MERRIMACK, N.H., Oct. 22 (UPI) -- A New Hampshire facility for testing missile warning and hostile fire detection systems has been dedicated in memory to two fallen soldiers by BAE Systems.
The $20 million Worrell/Weeks Aircrew Protection Center in Merrimack, N.H., is part a three-year, $70 million investment in developing state-of-the-art manufacturing and systems engineering facilities for integrated aircraft survivability equipment.
"We are honored to dedicate the Worrell/Weeks Aircrew Protection Center in the memory of these soldiers who gave their all in our defense," said Jim Crouch, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems' Survivability & Protection Solutions business. "We're motivated every day to protect those who protect us. The work we will do here will help us fulfill that important mission."
U.S. Army Maj. Matthew Wade Worrell and Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jamie Dunbar Weeks, both special operations soldiers, were killed in action in Iraq in 2006 when their helicopter was shot down during combat operations. They were members of the 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Stalkers, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.
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Until now, testing multi-spectral, integrated hostile fire defense systems for fixed-wing and rotary aircraft has been a significant challenge, relying principally on costly aircraft flight tests. BAE said the Worrell/Weeks Aircrew Protection Center adds a virtual dimension of testing, allowing rigorous analysis of aircraft survivability equipment in an operationally representative environment.
BAE said the new facility will allow missile warning and hostile fire detection systems to be tested under demanding conditions that simulate the actual temperature, vibration and motion characteristics of flight. The facility features two independent flight motion simulators, a two-axis gantry that simulates movable threats, an indoor and outdoor test range and electro-optic/infrared, software and multi-spectral laboratories.
