Electronic Military & Defense magazine was developed for engineers, program managers, project managers, and those involved in the design and development of electronic and electro-optic systems for military, defense, and aerospace applications.
Issue link: https://electronicsmilitarydefense.epubxp.com/i/146848
Technology NAVAIR And Industry Partner To Create Multi-Jammer Characterization System The new capability will improve real-time measurement and characterization of AESA-based systems, while adding correlated freespace 3D dynamic stimulation. By Ray Solt and Juan Monserrate T he Naval Air System Command's Integrated Battlespace Simulation and Test (IBST) department, located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD, has developed an innovative test capability that will revolutionize the way it conducts ground tests and evaluation. Known as the Multi-Jammer Characterization (MJC) System, the new capability addresses two key test area shortfalls: precision measurements and characterization of modern active electronically scanned array (AESA)-based systems and correlated free-space 3D dynamic stimulation for radar and electronic warfare (EW) systems. Under the Central Test and Evaluation Investment Program, the MJC is slated for installation in the Advanced Systems Integration Laboratory anechoic chamber as part of the Next Generation Electronic Warfare Environment Generator (NEWEG) project. High-Level Operational Concept The IBST's specialized test and evaluation facilities bring together complex simulations, advanced laboratories, and installed system ground test facilities to support developmental and operational testing and evaluation. Due to increasing system complexity, operational testers utilize installed systems test facilities to gather many data points prior to flight test. The MJC system will improve efficiency and add new capabilities to the data collected to support flight test. Figure 1: MJC plan fly-space The system is composed of five independent, dynamic planes that will cover an area of 162' x 54' high per plane (Figure 1) to present a stimulation or measurement zone to the system under test (SUT) in the anechoic chamber. The measurement capability will address precision measurements and characterization of modern AESA-based 12 Electronic Military & Defense ■ www.vertmarkets.com/electronics systems. The design of the MJC receiver system will allow characterization of multiple simultaneous beams. The government-developed radio frequency (RF) receiver and software will be utilized to measure four key parameters: power, polarization, parametric, and pointing (P4) in real time. The stimulation capability will provide coordinated motion of RF payloads with transmit and receive functions to generate free-space 3D dynamic targets for radar and EW systems. Existing laboratory assets supply synchronized motioning signal generation, providing an SUT with a trackable entity it can engage across a wide field of view. Figure 2: A standard RF payload Figure 3: SKYCAM system Each plane will feature a gimbaled dolly that is designed to point either a standard RF payload (Figure 2) or a P4 RF payload at the SUT while testing. The standard RF payload is capable of transmitting and receiving RF via four separate dual-polarized horn antennas. The standard RF payload configuration can support closedloop (simultaneous transmit/receive) functions to support aircraft engagement of dynamic targets. The P4 payload is designed to collect accurate measurements of SUT emissions for characterization. The P4 antenna is also dualpolarized to support real-time polarization measurements. Both standard and P4 payloads can be calibrated via a direct substitution or direct injection method for measurement accuracy improvements and realistic target representation. The architecture of the MJC system is divided into two primary developments: the motion positioning system (MPS) and the RF measurement system. The MPS system