1/20/2015 - HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Remotelytucked away in the high desert of southern New Mexico, the 96th Test Group at Holloman AFB provides some of the most sophisticated military
testing in the world. The 96th Test Group is a United States Air Force unit, based at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. It is a Geographically Separated Unit (GSU), assigned to the 96th Test Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
The Test Group's function is to operate test facilities for high
speed sled track testing, navigation and guidance system testing, radar
signature measurements, weapon systems flight testing, and Air Force
Liaison for all AF programs tested at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR).
The Group consists of 90 authorized military, 239 authorized
civilians, and 161 authorized contractor personnel with two-thirds of
these being scientists, engineers, and technicians.
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| Test Group Develops RCP UHARS rack to ride in back seat of T-38 |
pursuits can conjure images seen in science fiction films or novels. The
group's latest project, dubbed affectionately as 'R2-D2', is no
exception.
A Rear Cockpit Pallet is mounted in the back of a T-38 Talon at Holloman
Air Force Base, N.M., Jan. 13. The project to build the RCP began from a
need to design a platform that could serve to perform high dynamic
testing of new GPS technology inside the 56 year-old T-38 Talon.
Parts of the test group is the 586th Flight Test Squadron Provides deployable operational support for test aircraft staging
out of Holloman AFB. The squadron flight tests guidance systems, laser
systems, air-to-air/air-to-ground systems, long-range and standoff
weapons, live warheads, and provides target and photo/safety chase. It
operates four highly modified T-38C and one C-12J aircraft equipped to
support a wide variety of flight test operations. Another part is the 746th Test Squadron, also known as the Central Inertial and GPS Test Facility (CIGTF), is
the DoD's designated lead test organization chartered to test and
evaluate Global Positioning System (GPS) user equipment (UE) and
integrated GPS based guidance and navigation systems. To this end, the
746 TS manages the tri-service GPS Test Center of Expertise (COE)
composed of Army, Navy, and Air Force test agencies chartered to support
GPS test and evaluation initiatives. In addition, CIGTF's inclusive
ground, field, and flight-testing capabilities offer the customer a
means to evaluate their guidance and navigation systems.
When is close, close enough? That depends. If you’re
referring to a friendly game of horseshoes the
answer could be several
feet. However if you’re referring to the United States Air Force’s
new-generation “gold standard” for GPS test capability — the Ultra High
Accuracy Reference System — the answer is mere centimeters. This article
describes the operational requirements, design, installation, and
demonstration testing of the non-GPS–based positioning system (NGBPS)
subsystem of the UHARS for the Central Inertial and GPS Test Facility.
referring to a friendly game of horseshoes the
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| Typical UHARS Rack |
feet. However if you’re referring to the United States Air Force’s
new-generation “gold standard” for GPS test capability — the Ultra High
Accuracy Reference System — the answer is mere centimeters. This article
describes the operational requirements, design, installation, and
demonstration testing of the non-GPS–based positioning system (NGBPS)
subsystem of the UHARS for the Central Inertial and GPS Test Facility.
The UHARS Non-GPS Based Positioning System,
ION-2012_NGBPS-Paper-Final-from-USAF.pdf
The Ultra High Accuracy Reference System (UHARS) is the 746th Test Squadron’s next generation reference system, currently under development to meet test and evaluation reference requirements for future navigation and guidance systems. Consisting of a rack mounted, tightly integrated system of navigation sensors/subsystems, data acquisition system, and a post-mission reference trajectory algorithm, UHARS will provide a highly accurate reference solution for airborne and land - based test vehicles in electronic warfare environments where modernized and legacy GPS signals are jammed from friendly or hostile systems. The syste m will be appropriately sized and constructed for use on - board multiple test - beds including current and future test aircraft and ground vehicles
The UHARS is the USAF’s next generation “truth” reference system, currently under development by the 746th Test Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The 746th Test Squadron is the Central Inertial and GPS Test Facility (CIGTF), chartered to provide test and evaluation of DoD guidance, navigation and navigation warfare (NAVWAR) systems for the United States Department of Defense. The UHARS, designed to meet the increasingly accurate reference requirements for future navigation and guidance systems, is expected to provide improved position and velocity accuracies up to 5 x better than the current truth system. This current truth is called the CIGTF Reference System (CRS) and has provided reference in support of a plethora of high - accuracy navigation tests over the last decade. It is arguably the most accurate reference system available for testing today, but with forecasted advances in navigation technologies on the immediate horizon, soon CRS will no longer be accurate enough to serve as truth against increasingly precise systems under test
Other Links
- CeBIT Spatial@gov 2012 - Chris Morin, Technical Director, 746TS, Holl…
- Mike Veth: Engineering Meets the Wild Blue Yonder | Inside GNSS
- Locata's Presentation to the US PNT Advisory Board, Washington DC (Ju…
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