The ROTHR transmitter emits FM radio energy in the high-frequency (HF) range, between 5 and 28 MHz. The transmitted energy is refracted in the ionosphere back onto the earth's surface in the area of interest. The surface of the earth and the targets in the area of interest reflect some of this energy back through the ionosphere to a separate receive site, where it is processed to generate target track information. This information has varying degrees of accuracy due to the changes and uncertainties of the ionosphere caused by factors such as the time of day, season, sun spot number, and other solar activity.
Program accomplishments in CY 94 included the following:
JOTS-ROTHR Interface. Installed an upgrade to the JOTS-ROTHR Interface (JRI). This software enhancement to the JRI segment will allow operators to estimate ROTHR-Virginia coverage availability based upon yesterday's ionospheric conditions. This feature will be used by CJTF Four to plan force laydown in the Caribbean region.
In CY 94, NRaD successfully completed testing of the IUSS Block 3 software in NRaD's Surveillance Test and Integration Center (STIC).
The operational demonstration of SPOTLIGHT at the Dam Neck Validation Center (DSVC) began on 1 December with operator training, with the demonstration continuing through the month. The SPOTLIGHT ATD successfully concluded with this demonstration, and transition of the technology is scheduled for implementation in the Surveillance Direction System.
In CY 94, NRaD completed SWELLEX 3. The experiment gathered acoustic and environmental data to validate NRaD shallow-water surveillance techniques, including arrays, models, and signal processing. The experiment included over 100 source tows, over 300 full-water-column environmental profiles, and included such novel tests as aircraft-to-water acoustic coupling, mine laying acoustic detection, "croaker" (fish) noise chorus background characterization, and broadband matched-field processing detection.
The Tactical Related Applications (TRAP) broadcast is a worldwide broadcast system that disseminates high-interest reports in near-realtime to tactical commanders with Tactical Receive Equipment (TRE). The TRAP equipment receives these reports from a number of sources, reformats and compresses the data, and transmits them to the TREs via UHF satellite communication satellites. Some TRAP sites also serve as relay sites to relay the data from one satellite to another, thus making the TRAP broadcast worldwide.
Program accomplishments in CY 94 included the following:
TRAP Data Dissemination System Source Input Installation. Completed installation and testing of a source input capability for Joint INTEL Center Pacific (JICPAC). This capability allows JICPAC to directly inject their data onto the TRAP broadcast. It now takes under 30 seconds for their data to be sent by TRAP vice up to and exceeding 10 minutes via the previously used method.
VAQ-209 installed a MATT in one squadron aircraft and participated in the Radiant Oak Concept Demonstration. VAQ-209 successfully launched the first operational improved warhead High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) against a ship at sea using over-the-horizon targeting data from national systems delivered directly to the AE-6B cockpit in near real time (NRT).
Successfully completed CLASSIC CENTERBOARD TECHEVAL Phase II.
The CERCIS Program is a DoD-sponsored program that will provide the next-generation replacement of the Southern California Offshore Range Environment/SIGINT Universal Recognition Facility (SCORE/SURF) operational capabilities developed by NRaD. Program initiation was in 1991 with NRaD taking the lead for DoD to design, develop, and implement the components of CERCIS that will meet all Navy requirements and supercede the existing SCORE/SURF functionality currently on site.
Program accomplishments in CY 94 included the following:
CERCIS (NSA). Completed incremental delivery of CERCIS 2.0 fixes (a result of a successful DT&E effort last calendar year). Software changes were transmitted to NSA using PLATFORM connectivity from NRaD. In addition, preliminary software to provide core release 3.0 capability that will result in an upgraded FY 95 delivery were completed and transmitted. The 3.0 release will provide full functional replacement for the NRaD-developed SCORE/SURF systems currently in operational use.
NRaD provides system engineering for the development efforts and conducts development, operational, acceptance, and certification tests as Technical Development Agent (TDA). SURTASS-related accomplishments in CY 94 included the following:
Surveillance Towed-Array Sensor System (SURTASS) Installation. Installed SURTASS TX Build 5 (Shore) in the STIC. Communications were established with the R12 ship hardware at NRaD and the TX Ship hardware at HAC (via SATCOM).
SURTASS T-AGOS 21 Certification Test. Conducted a successful At-Sea Certification Test aboard USNS Effective (T-AGOS 21). NRaD served as the Test Director and the Acoustic Principal Investigator. T-AGOS 21 was recommended to be certified for IOC.
T-AGOS 20 Certification Test. Conducted a successful At-Sea Certification Test aboard USNS Able (T-AGOS 20). Operations were conducted to determine the response characteristics of desensitized hydrophones in the RDA array. End-to-end operational availability was 99%. Detections and holding times of targets of opportunity were excellent. T-AGOS 20 was recommended to be certified for fleet operational use.
An NRaD signal processing system, originally designed to track Soviet submarines, was used to help safeguard whales and other mammals during shock trials of the Navy's new Arleigh Burke class Aegis guided missile destroyer, the USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53).
A shock trial involves detonating a 10,000-pound explosive charge near the ship being tested. Shock trials are an essential part of the test and evaluation process for each new class of ship. They provide vital data that cannot be obtained by computer simulations or small-scale component tests to ensure that the ship and its crew survive and prevail in battle after being subjected to nearby explosions such as the detonation of a mine. The shock trials on the DDG 53 were conducted in an area about 90 nautical miles southwest of San Nicholas Island.
In compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Navy worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to obtain the required permits and to select a test area where marine mammals were least likely to be found. Potential shock trial areas were visually surveyed from aircraft by NMFS marine biologists for over a year prior to the start of the trials in an attempt to select an area having a low density of marine mammals.
