One of the major technical challenges of military and commercial rotary wing aviation is effective instrument-aided navigation.  Brownout, whiteout or generally degraded visual environment (DVE) conditions can occur during landing or maneuvering in sandy, dusty, snowy or marine environments.  Helicopter rotor-wash churns up dense clouds of airborne particles that impede visibility. Areté Associates' DUSPEN (Dust Penetrating)  imaging laser radar (lidar) is a particularly promising see-through technology. This technology can provide high-resolution intuitive (literal) visual imagery due to its close proximity to visual wavelengths. The reflectivity properties of materials at the IR/eyesafe (1.5 um) wavelengths are much more closely matched to visible wavelengths than are radio frequencies (e.g. 3 mm). Additionally, the short wavelengths are amenable to high frequency spatial sampling which differentiates this technology from radar. With the advent of low-cost high-power fiber lasers, high-gain low-noise detectors, and compact and reliable fast beam steering technologies, advanced lidar signal processing algorithms lidar is quickly becoming a technology of choice for small, rugged and affordable see-through brownout sensors. In an ongoing effort, Areté is producing a prototype DUSPEN imaging lidar (“DUSPEN”) that represents a major step forward in the technologies’ demonstrated technical readiness level (TRL) by achieving TRL-5.  In this program, Areté will develop and field test an airborne prototype DUSPEN system that will generate real-time 3D images of the landing zone over a variety of fields of regard and flight CONOPS without relying on prior knowledge of the landing zone.