The Laser Early Warning Detection System is one of those technologies that is going to save lives. In fact, it was developed by Attollo Engineering from their OMNir technology at the direction of Air Force Research Labs because of a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan where a US aircraft mistakenly bombed US troops.
LEWDS is lightweight and mounts to the top of the helmet or other equipment. It uses a common CR123A battery.
It offers a haptic alert (user programmable) if it is lased with 1064 & 1550nm energy which is generated by:
– Low Eye-safe military laser rangefinders (LRFs) used for precision target locating
– Low frequency gimbal-mounted LRFs
– High frequency handheld LRFs
– PRF-coded Laser Target Markers (LTMs) used for handoff to laser designator systems
– PRF-coded Laser Target Designators
(LTDs) used for guiding laser guided bombs
In addition to direct targeting LEWDS also detects “Danger Close” illumination and is designed to reject false alarms.
LEWDS does not need to be fielded to all. Because it detects Laser energy generated from above, Terminal Attack Controllers and small unit leaders are the best use of the device as they are most likely to have contact with Close Air Support aircraft to alert them they are placing friendly troops in danger.
LEWDS is available from www.quanticotactical.com.
