KDWeber
Joined: 28 Aug 2002
Posts: 9
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215ft tower&weather-related Picatinny Arsenal lab
 Thu Sep 05, 2002 1:00 am
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09/04/02 - Posted 12:31:53 AM from the Daily Record newsroom
Picatinny's lab almost done
By Matt Manochio, Daily Record
ROCKAWAY TWP. - The 215-foot-tall tower being built at Picatinny Arsenal for weather-related testing is near completion and should be functional by year's end, an arsenal spokesman said Tuesday.
Construction on the tower, which is at its full height, began last year and should be fully completed in October, spokesman Pete Rowland said. He added that the tower and nearby laboratory should begin operating in November or December.
The $8.7 million project, known as the Precision Armament Laboratory, will have platforms located at 40-foot intervals and will allow scientists and technicians to measure with sensors how weather will affect the military's ability to monitor and identify objects.
Rowland said testing areas will be placed 150 feet, 1,800 feet and 4,200 feet from the tower. Using different types of sensors, such as infrared, acoustic and laser, military technicians will bounce signals off targets - for example, a tank - from the tower's five platforms. The technicians will see whether the military can identify the object and determine whether it's a friend or foe, and then develop a tactical plan on how to engage it.
Unmanned military aircraft use this type of technology when identifying targets, Rowland added.
Rowland said the military chose the tower's location because of its proximity to Building 95 in the southwest end of the sprawling 6,500-acre complex. Building 95 is where a lot of work related to the tower will take place, Rowland said. He added that the increased elevation of the area is another reason why the arsenal elected to build there.
The tower is near the Jefferson border. Jefferson Mayor Russell Felter said he knew it was being built but wasn't quite sure why. He contacted arsenal officials, who informed him, and he then told the township council.
In previous interviews, Felter said he wasn't pleased with the location of the tower, which is visible heading along Route 15.
Rowland said he's received about a dozen complaints about the tower.
Picatinny Arsenal covers about 6,500 acres with 1,000 buildings. It employs approximately 3,500 people designing weapons and munitions for the military.
Matt Manochio can be reached at mmanochi@gannett.com or (973) 428-6630. http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/02/09/04/news6-TOWER.htm |
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