exercises, calibration of low frequency sonar trans- 
ducers, testing of sonobuoys, and test and evalua- 
tion of oceanographic instrumentation and ocean 
engineering developments. Like the model basin 
facilities at the Naval Ship Research and Develop- 
ment Center, AUTEC can be made available for 
commercial and scientific use. Becuase of its 
location, facilities may be valuable in biological, 
chemical, fishery, and other studies. 
An important undersea engineering range is the 
Ocean Engineering Test Range operated by the 
Naval Undersea Warfare Center at San Clemente 
Island, California. This facility can be made 
available to civilian users on a cost reimbursement 
basis. The primary test area is a four by five mile 
tract on the northeastern side of the island, 
featuring graduated plateaus to 4,000 foot depths 
and a two dimensional underwater positioning 
system. 
The site was first developed for full scale Polaris 
underwater launch tests and was also used for 
Poseidon missile tests. The Navy’s Sealab III 
operation will be conducted at this location. 
Planned additions include a marine railway, exten- 
sive pier and breakwater facilities, and a distressed 
submarine simulator to train crews of the Deep 
Submergence Rescue Vehicle. 
The range has a special purpose surface support 
ship, the U.S.S. Elk River (IX-501), converted 
from a World War II landing ship and initially used 
to support Sealab HI operations. It has a center 
well, a traveling 65-ton gantry crane, and two deck 
decompression chambers. The U.S.S. Elk River can 
support diver and submersible operations in rela- 
tively quiet waters. 
The Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory, Port 
Hueneme, California, has developed techniques for 
in situ testing to 6,000 feet in the open ocean. 
Their devices include recoverable submersible test 
units, which have carried materials samples for 
periods exceeding one year, and a deep ocean 
instrument placement and observation system for 
in situ measurement of such parameters as shear 
and bearing strength of sediments. 
The Makai Undersea Test Range is being devel- 
oped at Makupuu Point, Hawaii, and will include 
capabilities to 18,000 feet within 80 miles of 
shore. The range is being developed for man-in-sea, 
deep vehicle, and ocean instrumentation test and 
evaluation. The man-in-sea facilities are nearest to 
completion, scheduled for operational readiness in 
333-091 O-69—10 
1969 upon installation of a portable seafloor 
habitat complex (maximum depth 580 feet), 
diving equipment, decompression facilities, and an 
operations control center. 
To test mobile systems, especially weapons, 
ranges require detailed oceanographic surveys de- 
pendent on precise navigational control and obser- 
vational techniques. Coordinated, closely spaced 
bottom samples, underwater photographs, and 
depth records provide information for cable 
routing and bottom samples, structure design and 
emplacement. Data collection and emplacement 
techniques will be augmented greatly by use of 
deep submersibles on the AUTEC ranges (Figure 
29). When the need for immediate, continuous 
data are critical, permanent buoy arrays have been 
employed. 
Figure 29. Artist's concept of Navy’s new 
AUTEC research submarine as it works on 
ocean bottom obtaining scientific data by use 
of instruments emplaced by its remotely con- 
trolled mechanical arms. (Navy photo) 
2. Future Needs 
In situ test ranges and facilities will continue to 
be important in measuring complete system effec- 
tiveness, instrument calibration, and long-term 
phenomena studies when pressure cycling is not 
important. In such cases, range testing may well be 
less expensive than simulation. 
Ranges must be fully developed and instru- 
mented and contain the proper facilities, including 
in some cases habitable undersea installations and 
submersibles. For testing systems sensitive to the 
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