AN AIRBORNE TELEMETRY RELAY SYSTEM FOR THE GULF RANGE

Abstract

The Airborne Platform Telemetry Relay System (AP/TM) is currently being built for the Gulf Range Instrumentation System. The AP/TM will allow air-to-air missile test and training missions to be conducted beyond the line-of-sight of land-based instrumentation. The AP/TM is comprised of the following subsystems: C a Telemetry Data Relay C a Sea Surveillance Radar and Radar Data Link C a Drone Control Relay C a UHF Radio Relay The Telemetry Data Relay Subsystem will receive telemetry signals from five independent sources and will retransmit them to land based receiving sites. This subsystem contains a 75 square foot, electronically steerable, five beam phased array antenna and uses polarization diversity to eliminate polarization mismatch loss and to improve reception in the presence of multipath propagation. The AP/TM will also have the capability of relaying four channels of voice communications and drone tracking data and to perform sea surveillance of the mission area. The coordinates of targets detected by the radar will be relayed to the range control center over a high frequency (HF) data link. In addition to the airborne equipment, the system also includes a ground support instrumentation van which is used for pre- and post-flight checkout and maintenance.