Evolving Onboard/Offboard Electronic Warfare Technology

Advanced sensor and electronic warfare technologies are being applied to both airborne (manned and Unmanned Air vehicles (UAV)) and space assets. Current research and development methodologies that evolve these technologies are time-consuming and requireextensive/costly testing on open air ranges. Open air ranges cannot generate the dense threat emitter environments that would be experienced in actual combat situations. Flight test productivity is low due to the fact that there are so many uncontrolledvariables and the inability to make changes during the actual flight test. The current simulation technologies do not have the required fidelity and real-time DoD High Level Architecture (HLA) simulation support environment for rapid prototyping ofonboard/offboard sensor and electronic warfare capabilities. These limitations must be overcome if the DoD HLA concepts/requirements being sponsored by the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DMSO) are to become a reality in the defense community.This research addresses the incorporation of HLA standards per the DMSO M&S Master Plan. Defense research Associates (DRA) will develop an innovative integration tool set to support evaluation of onboard/offboard sensor systems in a robust simulation(laboratory) environment. DRA will utilize the real-time simulation capability in the Sensors Directorate Integrated Demonstrations and Applications Laboratory (IDAL) to demonstrate the architecture's feasibility. During Phase II, DRA will implement aprototype capability into the IDAL and demonstrate key performance characteristics. The Phase II effort will provide a building block capability for rapid evolution of advanced RF sensor technology.The Phase I/II SBIR results shall provide a real-timehigh fidelity dense RF environment simulation base that will address the needs of evolving advanced RF sensor systems. This simulation technology base will be leveraged to provide RF simulation products resulting in Phase III initiatives that address bothgovernment and commercial applications