SBIR-STTR Award

The US DoD Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is working to acquire laser based strategic Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) technologies. The laser platform will be airborne, ideally on an aircraft with long range, extended loitering time, and stealth capabilities. The system needs to scale up to 10 megawatts. Any laser solution requires a power source, and laser power sources with the required level of energy discharge have traditionally been chemical based and require jumbo jet sized aircraft which do not fit the desired mission profile. Lithium ion battery technology offers a potential lightweight, robust, and compact option which could be deployed on a much smaller UAV platform with a 5-10 thousand pound payload capacity. The technical challenges for developing a suitable battery system require innovative approaches to scale existing kilowatt class technology into the megawatt range. In Phase 1, Lithiumstart proposes to address key elements of risk by testing the technical feasibility of three key innovations. If successful, Phase 2 will focus on issues of practicality by building and demonstrating a 1 megawatt system suitable for field tests and evaluation.

The Phase I research under this topic conducted by Lithiumstart demonstrated several technologies that provide a path toward subscale and full scale demonstration of a battery based pulse power source for small, lightweight, portable lasers. These enabling technologies included robust laser welding of cell to cell connectors and high speed data monitoring. Both of these technologies impact the safety and reliability of a system with hundreds or even thousands of cells. These enabling technologies will be combined with proven system design techniques to satisfy functional requirements and balance safety, reliability, weight, modularity, and performance. Approved for Public Release 14-MDA-7903 (2 July 14).

Keywords:
High Power, Lithium Battery, Safety, Pulse power, Modular, Laser