Method for assessing unmanned aerial vehicle vulnerability to high-energy laser weapon

A study was conducted to provide a revised systematic method to assess the vulnerability of a UAV to FEL weapon. The study was based on assumptions that the laser spot size on the target was small as compared with the target size so that the laser beam was simulated as one shotline, which was like the trajectory of one penetrator or fragment. The proposed approach for assessing the vulnerability of a UAV to FEL weapon included steps, such as defining the UAV kill categories and analyzing critical components, defining the laser threat aspects, generating shotlines and perform shotline descriptions, and identifying the kill criteria for components and UAV. The proposed method modeled the UAV external surface and the individual internal and external components with surface patches. Shotline descriptions were obtained by superimposing a planar grid over the target model and by passing parallel shotlines from the attack direction through the individual grid cells.