MIT Lincoln Laboratory Division and Group Descriptions
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MIT Lincoln Laboratory Division and Group Descriptions October 2012 AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY DIVISION 3 The Air and Missile Defense Technology Division’s role is to work with government, industry, and laboratories to develop an integrated air and missile defense system. The division’s main focus is investigating system concepts, developing technology, building prototypes, and conducting measurements to support the development of radar and optical sensors, interceptors, and networks for air and missile defense systems. A strong emphasis is placed on partnerships and the transfer of technology to industry. Group 31—Systems and Architectures The Systems and Architectures Group examines near- and long-term technology opportunities for charting the future development of U.S. air and missile defenses. As the country proceeds with the deployment of new missile defense systems, Lincoln Laboratory and this group are working on the next generation of architectures and technologies. The group investigates advanced radar concepts, new infrared sensors, missile designs, space-based platforms, and future distributed command-and-control software to help identify opportunities to develop, test, and deploy these technologies. The group also devotes considerable effort to investigating the impact of various countermeasures on U.S. air and missile defense systems, particularly with respect to various types of electronic warfare. Staff members in the group have a wide variety of backgrounds, including physics, electrical engineering, mathematics, and astrodynamics. Group 33—Advanced Sensor Systems and Test Beds The Advanced Sensor Systems and Test Beds Group supports the Department of Defense by designing and developing modern sensor systems and components to support airborne air defense radars as well as the ballistic missile defense system. The group has a long-term association with the Reagan Test Site located on the Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific, providing a key role in developing the sophisticated instrumentation suite at the site. Control of these sensors is provided by a software system that employs net-centric principles and permits remote mission operations from multiple locations, thousands of miles from the range. The group’s expertise in sensor systems has been extended to support ranges involved in other defense system testing as well as to track satellites throughout both the Atlantic and Pacific regions. Test beds incorporating sensor sidecars with network-centric architectures have been used to support discrimination algorithm testing, sensor fusion experiments, and the development of real-time sensor processing. This group is also fielding experimental systems implementing new signal processing concepts that improve the performance and use of over-the-horizon radars and airborne air defense radars such as the Air Force’s Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) radar and the Navy’s E- 2D radar. Group 34—Intelligence, Test, and Evaluation The Intelligence, Test, and Evaluation Group supports the testing and development of various systems being pursued by the Department of Defense to defend against air and missile threats. Characterizing threat air and missile systems based on the analysis of collected radar and optical data comprises a large portion of this work. The group is also active in the role of planning and conducting field experiments, collecting and analyzing data from these events, and formulating solutions to strengthen the nation’s capability to defend against these threats. Sponsors include the Missile Defense Agency, the Army Space and Missile Defense Command, and several intelligence agencies. Group 35—Air and Missile Defense Assessments The Air and Missile Defense Assessments Group supports air and missile defense development through system testing and integrated system performance assessment. The group is located in Huntsville, Alabama, near the center of mass for the Missile Defense Agency, the Army Space and Missile Defense MIT Lincoln Laboratory . 244 Wood Street . Lexington, Massachusetts 02420 Division & Group Descriptions, 2012 1 Command, and numerous Army air defense activities. The focus of the group’s efforts are on (1) developing data-driven, technical effectiveness assessments and characterizing deployed or about-to-be- deployed capability; (2) supporting system-level test design, execution, and analysis; (3) identifying risks, evaluating anomalies, and developing lessons learned for ballistic missile defense sensors; (4) identifying mitigations and technology-insertion opportunities for air and missile defense; and (5) providing technical leadership for the Reagan Test Site’s sensor and control system engineering efforts, technology development efforts, and distributed operations at the range’s new control facility in Huntsville, Alabama. The group collaborates with multiple groups located in Lexington, Massachusetts, and performs extensive analysis of simulations, ground, and flight test data to support these activities. Group 36—BMDS Integration The BMDS Integration Group supports the Missile Defense Agency in the development, deployment, testing, and enhancement of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). This system is currently being developed to defend the United States, deployed forces, and allies from ballistic missile attacks. The group performs detailed system and component engineering, flight and ground test analysis, and advanced capability development in collaboration with the contractors and government program offices that are building the missile defense elements and components. Several elements are being developed, tested, and deployed in the near future, including the ground-based missile defense element (to protect the United States from intercontinental ballistic missiles) and a ship-based Aegis ballistic missile defense element (to protect deployed forces and allies against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles). Group 38—Optical Systems Technology The Optical Systems Technology Group supports the development of advanced technologies and systems for application to the surveillance, tracking, and intercept of targets by air and missile defense systems. These programs support the Missile Defense Agency as well as the military services. The technology and system development efforts also support the evolution of advanced ballistic missile defense concepts and capabilities as well as new ground, airborne, and space-based sensors for data collection. The emphasis of the group’s work is on advanced sensors and algorithms, missile guidance, mission simulations, laboratory and field/flight tests, data extraction and processing, and data reduction and analysis. Group 39—Advanced Concepts and Technologies The Advanced Concepts and Technologies Group develops radar, electronic warfare, and system-of- systems technologies for use in future integrated air and missile defense systems. Of particular interest are (1) the development of electronic attack techniques, technologies, and tactics to defend friendly assets from enemy missile attacks; (2) the development of highly digitized phased-array radars and techniques for advanced signal processing and electronic protection to enable the next generation of land, shipboard, and airborne sensors; and (3) the development of engagement and resource coordination capabilities. Major activities within the group include system concept development, modeling and simulation, signal processing algorithm design, prototype system design and development, and experimental field testing and data analysis. Reagan Test Site (Kwajalein) The Reagan Test Site Group serves as the scientific advisor to the Reagan Test Site at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll installation located about 2,500 miles WSW of Hawaii. Approximately 15 staff members, accompanied by their families, work at this site, generally serving a three-year tour of duty. The site’s radar, optical, and telemetry sensors support missile testing and satellite tracking. The test site provides facilities for sensor technology development, development of ballistic missile defense techniques, and improvements in space situational awareness capabilities. Lincoln Laboratory also supports upgrades to the command-and-control infrastructure of the range by using a network-centric architecture enabling operations from distributed geographic locations, with a focus on a new control center in Huntsville, Alabama. MIT Lincoln Laboratory . 244 Wood Street . Lexington, Massachusetts 02420 Division & Group Descriptions, 2012 2 HOMELAND PROTECTION AND AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL DIVISION 4 The Homeland Protection and Air Traffic Control Division leads Lincoln Laboratory’s efforts in homeland protection, air traffic control, and bioengineering. For homeland protection, the division focuses on systems and technology for chemical and biological defense; maritime, border, and airspace security; and disaster response. The division’s air traffic control programs support the FAA’s Next Generation Air Traffic System initiative by developing a national GPS-based surveillance system, airborne and ground-based collision avoidance technologies, advanced weather forecasting and associated decision support tools, and future air traffic control tower automation. Bioengineering programs span four broad technical areas: biomedical research, synthetic biology, bioinformatics, and biometrics. Recent and planned accomplishments include • Refinement of the Enhanced Regional Situation Awareness system for air defense of