Advanced LADAR Imagery Augmentation Systems (ALIAS)

Visually degraded environment (VDE) conditions pose a threat to Navy and Marine Corps helicopter operations during landings and troop insertions/extractions. Blinding dust clouds caused by rotor down-wash during low level flight can cause pilots to suddenly lose all visual cues. This loss of situational awareness (SA) creates significant risks from other aircraft and ground obstacles. According to the US Army Safety Center, spatial disorientation accidents result in the loss of an average of 40 lives per year. To date, LADAR sensors cannot sufficiently see through brownout and other VDEs and have both a low spatial resolution and a limited field of view. In Phase I, we proved the feasibility of the Advanced LADAR Imagery Augmentation System (ALIAS) which improves pilot SA by increasing the resolution of an existing LADAR system and adding obscurant penetrating capabilities. The improved sensor will minimize size, weight, and power (SWaP) and have a clear path to platform insertion. ALIAS will improve SA with: • Real-time visibility through brownout – No see-and-remember. • Higher spatial resolution than is available natively from LADAR • Minimized SWaP for easier integration on rotorcraft.