Fiber for defense
Sanders, a Lockheed Martin company, has selected Ortel Corp. in Alhambra, CA, to provide linear fiber-optic technology for a joint U.S. Navy/Air Force Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) system.
Ortel will provide Sanders with advanced photodiode receivers for the wide-frequency fiber-optic-towed decoy portion of this system. The U.S. Government plans to outfit as many as 1000 military aircraft with this self-protection system. Ortel`s photodiode receivers will be modeled after the company`s advanced wide-frequency diode chip developed for government and defense applications.
For the program, Ortel will develop new packaging for the diode to reduce the size and cost of the receiver. Following completion of development and qualification, initial unit deliveries are scheduled for mid-1997.