Claims
- 1. A lighting kit for a temporary aircraft landing site including a plurality of covert markers each consisting of:
- a rodlike support adapted at one end to be driven into the ground with an integral battery receptacle at the opposite end thereof;
- a battery with snap fastener terminals loosely mounted in said receptacle;
- an infrared light emitting diode electrically and mechanically fastened to said battery terminals by means of a single pair of snap fasteners; and
- at least four of said markers being arranged in the form of a "Y" located adjacent said landing site with the stem of said "Y" pointing toward the center of said site and in the direction from which the wind is blowing.
- 2. The kit according to clam 1 wherein;
- one of said markers is located at one edge of a runway;
- a second of said markers located at an opposite edge of said runway;
- a first infrared laser illuminator having a first narrow beam;
- a first mounting means supporting a first laser illuminator above the ground, within a few hundred feet from said marker, such that said one marker is located adjacent one edge of said first beam; and
- a second mounting means and laser illuminator providing a second beam similar to said first illuminator located so that said second marker is on one edge of said second beam, the remaining edges of said first and second beams lying between the markers and the center of said runway.
- 3. A method of covertly illuminating a landing site for aircraft equipped with night vision equipment maximally sensitive to specific bands of IR radiation; comprising the steps of:
- A. directing an intense variable beam width primary source of said IR radiation in its most narrow beam configuration directly toward said aircraft until the aircraft reaches the range at which blooming can occur in said night vision equipment;
- B. modulating said source in accordance with a preselected code until said aircraft acknowledges contact with said landing site;
- C. gradually increasing the beam width as the aircraft approaches until the aircraft is within landing range;
- D. directly illuminating a spot near the edge of said site with said primary intense source of IR radiation;
- E. lighting small points near the edge of said site with much less intense secondary sources of said IR radiation; and
- F. diffusing the radiation from said primary source to provide a substantially uniform illumination intensity over at least a substantial fraction of the downwind area on said landing site, said uniform intensity being less than the intensity of said secondary sources.
Government Interests
The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by the U.S. Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon.
US Referenced Citations (11)