Worrell/Weeks Aircrew Protection Center – Threat Analysis Testing

The Worrell/Weeks Aircrew Protection Center in Merrimack, New Hampshire offers testing and evaluation of a wide range of EO/IR, IRCM and other survivability and protection systems. The 43 meter indoor range with two flight motion tables and multiple moving gantries provides a simulated real-world threat environment with the advantages of an indoor lab.

The logistics of testing multi-spectral integrated systems is very challenging and costly, requiring numerous flight test experiments.  The Worrell/ Weeks Aircrew Protection Center enables rigorous analysis of threat management equipment in an operationally representative environment and provides real time data from simulation.  The lab can be adapted to meet product needs and testing requirements, including simulated temperature, vibration and motion.  Our customized services and expert team allow for the resolution of performance issues prior to fielding, increasing the program’s integration readiness level.

Key Features

• Two flight motion simulators
• Environmental  test chamber
• 2 target gantries
• IR/UV threat simulator
• Rotary light source
• Outdoor range (800 m)
• Indoor range (43 m)
• Simple Graphical User Interface (GUI) to  control range equipment
• Profile flyout and motion editing capability
• Single point control room

The indoor range features a large gantry, which acts as the missile or heat source. The products being tested are mounted to the flight motion simulator, which simulates the aircraft motion. The state-of-the-art testing facility allows for comprehensive analysis of various applications, preparing the products for integration and reducing overall program cost.

The facility was created in 2010 and is dedicated to the memory of Major Matthew Wade Worrell and Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jamie Dunbar Weeks, U.S. Army special operations soldiers who were killed in action when their helicopter was shot down by enemy fire during combat operations in Iraq.