Consolidated Laser Technologies (CLT), a Mooresville, North Carolina-based defense company, has completed its work on the U.S. Navy’s emergent technology designed to improve maintenance in underwater environments.
The $500,000 contract – CLT’s first – was awarded in September 2023 and employed the U.S. Navy’s novel ultra short pulse laser (USPL) surface preparation technology to assess the capability as an enhanced surface preparation tool on sensor cable connectors in subsurface environments.
With units delivered ahead of schedule to the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane, Indiana, and the Naval Research Labs (NRL), the government will now use the components and samples to evaluate their performance.
“It was our distinct honor to work with the team comprised of NSWC Crane, NRL and SIB personnel to apply this emerging capability,” said Lee Dingman, CEO of CLT. “The group shares common goals intending to increase efficiency in new builds, reduce manpower-intensive maintenance, and increase the longevity of our Navy’s assets and their critical components.”
The effort was funded and supported by the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base (SIB), the Shipbuilding Industrial Base Task Force (SIB-TF), and BlueForge Alliance (BFA).