Review of Navy requirements for the Fallon Range Training Complex

76 Pages·1999·14.1 MB·English

by  Simmons, L. D

BLMLIBRARY CO-
88065460
IDA NSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES
*
Reviewof Navy Requirementsforthe
Fallon RangeTraining Complex
L.D.Simmons, ProjectLeader
April1999
Approvedforpublicrelease:
distributionunlimited.
IDAPaperP-3470
Log: H 99-000774
•
ThisworkwasconductedundercontractDASW0198C0067,Task
EK-1-1720,fortheUnitedStatesDepartmentoftheInterior,Bureauof
LandManagement,NevadaStateOffice.ThepublicationofthisIDA
documentdoesnotindicateendorsementbytheDepartmentofDefense,
norshouldthecontentsbeconstruedasreflectingtheofficialpositionof
thatAgency.
©1999InstituteforDefenseAnalyses,1801N.BeauregardStreet,
Alexandria,Virginia22311-1772•[phone].
ThismaterialmaybereproducedbyorfortheU.S.Governmentpursuant
tothecopyrightlicenseundertheclauseatDFARS252.227-7013
(NOV95).
fWIDD o 88ou^v»o
3
--"Hi'->
.0:
t3'
NSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES i » > i
IDAPaperP-3470
Reviewof Navy Requirementsforthe
Fallon RangeTraining Complex
L.D.Simmons, ProjectLeader
E. D. Potter

