A multi-stage optical amplifier that has an optical fiber with a first length of amplifier fiber and a second length of amplifier fiber. Position sensors sense the location of surrounding vehicles. A pair of core plates 53 and 54 is assembled in such a way that the side of the core plate 53 on which the protrusion 10 is not formed faces the side of the core plate 54 on which the protrusion 10 is not formed and the protrusions 10 and 10 formed on the respective core plates are paired but oriented in opposite directions. The actuator, when activated, generates a pressure within the first chamber. The latch bar and the latch arm are constructed to be complementarily engageable so that the axially extending latch arm of one backshell half is engaged with the radially extending latch bar of the other backshell half to latch the backshell halves together and form the outer shell about the inner connector. An interface region is provided for interfacing the remaining LE array base signal routing architecture to the IP function block.