Integration of Spectrum Access (C-Band Telemetry) Projects into US Navy Test Range Programs

Abstract

In early 2015, the United States Government sold a portion of the Upper L-Band Frequency historically reserved for aeronautical telemetry (TM) to private industry (namely the wireless cell phone companies) as a part of the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-3) auction. The terms of the sale included funds designated to mitigate the impact of spectrum loss to the Department of Defense (DoD), including its Test Ranges. These funds have spawned several projects in the following Programs: Spectrum Access Research and Development (SARD), Spectrum Relocation Fund (SRF), Central Test and Evaluation Investment Program (CTEIP), Science and Technology (S&T), and National Spectrum Consortium (NSC). Additionally, analysis of highly complex test scenarios with a large number of weapons and targets in Fiscal Year (FY) 24 and beyond determined there is a significant TM collection capacity gap at the Point Mugu Sea Range (PMSR). The reduction of available spectrum due to the Spectrum Sell-Off required DoD aircraft and weapon systems transition to C-Band (4400-5150 MHz). While the PMSR has upgraded many of its telemetry antenna systems to include C-Band reception via the SRF program, the number of weapons participating in the complex test scenarios is well beyond the capacity of the PMSR. The current TM collection architecture at the PMSR and other major DoD Test Ranges utilize parabolic antennas. It is not cost effective or realistic to increase the number of parabolic antennas to collect data from over twenty spatially separated TM signals. Therefore, the Navy Major Range Test Facility Base (MRTFB) office partnered with the Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) to develop the ground-based Phased Array TM Antenna (gPATMA) that could collect TM data from a large number of vehicles while maintaining a reasonable cost and geographic footprint. This paper will discuss the latest developmental status of the gPATMA project.