BRINGING RANGES CLOSER TOGETHER – NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN RANGE INTERCONNECTIVITY

Abstract

Test and training ranges have sought the holy grail of large-scale range interconnectivity for many years. The ability to test at any range and transmit the information to the engineers at the home base and control the mission without sending the entire test team to a remote location improves the test schedules, reduces the cost of testing and improves the testing capabilities. New opportunities of interconnecting ranges are changing the business of open air range testing and the resulting capabilities. Two predominant opportunities will be discussed in this paper. First, is taking advantage of the fiber glut that the US is currently experiencing along with opportunities for government-acquired assets to service the testing community. This approach provides the government the ability to fiber-optically create a virtual test range and provide full interconnectivity of all data. Second is to take advantage of the existing networks such as the Defense Research Engineering Network (DREN) to make efficient on-demand type connectivity where, otherwise, it would be cost prohibitive.