Fiber optics for use in air and space harsh environments

Abstract

The aerospace industry has made great strides in recent years deploying fiber optics and photonics technologies on commercial and military platforms which must operate in harsh environments. This trend will continue to grow as avionics fiber-optic system architectures, networking schemes, and components evolve and mature. In parallel with data and video transmission, photonics technology for analog/RF, flight control, freespace communication, and vehicle monitoring applications will have an increasing role for future aerospace platforms.