directorate.

The ASALTT will be used to support the development of advanced missile seeker countermeasure techniques.

ASALTT is an opto-mechanical and environmentally stable laser designed to take advantage of the most advanced laser technologies to defeat enemy threats.

"Northrop Grumman is pleased to provide the Information and Intelligence Warfare Directorate with a laser that supports these important testing activities," said Gordon Stewart, vice president and general manager of the Laser Systems business unit.

"Ultimately, it is the warfighter who benefits from the development of advanced seeker countermeasure techniques."

The ASALTT's MOSA Inside architecture combines and aligns into a single laser output, using the best technologies available from laser diodes, inter-band cavity lasers, quantum cascade lasers, fiber and more traditional laser sources from the ultraviolet through long-wave infrared bands to accomplish not only missile defeat but many other critical missions.

The ASALTT's design allows the system developer and the threat exploiter the ultimate degree of flexibility in waveform, wavelength and power control to maximize the system's effectiveness and the platform's survivability, Northrop said.