Optical component/hardware insertion into tactical/sensor systems: Risks and lessons learned

The “blind” reliance on traditional “Commercial-off-the-Shelf” optical components and data specifications has so far proven insufficient to fully meet most avionic/sensor system needs. LM's successful insertion of optics into avionic and radar system architectures indicate that the mapping of system constraints drive optical component/link performance standards. It's the tactical system owner's responsibility to maintain technical oversight of optical component constraints and work integrally with the optical component supplier to bind those constraints into the physically realizable (and yieldable) parts.