Communications facilities

Advanced Ka Band SATCOM Test Facility

Rome, NY

The facility comprises a fixed ground station with a 1.8 meter dish, connected via optical fiber to the inside of Building 3. Current activities include the development of a small tracking antenna capability for mobile applications, and the fabrication of more compact terminal hardware for man-portability.

Audio Visual Center

Edwards AFB, CA

The Center is housed in a modern audiovisual facility. Features include a backup generator with an uninterrupted power supply battery backup, modern environmental system to handle waste photographic chemicals, potential to recirculate the wash water from each still photographic and motion picture processor, processing of classified video and electronic graphic up to top secret/SAR, controlled access to the production areas through a card key system, separate classified area for still photographic printing and processing and a theater cleared up to secret SAR briefings.

CICADA

Orlando, FL

To provide the threat Force Commander with a live threat communications Electronic Attack (EA) jamming capability to incorporate with the threat Information Operations scheme of maneuver.

Compact Range

Newport, RI

The Compact Range is a rectangular (20 ft. high by 27 ft. wide by 48 ft. long) anechoic chamber that is used for antenna performance and RCS characterization. The facility has a 6 ft. diameter by 8 ft. long cylindrical quiet zone. This range provides the capability to measure antenna performance from 2 GHz to 50 GHz as well as RCS characterization from 2-18 GHz.

Direction and Positioning Systems

Panama City, FL

NSWC Panama City develops systems that can be used to track, identify, and communicate with aircraft, watercraft, hovercraft, vehicles, and personnel to accuracies supported by GPS. NSWC Panama City maintains a strong capability in command and control technology, interfacing to GPS, and developing systems which use GPS for position information. NSWC Panama City has developed systems for a wide range of installations from man-pack to ship, aircraft, air cushion, and surface vehicle applications. Integration of commercial work stations, displays, and similar equipment has resulted in systems which are designed to automatically track users on the surface or in the air out to ranges of up to 100 miles. These systems can be used for remote position monitoring, reporting, and display at a central command site. Commercial applications include law enforcement and similar agencies involved in tracking friendly forces and tracking vessels in or near harbors. Other potential applications are tracking railroad freight cars and trucks containing hazardous material in a local area and tracking and control of tugs and barges on waterways.

EA-6B Electronic Attack Lab (EAL)

China Lake, CA

The lab develops and tests radar receivers/jammers, communication receivers/jammers, satellite communication systems, datalinks, and threat databases. The EA-6B is a unique, high-demand low-volume (HDLV) national asset that provides electronic attack for the Navy, Marines, and Air Force. We continuously improve the EA-6B through upgrades to the Operational Flight Programs (OFPs) and also provide support to engineering upgrades to weapons capabilities.

Fiber Optic Backbone Network

Edwards AFB, CA

The FOBN currently supports DS-3, DS-1, POTS, FDDI, Video, Frame Rely, X.25, DDS, Ethernet, and Telemetry (2-3 megabit data rates). The FOBN supports the Edwards Local Area Network (ELAN) system, which is in turn connected to the Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN), global Internet, VCS network, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base network, Hill Air Force Base network, China Lake Naval Weapons Center network, McDonnell Douglas Corporate Network, MILNET, AFNET, and the Commercial Internet Exchange. The FOBN is also interfaced to the commercial telephone carriers such that any service offered by the commercial carriers is available via the FOBN.

Fishers Island Complex

Newport, RI

The Fishers Island Antenna Complex is the only facility of its kind in the world that provides development, design, and evaluation support for a variety of communication, navigation, and electronic warfare programs. It is located on a low-lying, remote coastal area free from radiation obstructions and man-made electromagnetic interference.

Fishers Island Mile Range

Newport, RI

The Mile Range consists of two antenna deployment sites located exactly one mile apart; the curvature of the island provides a natural one-mile range over seawater between these two sites. The facility is used for measurement of antenna performance over the MF, HF, and VHF bands. The transmit site consists of a 50 ft. diameter seawater pool attached to buried ground radials that extend over 100 ft. radially outward. The antenna under test is mounted in the pool. A shielded underground laboratory, located beneath the pool, serves as the control room for the range and also houses an azimuth positioner and hydraulic lift mast. The receive site consists of an instrumented van and receive equipment that communicates with the transmit site via a wireless data link.

Littoral Warfare Collaborative Engineering Laboratory

Panama City, FL

The Littoral Warfare Collaboration Environment Lab (LWCEL) unites collaborative engineering technology with the life cycle acquisition process for the 21st Century Naval Forces. Located in the Littoral Warfare Evaluation Facility at NSWC's Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City, Panama City, FL, the lab integrates to the entire acquisition and Fleet community. The two major components of the LWCEL are the Decision Support Center and the Modeling and Simulation Presentation Center, described below. Other systems consisting of servers, networks, collaborative tools, data management, and data storage provide the necessary LWCEL infrastructure support.

Navy Shipboard Communication System Testbed

Washington, DC

Newport Antenna Research and Measurement Facility

Rome, NY

Antennas and antenna systems can be evaluated in three ways: "free space" performance, radiation pattern changes due to airframe effects, and a measurement of antenna-to-antenna isolation (coupling). The facility, located 26 miles east of AFRL's Rome Research Site consists of two hilltops (Irish and Tanner) with six data gathering locations and ten measurement ranges with complete fiber optic connections at the facility ranging from 7250 foot far field range to shorter ground reflection ranges covering the frequency bands of 60 MHz to 60 GHz. The two hills are 1.5 miles apart with a 430 foot valley in between. Transmit and receive equipment and heavy duty three-axis aircraft pedestals are located on each hilltop. Each hilltop has an airframe storage/work building, which allows airframes to be modified and prepared for measurements on site. The assets include full size F-22, F-111, F-16, F-15, A-10, F-4 airframes, Comanche Helicopter, and the forward and aft sections of the B-1B, C-130, KC-135 and B-52 along with a variety of ground planes up to 40 feet in diameter.

