TACTICAL SYSTEMS
Program Overview
Lincoln Laboratory works with the Department of Defense (DoD) to improve the acquisition and employment of tactical air and counterterrorism systems. By helping the U.S. military understand the operational utility and limitations of advanced technologies, the Laboratory enables the DoD to make better decisions about the acquisition and deployment of systems. Activities in the Tactical Systems mission focus on a combination of
- Systems analysis to assess technology impacts in operationally relevant scenarios
- Rapid development and instrumentation of prototype U.S. and threat systems
- Detailed, realistic instrumented testing
The mission's efforts are characterized by a very tight coupling between the Laboratory's work and the needs of DoD sponsors and systems users. This coupling ensures that the analyses performed and the systems developed are relevant and beneficial.
The Airborne Seeker Test Bed is used to provide instrumented testing of operational sensors and detailed phenomenology measurements.Field and Flight Testing
Lincoln Laboratory operates a number of unique test assets to assist with tactical systems development. The Airborne Seeker Test Bed and the Advanced Countermeasure Test System are business jet aircraft with sophisticated sensors, electronics, and data recording devices used in testing with advanced U.S. Air Force systems. These test beds allow collection of truth and phenomenological data to help researchers understand system performance. The continual modernization of these systems is guided by the data collected through flight testing. Other airborne platforms, such as newer unmanned aerial vehicle systems, are also used for test and development purposes. In addition, a wide range of ground test assets that the Laboratory has developed or adapted support field-test activities.
Prototyping
A key component of the Laboratory's prototyping activities is the rapid development of systems incorporating advanced technologies. These prototype systems may be potential advanced U.S. systems designed for transition to operational use or potential advanced threat systems to be used for testing U.S. systems and for assessing the future threat to DoD operations. The prototypes, selected and designed based on systems analysis that highlights critical technologies, are typically heavily instrumented and tested in ways that allow their performance and limitations to be assessed via data analysis. Incorporated into these prototypes are technologies from across Lincoln Laboratory, including advanced receivers, specially designed antenna systems, and open system architectures.
Systems Analysis
A hallmark of Tactical Systems' work is the systems analysis done to incorporate test results and to assess critical technologies. Such analyses are used to highlight the operational utility of the technologies in question, thereby enabling senior DoD decision makers to make better-informed determinations about Laboratory-proposed prototypes as well as about large acquisition efforts from the contractor community. The analyses are also used to help users understand how to employ and train with advanced systems that have already been acquired.
- Principal accomplishments over the past year
- Future outlook and focus for upcoming year
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