Before NRaD's involvement in the shock trial program, the procedure established to certify an area to be clear for a shot was based entirely on visual surveys by NMFS observers from ships and aircraft.
While visual observations were an essential element in certifying an area to be clear for a shot, especially for the smaller marine mammals such as dolphins and seals, it was believed that the addition of an acoustic monitoring capability would substantially reduce the risk of injury or death for the larger marine mammals (primarily whales) known to be present at times in the trial area. Some of these mammals dive to great depths and stay submerged for periods of up to 90 minutes.
The multichannel processing system used in the shock trial was under development for the Air Defense Initiative (ADI) program when it was terminated a year ago due to defense spending cuts. The potential application to the shock trial program prompted sponsors in the Undersea Warfare Program Office of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command to establish a new dual-use effort aimed at tailoring the system to the marine mammal detection and localization problem.
NRaD (with ORINCON Corporation) modified the ADI processor to detect vocalizing whales and renamed it the Marine Mammal Acoustic Tracking System (MMATS). After convincing demonstrations of the system's ability to detect and localize whales, it was approved for inclusion in the shock trials.
Despite the substantial precautions taken by the Navy to mitigate the risk of killing or injuring marine mammals during the conduct of the shock trials, environmentalists concerned about potential harm to marine mammals filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent conduct of the tests. Resolution of that suit, which allowed the Navy to proceed with the shock trials, was substantially aided by the high-technology approach offered by MMATS.
When the shock trials finally got underway, MMATS was installed on a Navy P-3 aircraft together with an NRaD-furnished Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Prior to a shock trial shot, the P-3 crew deployed a precisely located sonobuoy field to monitor the test area.
Underwater sounds received by the hydrophone at each sonobuoy location were transmitted to the aircraft, where sophisticated signal processing equipment allowed mission specialists experienced in the identification of marine mammal vocalizations to detect, localize, and track the whales. Throughout the trials all visual and acoustic survey teams were in continuous communications with the NMFS biologist on the bridge of John Paul Jones. Any sign of marine life within the test area resulted in an immediate delay or cancellation of the shock trial.
For these trials, MMATS processed 10 channels of sonobuoy data. The parameters for the sonobuoy field were established using acoustic predictions made on the Interactive Multi-Sensor Analysis Trainer developed at the Navy Personnel Research and Development Center.
A high-tech feature of the MMATS system was a neural network processor trained to recognize whale vocalizations and signal the operator when detections were made. MMATS was configured to detect a variety of marine mammals including blue, finback, sperm, minke, gray, and humpback whales. Whale vocalizations usually consist of a set of signals that are repeated at regular intervals, with repetition rates varying from 1 second to 2 minutes, depending on the species. Species identification of a submerged whale was done by examining the distinctive frequencies and patterns of the vocalizations and confirmed by the NRaD mission specialists aboard the P-3.
The location of a mammal was determined by hyperbolic fixing based on the time of arrival difference of signals at pairs of sonobuoys.
In several instances, the shock trials were delayed for hours or days based either on the presence of marine mammals or on bad weather, which prevented adequate observation of the area. Blue whales were located in the test area by MMATS during both days that shock trial detonations were made. These acoustic detections were subsequently confirmed by the NMFS visual surveys. As a result of these detections, the test ships moved to a different part of the test range where both visual and acoustic surveys indicated there were no animals. The shock trials were then successfully completed. Surveys after each shot aboard the survey ship McGaw confirmed that no marine mammals were harmed by the shock trials.
The NRaD efforts were recognized in a letter of appreciation from the Aegis Program Manager. Other applications of this technology to future shock trials and other dual-use applications are currently being pursued.
The objective of the Cryptologic Unified Build (CUB) program is to develop an open systems architecture for afloat cryptologic applications that is JMCIS Unified Build compliant.
Program accomplishments in CY 94 included the following:
CUB 1.1. Performed formal integration for the CUB 1.1 Release. This release is a major milestone in the development of an open systems architecture for afloat cryptologic applications that is JMCIS UB compliant.
CUB 1.2. Successfully completed TECHEVAL (DT) of CUB 1.2 software developed by NRaD, with support from NRaD Det Philadelphia, NISE-East, and several support contractors.
NRaD successfully completed OPERATION GHOST, a joint AIREM and Advanced Deployable System (ADS) ASW exercise in Argentina. The arrays were retrieved and it was verified that data was successfully recorded; ARL/UT scanned the data and confirmed that it is a very clean, high-quality data set.
NRaD recovered Spinnaker lightweight low-power demonstration arrays (deployed for the Site Specific Experiment) in fully operational, "live" (fully functional status) after the experiment. A digital recorder designed by the Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL) was interfaced to the arrays in the NRaD laboratories, and the arrays were tested in the laboratory to identify the source of any problems seen during the experiment. The technology and techniques developed opens new possibilities in ocean array deployment and use.
NRaD participated in the successful at-sea deployment of two pairs of Canadian electric field sensors in the vicinity of Neah Bay, WA. The sensors serve as reference sensors in support of other sensors in the area. NRaD also participated in an at-sea test of USS Stonewall Jackson (SSBN 634) and collected magnetometer data using the PAS TI array.
NRaD released dB MASTER, an analytical reference tool, portable to SUN Sparc workstations, that provides on-line access to a variety of intelligence reference material. dB MASTER is operational at JICPAC, SOCPAC, USSOCOM, USACOM JIC, and additional shore sites.