The EWTES (Echo Range) Story

n 1965, a U.S. Navy airplane was shot down over North Vietnam by a Soviet surface-to-air missile. Shortly thereafter, the Navy sought countermeasures and tactics that could mitigate this threat. It became apparent that tests of airplanes in the presence of threat simulators could provide many answers to tactical problems as well as enhance and complement countermeasure system design and development. The assemblage of simulation and range operations equipment that became the Electronic Warfare Threat Environment Simulation (EWTES) resulted from the combined efforts of several Navy in-house laboratories and numerous contractors. APL served as the system integrator under the direction of the Naval Air Systems Command. By July 1968, EWTES was operational with an initial threat simulator configuration that included the Fan Song B and Fan Song C. EWTES has proven to be a highly useful range for electronic countermeasure effectiveness establishment, radar homing and warning system testing, air vehicle radar cross-section evaluation, and tactics development and evaluation. (