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Solutions & Services

Fifth Gait Technologies is one of the only providers possessing the expertise that offers complete survivability and hardened design solutions from a single company.

Our team provides end-to-end engineered survivability for strategic space and missile defense systems. We begin with operational design concepts including the required purchase order flow downs with input from our Radiation Effects Testing, Modeling and Simulation services, and visible and infrared Sensor performance characterization testing to provide the most comprehensive service available.

a cross-functional approach to ensure mission success

Concept &
Design
Development & Testing
Deployment & Operation

RADIATION EFFECTS TESTING

From early design phases to final qualification and acceptance, the Fifth Gait team provides complete testing solutions to assess mission environments for both natural space radiation and man-made environments. Our testing expertise includes microelectronics, electro-optics, systems and circuits, as well as optical and radiation shielding materials.

Electronics & Electro-optics

Our team of electrical engineers and physicists work together to develop complex test assemblies to perform evaluation testing on all aspects of electronic and electro-optic systems. Testing of complex circuit card assemblies can be coupled with piece part level testing of devices ranging in complexity from FPGAs, microprocessors, DDR4 memory, down to simple devices such as op amps, voltage regulators, and MOSFETs. Our radiation effects testing includes:

  • Heavy ion testing at Texas A&M Cyclotron and Brookhaven National Laboratory NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL)
  • Proton testing at UC Davis
  • Prompt dose testing using a variety of sources, including White Sands Missile Range (WSMR)
  • Neutron Induced Upset (NIU) testing using a variety of sources, including WSMR as well as the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE)

Additionally, we have industry partners to provide radiation testing solutions for total ionizing dose (TID) and neutron displacement damage (NDD) testing.

Optics & Materials

Fifth Gait’s team of optical physicists and materials scientists provide testing of optical thin films for pass band filter designs and mirror coatings for space and nuclear environment applications. Additionally, we can provide performance evaluation of radiation shielding materials.  Our team performs x-ray response testing at world renowned facilities that include:

  • The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at LLNL
  • The OMEGA laser facility at the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE)
  • The Double-EAGLE facility at L3Harris in San Leandro, California.

sensors

We are the leader for performing radiation effects testing on visible and IR sensors. Gamma noise, prompt dose, and heavy ion testing are within our team’s capabilities.  For more on our sensor testing facility, see our Sensors section.

emp

The Fifth Gait team of subject matter experts provides characterization and response testing of Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) environments and system generated EMP (SGEMP).

MODELING & SIMULATION

The Fifth Gait team provides expertise in the simulation of physics phenomena and mission profiles using a variety of in-house developed and third-party modeling software tools. From modeling the space environment and effects for a given mission profile, to radiation transport and effects on materials, electronics, and sensors, Fifth Gait experts provide results to ensure mission success.

SIRE2

Fifth Gait Technologies developed the Space Ionizing Radiation Environments and Effect (SIRE2) toolkit with support from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to address limitations in the aging, unsupported CREME96 tool, originally developed by the Naval Research Laboratory in the late 1970’s. SIRE2 includes the latest trapped particle and geomagnetic transmission models. The toolkit has the capability to examine how the environment changes along satellite orbits and ballistic trajectories and contains batch processing capabilities for both mission environments definition and radiation effects on electronics.

XTRRA

The X-ray Transport and Radiation Response Assessment (XTRRA) toolkit was developed jointly by Fifth Gait Technologies and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to provide assessment of materials and modeling of material response to impulse heating. The Fifth Gait team developed a comprehensive material database using past and current test data for use in modeling. Our team tested structural materials and mirrors of system relevance, developed a modern diagnostic suite to provide hardness information and models to current systems. The XTRRA Toolkit supports ongoing Strategic and Missile Defense System development, DoD System development, and X-ray and laser facility test design and support.

RADIATION TRANSPORT MODELING

The modeling of physics phenomena related to radiation transport through materials is performed using industry standard software tools such as MCNP, Geant4, CEPXS, and SRIM, among many others. Fifth Gait has developed tools that integrate parametric output from these transport codes to provide a variety of analysis inputs, including calculating neutron induced upset rates and gamma radiation events per read (EPR) rates in focal planes.

Sensor
Modeling

Visible and IR sensor radiation response can be simulated by the Fifth Gait team using the Hendrick-Goldflam model, co-developed by Fifth Gait founding member, Dr. Rudy Goldflam.

Sensors

Visible and IR sensor performance is critical to target acquisition missions.  Fifth Gait has developed sensor performance testing capabilities that are unique in the industry. In addition to standard benchtop dewar testing, our team operates and maintains the Nuclear Infrared Clutter Simulator (NICS) under a contract with the MDA. Sensor testing includes general focal plane performance characterization as well as radiation effects testing.

Focal Planes

Visible and IR focal plane performance evaluation is performed with Fifth Gait developed hardware as well as image capture systems from SE-IR Corporation. Benchtop dewar systems allow for mobility of the test setup, which facilitates off-site testing at radiation facilities. With this portability, our team can perform gamma noise testing at Cobalt-60 sources around the country. Additionally, prompt dose testing can be performed, as well as heavy ion testing.

NICS

The NICS chamber, operated by Fifth Gait under contract with the MDA, provides an advanced capability for projecting high fidelity target and background clutter scenes onto infrared sensor systems for developmental test and verification. The NICS facility was designed to support seeker and surveillance sensor evaluation in natural and weapons-induced radiation environments over a broad-spectrum of middle wavelength infrared (MWIR) and long wavelength infrared (LWIR). The system is also capable of projecting an optical flash onto the focal plane to simulate weapon detonation.

NICSSim

In support of the NICS chamber, simulation software was developed to generate data for evaluation of the focal plane. This software is also used on the benchtop setup during radiation testing and general performance characterization of the focal plane.

Fifth Gait’s Commitment To Customers

For us, Total Customer Satisfaction is founded on building enduring relationships with our customers. We cannot achieve this without motivated and loyal employees who are passionate about the work we do and the relationships we cultivate. Thus, Fifth Gait empowers our team members to take ownership of their work while maintaining an excellent customer focus that includes finding innovative solutions to exceed expectations. We focus on producing more efficient and effective methods and technologies allowing us to be good stewards of our customer’s time and money. This multifaceted approach to customer relationships is the cornerstone upon which this company is built.

the industries we serve
Fifth Gait partners with leading businesses and people within our industry while working hard to improve old and new technologies. We cannot wait to take on the next innovative challenge.
  • Aerospace
  • Military/Defense
  • Space Exploration
  • Network/Telecommunications
  • Instrumental
  • Industrial
  • Agriculture