Potential capabilities of aircraft laser landing systems

We present calculations of the efficiency of the laser landing system (LLS), based on determining the minimum required fluxes of scattered radiation from fixed extended landmarks (FELs), which are LLS indicators in the case of visual FEL detection under real operation conditions. It is shown that, when the meteorological visibility range S_m=800  m, for reliable detection of laser beams from the glissade slope group at ranges L∼1.0-1.6  km under nighttime conditions, the minimum required powers are P_min=0.5  W for λ=0.52 and 0.64 μm, given deviations from the glissade path by the angle ϕ=0°-5°. The green and red rays are visible at distances L=1-1.2  km under twilight conditions. Our calculations corroborated the possibility of creating a new-generation laser-based LLS capable of ensuring aircraft landing under the conditions of International Civil Aviation Organization category 1 (decision height of 60 m at the minimum visibility equal 800 m).