Product Code: ILSC2011_1104

MATILDA: A Laser Range Hazard Assessment Utility
Authors:
Brian Flemming, SELEX Galileo Ltd; Edinburgh Great Britain
Daniel Huantes, TASC, Inc.; San Antonio USA
Paul Kennedy, US Air Force Research Lab; Brooks City-Base TX USA
Presented at ILSC 2011

A jointly-owned utility the Military Advanced Technology Integrated Laser Hazard Assessment (MATILDA) system is being developed under the auspices of a Memorandum of Understanding between the US and the UK. This paper provides an update on progress in developing the MATILDA utility.
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has had long experience in developing and applying probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methods for air-to-ground laser training operations, but has lacked the opportunity to create an expert software-based utility to facilitate the hazard analysis process, particularly in respect of a generalised terrain. The United States Air Force has increasingly looked to develop a PRA-based technique for high energy laser applications. The initial MATILDA code development is based on the PRA partition model for the UK TIALD system. The TIALD model fault-free hazard analysis is geometrically similar to that utilised by the US LRMS. However, the UK model contains an additional fault hazard analysis component that is currently not mirrored within the US approach. User-specific configurations of the MATILDA utility will address the needs of the expert analyst and Range safety technician respectively. The MATILDA utility will provide an ideal environment for developing PRA hazard assessment models for a range of laser applications.