Defense RDT&E

Dr. Shkuratov and Dr. Baird with a congressional sponsor of Loki, Hon. Joanne Emerson

One of our primary centers of emphasis is research, development, test, and evaluation of explosive-driven pulsed power sources through the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Our engineering physics and electronics facility in Texas takes the lead in designing and building the prototypical prime power conversion devices to meet DoD needs for miniature explosive-driven power generators. At the Missouri facility, we use shock hydrodynamics to design the high explosive charges and initiation schemes for the prototypical devices.

The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), the NRL, and the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) are currently investigating the use of these generators for a variety of applications. AMRDEC has purchased many of the explosive generators for testing.

In addition to their applied research efforts in explosive-driven pulsed power, Loki is helping to refine the development of manufacturing technologies in this area by specifically creating designs that require little further work to achieve a high Technology Readiness Level.

Since beginning this center of emphasis in 2004, Loki has won two awards for its pulsed power concepts and devices: the 2006 Tibbetts Award for outstanding achievement in the SBIR program, and the 2008 Army Achievement Award for the development of the Ferroelectric Generator.

Defense RDT&E

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