US Army - ARDEC

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The Robert A. Reisman Precision Armaments
Laboratory
Background A major mission within the US Army's
Armament Research, Development and Engineering
Center (ARDEC) is the life cycle development of
gun fired precision munitions and other systems
(e.g., weapon fire control, command and control,
battlefield damage assessment, communication,
etc.) that employ sensors. All of these systems
have a requirement to operate in "all weather" or
"near all weather" conditions. Current sensor/
system evaluation methods do not adequately
address performance during these conditions.
Therefore, a demonstrated need exists for
conducting sensor performance measurements during
adverse weather occurrences and in such a way
that duplicates, as nearly as possible, the
actual sensor altitude and range with respect to
the target. PAL Mission The Precision
Armaments Laboratory (PAL) represents a new and
unique mission essential facility at ARDEC for
gun fired precision guided and smart weapon
system research and development. This mission
concentrates on the experimentation, development,
and evaluation of sensors and seekers during
adverse weather conditions, and represents a new
Department of Defense (DoD) capability that was
not available previously. This unique capability
will enable the development and fielding of
precision ammunition that require all weather
performance capability.
Fully automated RD test facility dedicated
to evaluating sensor/ seeker performance in
adverse weather
215-ft tower Fully automated MET
Instrumentation Programmable elevator
labs Various clutter environments
Northern NJs adverse weather
For More Information
US Army ARDEC Picatinny Arsenal, NJ Munitions
Engineering Technology Center Fuze Precision
Armaments Technology Directorate Munition Sensors
Guidance Technology Division Mark Woolley,
Facility/Test Manager 973-724-2460, DSN
880-2460 Fax [phone], Email
mark.woolley_at_us.army.mil
US Army - ARDEC Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806
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Facility Automation Features
A computer controlled network of various
meteorological instrumentation located on the
tower and at target sites allow for remote and
autonomous data collection of customers devices
per customers weather requirements.
Elevator laboratory operation is included in
autonomous loop providing the customer with a
dynamic data collection environment. Russian
2S3 surrogate targets are remotely heated to
provide customers with 2S3 IR and RADAR
signatures and ground truth data collection.
PAL Facility Characteristics
Typical Applications

• ? 215 foot Tower
• - Enclosed Equipment Platform (EEP) at 200
• feet (Dimension 30 x 40)
• - Stationary outdoor platforms at every 40
  feet
• including roof of EEP
• ? Two Programmable Elevator Laboratories
• - Variable rates from 1 to 350 ft/min
• - Stationary heights within a 1/10 of a
  foot
• - 7 8 x 9 4 dimension
• - 7500 lbs weight capacity
• - 5 x 5 maximum window opening
• - 4 x 7 door opening
• - Available power feed
• - Data/communication lines w/ EEP
• - Remote elevator operation
• ? Dedicated Base Laboratory Building
• - High-bay garage - Secure offices
• - Conference rooms - Fabrication shop
• ? Three Dedicated Target Sites

The PAL facility has the flexibility to
support a wide variety of research, development,
test and evaluation applications including
- Sensors/seekers performance in adverse
weather - Target and clutter
phenomenology - Autonomous Target
Recognition (ATR) algorithm
development - Real-time dynamic simulations
- Data collection for predictive modeling
- Surveillance sensors/system
development - Countermeasure effectiveness
in adverse weather - Effects to
munition communication, command and
control links during all- weather
conditions - Weather effects on receipt of
GPS signals (acquisition/tracking)
- Antenna/Data links