AFRL Completes Aerospace Relay Mirror System Demonstration Published Dec. 13, 2006 By Plans and Programs Directorate AFRL/XP WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- AFRL's Aerospace Relay Mirror System (ARMS) program successfully completed a formal review of laboratory test results. ARMS is a prototype laser relay system designed to redirect and focus the beam of a ground-based or airborne high-energy laser (HEL) onto a target, significantly increasing the HEL's range and lethality. Compared to a regular laser system, a redirected energy beam offers several advantages, including improved beam quality and the ability to hit beyond-line-of-sight targets. Relay systems will improve the engagement timeline, while increasing the standoff range for manned systems and serving as a low-cost force multiplier for HEL systems.ARMS is a subscale prototype of a future laser relay weapon system. The ARMS technology includes dual line-of-sight pointing, energy capture and transfer, payload integration, and relay system operation and integration. The prototype system serves as a risk reduction test bed for relay system development, including airborne laser performance enhancement; active track; precision strike of time-critical targets; and persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.AFRL's ARMS program met all hardware and software objectives and received approval to initiate its move to the Starfire Optical Range (Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico) for field tests. AFRL demonstrated the payload by performing tracking and pointing in several modes, characterizing all payload functions within the limitations of the laboratory environment. The laboratory tests' major achievement was the refinement of the cooperative tracking between the laser source and the relay receiver. Data analysis provided numerous details about system performance, including sensor performance, tracking overshoots, and settling time.