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NEWS | June 23, 2022

NSWC Dahlgren Division and JPRIMES Electromagnetic Vulnerability Test Team Wins Award

By NSWCDD Corporate Communications

The Air Force Materiel Command’s Joint Preflight Integration Munitions Environmental Simulator and Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division’s Electromagnetic Vulnerability Test team received the 2021 Q3 Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Legacy Air Dominance External Team of the Quarter Award for their outstanding performance, dedication and sacrifice. James McGinniss, Test and Evaluation Group Lead, and his team of engineers, scientists, and engineering technicians spent most of their summer in 2021 successfully completing a series of free flight electromagnetic vulnerability tests on a missile.

The test exposed the missile to a variety of flight scenarios to determine if it can survive and operate satisfactorily when exposed to its operational electromagnetic environment. “The importance of the test is to ensure the missile doesn’t encounter any performance degradation in a tactical environment during its various stages of flight through target engagement,” McGinniss stated.

The test ran from mid-May until mid-July 2021, with the team operating in two different shifts to ensure efficiency. Members of the United States Air Force also played a crucial role in the eight-week long joint program. Not only were the teams able to complete the task ahead of schedule, but they also conquered more challenges than normally expected with this kind of test. “Most of the planning for this happened during the height of the COVID pandemic when travel was very limited,” McGinniss said. “There was minimal advance on-site coordination and things of that nature prior to the execution of the event, which was unique for an event of this complexity.” The team finished the test four weeks ahead of schedule, saving thousands of dollars.

“This award is a testament to everyone involved and everything they sacrificed to accommodate this test,” McGinniss explained. “The award shows appreciation to both team’s work and all that went into maintaining the schedule to complete the project in a timely manner.” McGinniss felt proud of both teams and their efforts during the testing period. “This award is a testament to all the different organizations involved.”