1. Ruby pulse laser rangefinder
The 0.69μm ruby pulse laser rangefinder is the first generation military laser rangefinder with simple and compact structure. Because the working wavelength is near-infrared green light, it is easy to expose the target, and it is extremely unsafe to the human eye, so it has been eliminated except for a few applications.
2. Nd: YAG pulsed laser rangefinder
The main advantages of the Nd:YAG pulsed laser rangefinder are that its concealment, electrical efficiency and pulse repetition frequency are much better than those of the ruby laser rangefinder, so it has been widely equipped with troops since the late 1960s; the main disadvantages: ① The working wavelength is 1.06μm , relatively short, the attenuation in the atmosphere is large, and it is not completely suitable for environmental conditions such as natural fog and battlefield smoke; ②1.06μm wavelength is emitted and focused by the human eye and enters the retina. Protective observation can make human eyes permanently blind; ③1.06μm wavelength is not compatible with 8~12μm thermal imaging system. The Nd:YAG pulsed laser rangefinder still has unique advantages that cannot be replaced at present. In addition, the amount of equipment has been expanded to the three armies of land, sea and air, and it is still widely used in the following aspects.
(1) Field commanders, infantry scouts, artillery forward command observers, fleet base commanders, and marines use handheld sights to observe and measure distances.
(2) Modern combat tanks and armored vehicles use Nd: YAG pulsed laser rangefinders as the overall components of the fire control system to improve the accuracy of the main combat weapons.
(3) Widely used in anti-air defense systems to improve the tracking accuracy against high-speed aircraft and highly maneuverable armed helicopters.
(4) Nd: YAG laser rangefinder-target designator is the earliest laser weapon used abroad. Currently, this weapon system remains the only long-range precision-guided weapon for laser-guided bombs, missiles, and artillery, and employs an eye-safe Raman-shifted Nd:YAG laser for dual-function laser ranging-target designators for precision guidance Laid the foundation.
3. CO2 pulse laser rangefinder
The CO2 pulsed laser rangefinder is a new generation of eye-safe laser rangefinder developed in the late 1970s and mid-1980s, mainly aiming at the shortcomings of the 1.06μm Nd:YAG laser rangefinder. Its main advantages are:
①The atmospheric penetration ability is better than the Nd:YAG laser wavelength, and it can work in atmospheric conditions such as low visibility and battlefield smoke;
②It can be compatible with typical thermal imaging systems in the 8~12μm band and can share receiving optical systems and detectors, and can effectively realize most of the targets that can be detected by thermal imagers;
③ It can realize the safety of human eyes.
