Direct Energy Countermeasures Stimulator System (DECSS)

The Benefield Anechoic Facility (BAF), a state-of-the-art installed system test facility (ISTF) at Edwards Air Force Base is systematically upgrading its capabilities to include DT&E (Developmental Test and Evaluation) and OT&E (Operational Test andEvaluation) of emerging infrared and electro-optical (IR/EO) sensor systems, notably missile warning and directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) systems. The BAF currently has a requirement to develop a Direct Energy Countermeasure Stimulator System(DECSS) to stimulate DIRCM IR trackers and monitor DIRCM beam pointing and irradiance. Technology Service Corporation (TSC) is proposing several innovative technical approaches for meeting the DECSS requirement; these include: (1) using current BAFstimulator capability and developing a DIRCM monitoring system by reflecting part of the DIRCM beam onto a detector array, and (2) developing a new combined stimulator and DIRCM monitoring system with an integrated stimulator source and detector array.Commercially available systems that provide a combined stimulator and beam monitoring capability represent another approach. Under Phase I TSC will investigate these approaches and others, performing tradeoff studies addressing performance, cost, risk,and complexity to identify a recommended approach. A preliminary system design for the DECSS will then be developed that includes stand-alone and integrated operation with the Infrared Sensor Stimulator (IRSS). The development of the DECSS should proveto be valuable to other military installed system test facilities as well as commercial companies developing IR/EO electronic warfare systems. The flexibility afforded by the DECSS in supporting test and evaluation of diverse DIRCM systems, e.g., LAIRCM,TADIRCM, SOCOM DIRCM, should allow the system to be readily used in a variety of applications, both military and commercial.