Directed Energy platforms are one of the United States Department of Defense's top priorities for next-generation weapons systems. HPCMP’s capabilities allow DoD engineers to laser-focus on delivering results.
The Air Force Research Laboratory's Hybrid Aero-Effect Reducing Design with Realistic Optical Components (HARDROC) program is testing ways to maximize performance of high-energy laser beams while on high-speed aircraft. AFRL announced a successful flight test last month, showing that their beam director design promotes more efficient energy use for the laser. HPCMP has supported HARDROC for years with extensive use of our supercomputers, in addition to software and network access.
“Using advanced computational fluid dynamic, or CFD, simulation techniques, we were able to demonstrate significant reduction in aero-effects across a wide range of speeds and look angles,” said Dr. Scott Sherer, CFD lead for the HARDROC program. “We effectively utilized a substantial amount of computational hours provided by the Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Office to establish which flow-control techniques could work, which techniques were worth pursuing and which were not.”