NRL Auditoriums

Washington, DC

Overwater Arch

Newport, RI

The Submarine Overwater Antenna Test Facility provides the capability to measure the hemispherical pattern of antennas over a seawater groundplane. This facility consists of a 70ft. radius tripod forming an arch over a seawater pool on the roof of the building. Antennas under test are located at the center of the pool, while a second antenna traverses one leg of the tripod. The antenna under test can be rotated, raised, or lowered. Pattern measurements can be taken over the 100 MHz – 18 GHz range.

R-47 Jammer

Orlando, FL

To provide the threat Force Commander with a live threat communications Electronic Attack (EA) jamming capability to incorporate with the threat Information Operations scheme of maneuver.

Realistic Battlefield Environment

Fort Huachuca, AZ

The Realistic Battlefield Environment (RBE) consists of Communications Environment Systems (CES) and foreign vehicles. The CES consists of more than 100 foreign radio systems and U.S. manufactured surrogates (HF, VHF, UHF) normally installed in tactical vehicles. Deployed to any of the more than 2,100 surveyed sites in and around Ft. Huachuca and Southern Arizona. These CES's can emulate a dense threat RF environment for testing Intelligence and Electronic Warfare (IEW) systems, and may be used statically or moving. There are after RF generating devices such as radar and signal generator/amplifiers to provide a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) type environment. The foreign vehicles consist primarily of former Warsaw pact tactical wheeled and tracked armored personnel carriers and trucks, and may be used for systems under test requiring visual, infrared, audio, and radar cross section signatures. Additionally, specialized equipment (jammers) are available to allow field vulnerability testing of various radar, communications, and command, and control systems during equipment and system development.

Ridley Mission Control Center

Edwards AFB, CA

Ridley Mission Control Center (RMCC) is used as the command and control center for all flight test missions at the Air Force Flight Test Center. Aircraft ground tests, flight tests in the local area, or flight tests at distant test ranges can be monitored in any of RMCC's seven mission control rooms. The focus of RMCC activities is on real-time collection and display of flight test information, but pretest planning and preparation, and postmission data processing and analysis are also performed here. The following systems and capabilities in RMCC are used to support the AFFTC's mission:

SATCOM Rooftop Testbed

Rome, NY

A “Rooftop” testbed ground facility provides the backbone of the SATCOM research. The testbed is equipped with an array of SATCOM systems, including the Milstar ARC-208 Airborne Command Post (ABCP) satellite terminals, various UHF/SHF/EHF subsystems and a multiple element antenna farm.

Satellite Communications Testbed

Rome, NY

A highly modified C-135 SATCOM test aircraft provides an airborne testbed. The aircraft is equipped with an array of SATCOM systems, including the Milstar ARC-208 Airborne Command Post (ABCP) satellite terminals, and various UHF/SHF/EHF subsystems. The C-135 testbed has been used to evaluate worldwide propagation problems, such as multipath fading, ionospheric scintillation fading, rain attenuation, and low-elevation atmospheric attenuation. The aircraft has also been used to evaluate the dependence of link performance on aircraft dynamics, and has accomplished extensive protocol, modulation, and interoperability testing.

Speech and Audio Processing

Rome, NY

The facility supports research, development, test and evaluation in the following speech processing technologies: Speaker Recognition, Language Translation, Signal Enhancement, Voice Transformation, Correlation, Speech Compression, Machine Interfaces, Platform Identification. The facility further supports evaluation of contractor supplied systems and/or algorithms for operational user, and database collection and analysis.

Stockbridge Antenna Measurement and Research Facility

Rome, NY

The Stockbridge Antenna Measurement Facility is located 23 miles southwest of AFRL¹s Rome Research Site. This unique measurement facility is designed to evaluate the antenna systems of full-size large airframes such as the C-130. The installed antenna patterns, system-to-system coupling and the effects of special materials, radomes and installation locations are evaluated. The facility consists of an extremely heavy-duty turntable with a 200 ft arched measurement probe system that provides hemispherical antenna coverage evaluations. Fixtures are also available to install ground wheeled vehicles on the turntable to evaluate installed antenna performance.

Tactical Radio Test Bed

Fort Huachuca, AZ

The Tactical Radio Test Bed provides the capability to test new versions of tactical radio equipment, radio systems that interface or operate in proximity to tactical systems and communications equipment, peripheral devices, and training. Fixed site test facilities and instrumentation vans provide quick reaction, full range/field capability. Mobile test vans are available to meet site unique requirements and support testing at remote locations.

Tapered Chamber

Newport, RI

The RF Tapered Anechoic Chamber is a large (98 ft. long by 29 ft. high/wide) anechoic chamber that is used for design, development, test, and evaluation of a variety of antennas. The Chamber has a 15 ft. diameter quiet zone and a mount that is capable of handling loads of up to 2000 lbs. The system provides complete antenna measurement capability from 100 MHz to 50 GHz as well as RCS capabilities from 2-18 GHz.