In the early 1980’s The Howland Company became heavily involved in the design and evaluation of radar cross section measurement facilities. Stealth technology had advanced to the point where the signals being returned from targets were at very low levels and could not be effectively measured using the existing technology. The Howland Company pioneered different chamber and anechoic material configurations to reduce the background level of reflected signals.

Outdoor RCS Ranges

Compact Ranges for RCS Measurements

Imaging RCS Facilities

Outdoor RCS Ranges

The Howland Company's senior engineering staff has many years of experience both designing and managing day-to-day operations of outdoor RCS ranges, including some of the most important static and dynamic range facilities in the US.

Outdoor RCS ranges are described as static, with the target supported on a low-RCS pylon or column, or dynamic, with the target moving (e.g., flying) through the field of view of the range instrumentation.

The attraction of outdoor ranges for RCS measurements is that they can be designed to measure large targets over wide frequency ranges. The drawback of an outdoor range is that it can be difficult to conduct measurements in a secure environment.

Click here for an informed blog post about the principal outdoor RCS ranges in the western US. (Thanks to Sean O'Connor at the IMINT & Analysis blog.) And here is a comprehensive yet accessible review by Tom Mahood of the outdoor RCS ranges in the Mojave Desert.

This aerial photo shows two RCS ranges at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico with a connection to The Howland Company. The long track-like structure is the 1200-foot Inverted Vee outdoor RCS range, and the building at the northeast end of the Vee range houses a 110 ft x 42 ft x 26 ft (34m x 13m x 8m) RCS range.

Click here for a hi-res (600k) image of the Inverted Vee RCS range.

Compact Range RCS Measurement Facilities

In the 1980's there was tremendous interest in adapting the compact range for radar cross-section measurements. Originally conceived as a method for testing X and Ku band fire control radars, there had to be significant changes in the compact range in order to make it usable for making RCS measurements of large targets.

Very large compact range reflectors were built, thus increasing the quiet zone size and extending the lowest frequency of operation. At the same time the edges of the reflector were redesigned to reduce the diffraction effects from the edge.

At this point it was found that the anechoic material in the chamber was the limiting factor in making low level RCS measurements. The Howland Company was tasked to provide the overall electromagnetic design and improved designs for the layout of the anechoic material.

RCS Measurement Complex, Hughes
Aircraft, El Segundo, California

RCS Imaging Facilities

One intriguing problem has been how to test a stealth vehicle after manufacturing in order to insure that it is indeed "stealthy".

An imaging system can operate in an echoic chamber (one without anechoic material) and provide data on the low observable characteristics of the vehicle.

The Howland Company has provided design and engineering services for three different imaging systems, two for Lockheed-Martin and one for Boeing.

RCS Functional Test Facility, Lockheed Martin, Marietta, Georgia

Near Field Test Facility (NFTF), Boeing Phantom Works, St Louis

RF Field Probe, F-35 RCS Acceptance Test Facility, Fort Worth, Texas

Engineers from Lockheed and The Howland Company celebrate the first full-up test of the
F-22 Aircraft RCS Functional Test Facility.