Optical proximity fuze

摘要

Described herein is an optical fuze for a guided missile that comprises an array of a large number of optical apertures distributed about the outer surface of the missile. An optical waveguide network selectively couples the array of apertures to a laser source and to a photodetector such that light from the laser source is emitted by selected ones of said apertures, and light returned from a target is received by selected ones of said apertures and directed by said optical waveguide network to said photodetector. These apertures might be arranged to form a composite target images in a particular direction, and/or may be arranged to perform a sensing operation along selected directions. The optical proximity fuze described herein provides inherent flexibility in the way the fuze can be configured in the missile for optimisation for different applications.

主权项

1. An optical sensor for a moving device comprising an array of optical apertures distributed about the outer surface of the device, and a reconfigurable optical waveguide network comprising an adjustable optical device configured to selectively couple the array of apertures to a laser source and to a photodetector in a plurality of modes, the adjustable optical device being configured such that light from said laser source is emitted simultaneously by selected ones of said apertures in selected directions, and light returned from a target is received by selected ones of said apertures and coupled via respective wave guides of said network to said photodetector, to sense targets in selected directions, the respective waveguides being arranged to provide respective predetermined delays for returned light from each of said selected apertures so as to enable a multiplexing of the received light on to an optical wave guide which is coupled to said photodetector,
wherein in one mode light is emitted and received to sense a target in one direction and in a second mode light is emitted and received to sense targets in multiple directions.