Description:
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project is to develop and demonstrate a modular, open system architecture system to provide an EW operator or system of the effectivenss of an electronic attack. DESCRIPTION: EW systems attempt to disrupt or degrade an adversary"s electronic assets and serve as an invaluable force protection asset to prevent the adversary"s access to their electronics. Many of the electronic attack (EA) techniques used are relatively brute force and often apply a greater amount of power than the minimum required, ensuring that the desired effect is realized. However, the operational tradeoff of using more power than necessary is that it precludes the availability of the excess power for another attack at the same time. In order to prevent an EA from using more power than necessary, a feedback mechanism is required to inform an operator or the EA system how effective the attack is. This technique is known as battle damage assessment (BDA). The output of an EW BDA is most effective in real time (seconds) or near-real-time (hours) to provide timely, actionable feedback. For this SBIR topic, one of the challenges is to identify techniques that can provide autonomous, real-time EW BDA feedback with as much fidelity as possible without a significant amount of processing requirements. A second challenge of this SBIR topic is to develop autonomous, near-real-time techniques that generate very high fidelity data in a matter of hours. Desired features include: Technique to generate low-fidelity, real-time BDA reporting Technique to generate high-fidelity, near-real-time BDA reporting Extract the BDA information without physical contact with the enemy asset, from standoff ranges equal to, or greater than, the standoff used by the EA system Report the EA lethality estimate along with margin of uncertainty Extract the BDA information from as many as 10 targets at the same time The current state of the art for EW BDA is extremely limited for EA systems that attack wireless communication devices. A broad body of knowledge exists for EW systems that attack conventional targets such as missiles and vehicles, for which there is a clear and discernible physical body for which to measure the effectiveness of an EA. As an example, techniques exist for measuring the change in flight trajectory or velocity of a missile. However, when attempting to make a BDA for a wireless system for which there is no physical medium to measure, there are few, if any, techniques that are widely documented and demonstrated to be effective. Therefore, this SBIR represents a significant opportunity to increase the state of the art in EW BDA specifically for wireless systems which greatly enhances the capability of future Army EW systems such as the Multi-Function Electronic Warfare (MFEW) system under Project Raven Fire. PHASE I: Phase I will perform a feasibility study of the proposed approach to deal with common wireless threats. This study will document the viability, risks, and tradeoffs. This feasibility study will also identify technical approaches to the proposed solutions. The approach which offers the best balance of technical risk and performance will be developed into a deliverable prototype capable of demonstration in a laboratory environment. It is envisioned that no more than one meeting will be held at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. All other communications and meetings will be via telecon/VTC or held at the contractor facility. US Government contractors maybe used to facilitate proposal evaluation but they will not be technical evaluators. PHASE II: Hardware and software will be developed and produced in support of relevant field environment testing and evaluation on terrestrial (vehicle/dismount) platforms. Contractor will validate that the prototype(s) meet the performance objectives and will demonstrate the EW BDA capability in a field environment. A plan will be developed to detail the development, demonstration, maturation, and validation and verification (V+V) of these capabilities to assist in a transition to Phase III. The small business will deliver one prototype for each of the platforms, one for the vehicle mounted and one for the dismount platform. PHASE III: Develop and implement a technology transition plan with PD Raven Fire. The transition should include further technology maturation to Information Assurance, Environmental, and EMI/EMC considerations. Finalize the EW BDA hardware and software, and conduct qualification testing of the product with R & D prototype and actual EW/EA production hardware. This technology is applicable to the US Army and other DoD users that require EW/EA capability. Potential commercial applications include local, county, state or federal law enforcement sales of the original system. A second commercial application is the prediction of the effects of unwanted EMI on commercial system to reduce EMI to an acceptable level to ensure proper operation of the commercial electronic devices. The expected transition to Program of Record use would be in the Multi-Function Electronic Warfare and Defensive Electronic Attack PORs.