PREFACE
ThisstudywasconductedbytheInstituteforDefenseAnalyses(EDA)inresponse
toarequestfromtheNevadaStateOfficeoftheBureauofLandManagement(BLM).
Ms. Terri Knutson fromthe Carson City District Office served as the BLM Project
Officerforthestudy. Herassistanceinhelpingusobtaininformationandincoordinating
ourinteractionwithGovernmentandNavypersonnelatFallonNavalAirStationwas
instrumentaltooursuccessandisgratefullyacknowledged. Additionalassistancewas
providedbyMr.BrianC.AmmeattheBLMNevadaStateOffice.
Theprojectteamisalsopleasedtoacknowledgetheinsightfulandconstructive
guidance provided by the IDA Review Committee. The committee was chairedby
Dr.DavidL.Randall,DirectorofIDA'SSystemEvaluationDivision,andincludedthe
following members: Dr. Gary C. Comfort, Assistant Director of IDA's Operational
EvaluationDivision;BGenRichardCraft,USAF(Ret.);Dr.IvanC.Oelrich;Mr.Gerald
A.Pike;andDr.AlfredE.Victor. Mr.PhilipL.Major,IDAVicePresident-Planning
andEvaluation,andDr.DavidA.Arthuralsoprovidedhelpfulcomments.
TheprojectteamalsoacknowledgesthecontributionsofthemanyBLM,Navy,
andAirForcepersonnelwithwhomweinteractedduringthestudy. Theircandidand
thoughtfulresponsestoournumerousinquiriesaddedmeasurablytoourunderstandingof
militaryaviationtraininganditspotentialimpactonpublicland.
in
(Thispageisintentionallyblank.)
IV
. 1
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVESUMMARY ES-1
INTRODUCTION 1
REVIEW 3
A. ScopeofAviationTrainingatFallon 3
1. TypesofTrainingConducted 4
2. ExtentofTraining 5
3. PublicConcernsRegardingTraining 7
B. FeasibilityofAlternativeTrainingMethods 8
1. ImportanceofFlightOperations 8
2. KeyTrainingElements 1
3. ImportanceofRangeInstrumentation 13
C. FeasibilityofMovingTrainingtoAlternateBases 14
1 AvailabilityofNavyInstallationsforTraining 14
2. AvailabilityofAirForceInstallationsforTraining 15
3. AvailabilityofAlternativeBasingforFallonUnits 17
D. UtilityofExistingEmitterSites 17
1. CharacteristicsofExistingRadarEmitters 18
2. LimitationsofExistingEmitters 29
E. UtilityofProposedEmitterSites 32
1. CharacteristicsandAdvantagesofProposedEmitters 32
2. LocationsforProposedEmitters 35
3. EmploymentofProposedEmitters 35
F. AlternativeEmitterLocations 37
G. ProposedModificationstoFallonAirspaceandTargetComplex 38
1. AirspaceModifications 39
2. TrainingLandModifications 39
3. TargetComplexModifications 40
H. ProposedModificationstoRangeInstrumentation
andCommunication 41
1. RangeInstrumentation 41
2. RangeCommunications 42
I. UseofChaff,FlaresandPyrotechnics 43
1. ChaffandFlares 43
2. SmokeySAMs 44
3. OtherPyrotechnicDevices 44
Appendixes
A. Glossary
B. References
C. ListofFiguresandTables
D. DistributionList
VI
EXECUTIVESUMMARY
TheNavyhas proposed expanding its aviation training facilities nearFallon,
Nevada,bywithdrawingadditionalpubliclandandinstallingactualandsimulatedthreat
radarsystemsintheeasternportionoftheFallonrange. TheNevadaStateOfficeofthe
BureauofLandManagementaskedIDAtoreviewtheNavy'sRequirementsDocument
fortheFallonRangeTrainingComplexandprovideinformationtoassistindeveloping
alternativesforanalysisintherequiredEnvironmentalImpactStatement. Theprincipal
findingsandrecommendationsfromthatreviewarepresentedhere.
Effectiveaviation training requiressubstantialairspaceandsufficientlandto
accommodatesimulatedthreatsandtargets. Navyaircrewsmustbepreparedtooperate
onthemodernbattlefieldwithitswidevarietyoftargetsandoftencomplexairdefenses.
Inmanyinstancestargetsandthreatswillbeencounteredunexpectedly.Flightoperations
areessentialtoprepareaircrewstofunctioneffectivelyinthisenvironment. Simulators
andotherground-basedtrainingcannotreplicatethestressesimposedbymoderncombat.
Typical Navy flight operations involve several types of aircraft, each assigned an
essentialtasksothatthemissioncanbeconductedsuccessfully. Realistictrainingmust
reflectthischaracteristicwhilepresentingaircrewswiththetypesoftargetsandthreats
expectedduringwartime. Assuch,aviationtrainingforacarrierairwingrequiresalarge
volumeofairspacetoaccommodatethenumbersofaircraftinvolvedandsufficientland
spacetoaccommodatesimulatedtargetsandthreats. Rangeinstrumentationisneeded
throughoutthetrainingcomplextorecordaircraftmaneuversandenablere-creationof
trainingsituationsfordetailedstudyandreview.
UseofotherNavyorAirForcerangestoconductthetrainingnowaccomplished
atFallonwouldbeimpractical. UseofotherNavyrangesforcarrierairwingtrainingis
infeasibleowingtothelimitedairandlandspaceavailableatotherranges. Withfew
exceptions,alargeportionoftheairspaceattheNavy'sotherrangesisoverwaterand
thuspoorlysuitedfortrainingaircrafttostriketargetsashore. Moreover,theNavy's
otherrangesarealllocatedinmoredenselypopulatedareas,andmustcontendwitha
largervolumeofcommercial airtraffic. NavyuseofnearbyAirForceranges (e.g.,
Nellis,MountainHome,ortheUtahTestandTrainingRange)isinfeasibleowingtothe
Navy'slargesortierequirementandthedistancesthatwouldneedtobeflowntoreach
ES-1
theseranges. Thelargenumberofsortiesassociatedwithcarrierairwingtrainingcould
notbeabsorbedeasilyatnearbyAirForceranges,whicharealsoheavilyused. Evenif
spacewereavailableatthewesternAirForceranges,thetraveltimebetweenFallonand
eventheclosestofthesefacilitieswouldreduce availabletrainingtime andincrease
trainingcosts. MovingthetrainingconductedatFallontoanentirelynewlocationwould
imposesubstantialcostsandraiseenvironmentalconcernsatleastassevereasthoseat
Fallon.
TheexistingcollectionofthreatradarsystemsatFallonnolongerprovidesa
realistic training environmentfor the spectrum ofpotential adversaries that could
confrontnavalaviators. Theprincipalshortcomingoftheexistingthreatarrayisthelack
ofadvancedairdefensesystemsthatarenowbeingexportedtonationspotentiallyhostile
totheUnitedStates. Inaddition,allofthethreatradarsnowusedatFallonarelocatedin
DixieValleyandliewithin25milesoftheB-17targetcomplex. (Thelocationofthe
existingthreatarrayisshowninFigureI,asaretheproposedlocationsfornewradarsites
onbothNavyandpublicland. Thefigure also showstheairspaceboundary,which
wouldremain essentiallyunchanged.) For aircraft flyingtypical attackprofiles, the
surroundingmountainsmasktheincomingaircraftfromground-basedthreatradarsuntil
theaircraftarealmostoverthevalley. Thislevelofthreatcoverageisrepresentativeof
onlyabout10percentofthetargetsintypicalconflictscenarios.
ThethreatarrayproposedbytheNavywillfacilitatemorerealistictrainingfor
the spectrum ofpotentialadversaries. The proposed array includes advancedthreat
systemsdevelopedbyRussiaandChinaaswellasU.S.andEuropeansystemsthathave
beenexported. TheNavyplanstousesomeofthesenewsystemsfromfixedandmobile
sites in the eastern portion ofthe Fallon range.1 These locations will enable Navy
instructorstodevisemorerealistictrainingscenarios. Withthreatslocatedasfaras75
miles from existing target areas, aircrews would be forced to fly through defended
airspacefordistancesofupto100miles-alevelofcoveragerepresentativeofroughly
50percentoftargetsintypicalconflictscenarios. Whilesuccessfulinstallationofthe
proposedthreatarraywillprovideanacceptabletrainingcapabilityagainstthreatsnowin
existence,overthelongerterm,theNavywillneedtoreassessitstrainingrequirements
1 Thefixedsiteswouldoccupyroughly5acresandwouldincludeoneormoreradarsalongwith
maintenanceandstoragefacilities,communicationsequipment,andanelectricalgenerator. Mobile
radarsystemswouldbeoperatedfromone-eighthacreturnoutsoffexistingroads. Theradarandits
supportingcommunicationssystemandelectricalgeneratorwouldbetransportedtothesitebysemi-
trailer.Navyplanscallfortheinstallationof2-4fixedsitesand15-18mobilesitesonpublicland.
ES-2