Lockheed Martin is to modify the USAir Force's Electronic Warfare Evaluation Simulator (AFEWES) to allow laboratory testing of missile warning systems. The AFEWES is a "hardware-in-the-loop" simulator which is used to evaluate the effectiveness of aircraft self-protection systems and techniques.
The modified simulator will be used for dynamic testing of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22's ultraviolet missile launch detector and the USAF/Navy infrared Common Missile Warning System - both under development by Lockheed Martin Sanders.
The sensors will be mounted at the centre of a 12m-diameter dome, on a three-axis flight table that simulates the aircraft. High-fidelity images of missiles in flight will be projected on to the dome, to be detected and analysed by the sensors. The simulation is expected to be on line by August 1999.
The AFEWES is located at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas, plant and operated by the company for the air force. The laboratory houses real surface-to-air missile seekers, which are fed real aircraft tracking data from a weapons range. The system simulates the missile fly-out and evaluates whether the countermeasures employed would have been effective.
The laboratory will be used also to support integration of the electronic warfare suite for South Korea's F-16s.
Source: Flight International
