Redstone Test Center Breaks Ground on Army’s Largest Electromagnetic Testing Facility

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (April 14, 2026) – The U.S. Army Redstone Test Center (RTC) held a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, for the new Military Systems Electromagnetic Test Support (MSETS) facility, a project 25 years in the making. Once completed in 2028, the congressionally funded facility will be the Army’s largest radio-frequency anechoic chamber.

The event was attended by leaders from across Redstone Arsenal and the defense industry, as well as Rep. Dale Strong from Alabama’s 5th Congressional District.

The 28,000-square-foot facility will provide a critical capability for testing large and complex military systems. It will be used to assess the impact of the electromagnetic spectrum on integrated equipment for ground vehicles and all Army rotary-wing aircraft, including the future MV-75, the Army's latest aircraft currently in development.

“MSETS is a game-changer,” said James Amato, executive technical director of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command. “It provides a critical capability that we currently lack at Redstone — the ability to test for electromagnetic effects on our largest and most complex aviation platforms, right here where they are developed and sustained.”

An anechoic chamber is a specialized room designed to completely absorb sound and electromagnetic waves, creating an interference-free environment for precision testing. The MSETS chamber will allow for a full range of assessments, including evaluations in GPS-denied environments, electronic warfare testing, antenna characterization, and noise-floor testing.

Col. Joseph Alexander, commander of RTC, emphasized the facility's importance to the warfighter during his remarks at the event.

“Today, we do more than just break ground. We establish the foundation for the future of Army readiness,” said Alexander. “The work we begin here will ensure the American Warfighter has the best tested, most lethal and reliable weapon systems. MSETS will ensure that when the Nation calls, the systems RTC tests will perform—decisively, reliably, and without fail.”

MSETS Technical Details

The MSETS facility will be the Army’s largest anechoic chamber. This facility will be capable of testing all Army rotary wing aircraft including the Army’s latest aircraft, the MV-75, currently in development.

An anechoic chamber is a special room or chamber designed to completely absorb sound reflections, creating a "free-field" environment for acoustic or electromagnetic testing. Lined with sound-absorbing materials like foam or fiberglass wedges, anechoic chambers eliminate echoes and, for electromagnetic applications, prevent the reflection of radio waves. These chambers are used to precisely measure product sound emissions and the performance of antennas and other electronic devices without interference from the outside environment.

The MSETS environment will be used to assess electromagnetic spectrum impact on integrated equipment for large military vehicles and aircraft systems. The facility will incorporate a large (120’ x 105’) chamber to provide a 100 dB quiet RF ambient for instrumentation checkout, safety of flight testing (Noise Floor and EMC), jammer and distributed RF Cyber testing. RTC capabilities that will be available once MSETS is completed in 2028 include GPS Denied/Synthetic GPS Wrap Around Environments, Electronic Warfare testing, Antenna Characterization, EMC/Noisefloor testing, and potentially Interconnectivity for Distributed Live, Virtual Constructive Testing.

The U.S. Army Redstone Test Center is located on Redstone Arsenal and is a subordinate command of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command. RTC provides technical expertise, state-of-the-art facilities, and capabilities to plan, conduct, analyze, and report the results of tests on missile and aviation systems, sensors, subsystems and components. For more information visit the RTC website.