WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. - The U.S. Army Research Laboratory opened a new Electromagnetic Vulnerability Assessment Facility at White Sands Missile Range Oct. 24, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by Maj. Gen. Fred D. Robinson Jr., commander, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, and ARL Director John Miller.
The EMVAF is a secure electromagnetic spectrum research facility housing two double-shielded anechoic chambers and associated control rooms, laboratory, mechanical, storage and office space. It will be the Army's premiere facility for performing controlled measurements for Radio Frequency and microwave survivability/lethality/vulnerability of electronic systems. It will be operated by the Survivability and Lethality Analysis Directorate.
The new facility will address the complete electromagnetic threat being encountered in theater and anticipated for the Future Force. Among its uses are low- and high-power directed energy experiments, measuring RF emissions and susceptibilities of electronic systems, and addressing issues related to interoperability, co-site interference, and non-typical antennas. Validation of EW jamming pods, measuring counter-IED systems, and continuing development of ARL's capabilities in IO assessment of wireless systems will be enabled by the EMVAF. Its satellite links and ability to patch in to other facilities at White Sands will support distributed testing and the Future Force experimentation planned at WSMR and nearby Fort Bliss, Texas.
The facility includes a number of safety and maintenance enhancements that the previous EMVAF, destroyed by a fire in 2001, lacked. It is constructed of fire retardant materials, and is equipped with a dry pipe sprinkler system that can be activated without fear of harming anyone in the building.
Also, its location on WSMR will save time and money since experiments can be run at the installation instead of requiring transport to another facility.
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