OCEAN ENGINEERING RANGE, CAPABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS 



Howard R. Talkington 

 Head, Ocean Engineering Department 

 Naval Undersea Research and Development Center 



The Naval Undersea Research and Development Center's NUC 

 mission is "to conduct a program of warfare analysis, RDT&E 

 systems integration, and fleet engineering support in underseas 

 warfare and ocean technology. " One of the Center's functions 

 under this mission, to "conduct. . .development and operation of 

 instrumented ocean RDT&E ranges, " involves the following tasks: 



a. Provide simulation, test and evaluation facilities for ocean 

 technology and ASW systems, as appropriate, including 

 support for government, university, and industry ocean- 

 technology programs. 



b. Conduct research, development, test and evaluation on 

 specific items contributing to ocean technology and under- 

 seas warfare. 



However, with the increase in developments in the field of 

 ocean engineering (defined as noncombatant undersea systems), sea 

 test facilities and instrumentation requirements have multiplied. 

 The sea off Southern California, near the Navy owned San Clemente 

 Island (SCI), has been developed into an Ocean Engineering Range by 

 the Naval Undersea Research and Development Center, Thus, the 

 mission of the Range, which was developed and is continually used 

 for underwater weapons development tests, has been expanded to in- 

 clude support for research, development, test, and evaluation opera- 

 tions of noncombatant ocean engineering systems (search, rescue, 

 salvage, and man-in-the-sea, for example). 



This paper deals with the Ocean Engineering Range's past and 

 present objectives (including instrumentation and special test equip- 

 ment), its use in the past, its current capabilities and limitations, 

 and near-term and long-range plans for its further development. 



The Island, 21 miles long and 1.0 to 4.5 miles wide, lies 

 approximately 55 nautical miles south of Long Beach, California 

 (Fig. 1). It has relatively smooth terrain with steep cliffs along 

 the eastern shore (mainland side) rising sharply to a main ridge 

 and tapering off in terraces to beaches on the western shore 



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