About Naval Air Station Patuxent River - DCMilitary.com

iliary field for daylight testing and is
home to VC-6, a squadron devoted to
maintaining the Pioneer Unmanned Air
System (UAS). ATR provides real-time
connectivity to NASA Wallops Flight
Facility; Fleet Area Control &
Surveillance Facility, Virginia Capes
(FACSFAC VACAPES); NAVAIR simulation
and stimulation laboratories; and
other NAVAIR and DoD major test
ranges. ATR is the Navy’s principal
research, development, test &
evaluation (RDT&E), fleet support
activity for naval aircraft, engines,
avionics, aircraft support systems and
ship/shore air operations. The open-air
range and ground test facilities
developed for RDT&E also have
tremendous application for fleet and
war fighter pre-deployment systems
grooming and readiness exercises. ATR
coordinates multiple training events in
airspace at ATR or at sites around the
country. Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs)
and Expeditionary Strike Groups
(ESGs) are routinely supported: from
small, unit-level events to large-scale,
joint exercises.
The Air Vehicle Modification and
Instrumentation (AVMI) group provides
source data and air vehicle modifications
necessary to support the NAVAIR
test & evaluation community. AVMI also
provides resources for rapid, innovative
solutions to unique prototyping needs
of the Navy fleet. AVMI consists of three
divisions located nationally.
The 5.2.8 Mechanical Solutions
Division is located at Patuxent River.
The division designs, builds and installs
prototype aircraft and field system
installations. It provides customers with
a fully integrated engineering design,
machining, sheet metal/composite
fabrication, prototype modeling and
installation capability.
The NAVAIR 5.2.9 Aircraft
Instrumentation Division is co-located
at Patuxent River and China Lake. The
division designs, develops, builds,
installs, calibrates and provides
operational support of flight test aircraft
instrumentation and telemetry systems.
The division also provides airborne
video data support at Patuxent River
and airborne mission system T&E
software loads at China Lake.
The NAVAIR 5.2.J Weapons
Instrumentation Division is co-located
at China Lake and Pt. Mugu, Calif. The
division designs, develops, builds,
installs, calibrates and provides
operational support of miniaturized
airborne weapons instrumentation and
telemetry systems.
AMVI engineers proactively
participate with other DoD activities,
academia and industry on national
initiatives dedicated to the advancement
of technologies associated with
physical measurement, data acquisition,
data communications, networking,
telemetry and data processing.
AIR-5.3 The Threat/Target Systems
Department provides the resources
required to provide threat-representative
targets, simulations and presentations
for test and training in laboratories, at
sea, on land and in the air.
The Atlantic Targets and Marine
Operations (ATMO) Division provides
range clearance support to ATR. ATMO
employees are also equipped with the
skills and resources necessary to
develop, construct and modify target
systems for realistic threat simulation.
An HX-21 AH-1Z
NAVAIR
A VX-20 E-2C Hawkeye
Targets include aerial targets, land point
targets, scored targets, seaborne targets
and scuttled or afloat target ships.
Aerial targets include subscale
subsonic targets, full-scale missile
targets and full-scale aircraft targets - all
capable of remote operation. Available
aerial targets include the BQM-74E and
BQM-34S (subscale subsonic recoverables);
AQM-37 (a subscale supersonic
missile); and GQM-163A Coyote and
MA-31 (full-scale supersonic missiles).
Seaborne targets include littoral and
open-ocean targets such as the High-
Speed Maneuverable Surface Target
(HSMST), which at 40-plus knots can
operate independent of ranges with a
portable command-and-control unit,
and the QST-35 Seaborne Powered
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