IGF::OT::IGF MESA PHOTONICS HAS DEVELOPED LASER-BASED GAS SENSOR TECHNOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH UAV DEPLOYMENT. OUR AIRBORNE MULTI-GAS SENSOR (AMUGS) TECHNOLOGY IS BASED UPON TWO-TONE FREQUENCY-MODULATED SPECTROSCOPY (TT-FMS). TT-FMS RETAINS THE ADVANTAGES OF NEAR-INFRARED DIODE LASERS WHILE PUSHING DETECTION SENSITIVITY MORE THAN TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE CLOSER TO THE THEORETICAL LIMIT. PHASE I RESULTS DEMONSTRATED THAT LIGHTWEIGHT, LOW-POWER NEAR-INFRARED SYSTEMS CAN DELIVER SENSITIVITY COMPETITIVE WITH MID-INFRARED GAS ANALYZERS. THIS FACTOR IS IMPORTANT FOR UAV DEPLOYMENT BECAUSE NEAR-INFRARED SYSTEMS THAT USE FIBER OPTIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPONENTS ARE ROBUST, VERSATILE, AND COST-EFFECTIVE. AMUGS USES AN OPEN PATH OPTICAL CELL THAT IS LIGHTER AND MORE ROBUST THAN INSTRUMENTS BASED ON CAVITY-ENHANCED SPECTROSCOPY METHODS. IN, SENSITIVITY DEMONSTRATED IN PHASE I WAS A FACTOR OF 5-10X BETTER THAN ITS NEAREST COMPETING TECHNIQUES. BENCHTOP TT-FMS DELIVERED SENSITIVITIES AT 10 HZ OF 5 PPM FOR CO2 AND 12 PPB FOR CH4. PRECISION IMPROVED TO 1.5 PPM FOR CO2 AND 3.3 PPB FOR CH4 WITH 1 SEC OF SIGNAL AVERAGING. THE PHASE II TARGET IS TO DESIGN AND BUILD A FLIGHT-READY TT-FMS PROTOTYPE THAT MAINTAINS OR EXCEEDS THIS BENCHTOP DETECTION PRECISION. THE AMUGS PROTOTYPE WILL MEET 5 KG AND 50 W TARGETS AND WILL BE FLOWN ON AN ALL-ELECTRIC MODEL AIRCRAFT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS. THIS AIRBORNE TESTING WILL PROVIDE CRITICAL INFORMATION THAT WILL HELP FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE AMUGS TECHNOLOGY.