Performance of a gimballed fiber optic coupled laser spotlight and active television

Recent advances in high powered laser diodes and fiber optic coupling enable efficient integration of laser systems into existing gimballed systems. A high power, divergent beam is used to illuminate a scene providing enhanced performance in poor weather, the recording of (ship, aircraft or automobile) registry and augmentation to existing night vision devices. Ground tests are conducted by observing alphanumeric characters at 200, 400, 600, 800, 1100 and 1300 m and results are presented. (C) 1998 Society of Photo-Optical instrumentation Engineers. [S0091-3286(98)00710-7].