Target Systems Development

The Target Systems Development program within the Navy's Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) Management Support budget is designed to advance the development of aerial, surface, and undersea target systems. The primary goal of this program is to provide realistic threat simulations for testing and evaluating naval combat weapon systems, as well as supporting advanced fleet training. By developing representative targets and associated control and augmentation systems, the Navy ensures its ability to simulate emerging threats and maintain readiness against evolving adversary capabilities.

Aerial Target System Development focuses on the design and development of both subsonic and supersonic aerial targets and their payloads. These targets emulate threat weapon systems and aircraft, supporting test and evaluation for fleet surface and air units. The supersonic portfolio includes systems used to simulate anti-ship cruise missile threats. The subsonic portfolio features targets representing subsonic anti-ship cruise missiles and supporting critical live-fire test events for major combat systems. The program also develops Target Augmentation and Auxiliary Systems, including electronic payloads and control systems, to enhance the realism of threat simulations.

Supersonic targets under Aerial Target System Development receive funding for upgrades that expand performance characteristics such as flight termination, speed, and multi-target launch capabilities. These upgrades are necessary to keep pace with evolving threat profiles and support electronic warfare payload integration. The program also explores the development of new supersonic targets to address future threat scenarios and maintain the Navy's test and evaluation capabilities.

Subsonic targets are continually upgraded to expand their performance envelope and provide realistic threat representation for fleet training and weapon system testing. Efforts include engineering, manufacturing, and logistics improvements, as well as studies on alternative subsonic target designs. These upgrades ensure that subsonic targets remain relevant as adversary capabilities evolve and support a wide range of test and training requirements.

Target Augmentation and Auxiliary Systems encompass electronic payloads to simulate threat radio frequency signatures, including electronic attack and radar emissions. These systems enhance command and control, scoring, and telemetry capabilities, enabling high-fidelity simulation of foreign threats. Planned developments include integration of advanced digital radio frequency memory systems, dual-band decoy systems, next-generation ground control stations, and scoring systems to address obsolescence and meet future fleet needs.

Surface Targets Development is dedicated to advancing seaborne target platforms and their augmentation systems for air-to-surface and surface-to-surface weapons testing and fleet training. Objectives include improving remote control systems, enhancing control reliability via satellite data links, developing waypoint navigation, and integrating low earth broadband capabilities. The project also focuses on creating target prototypes to support urgent test and evaluation or fleet needs, including platforms for long-range fires and denied GPS environments.

ASW Target Development supports improvements across the Navy's undersea warfare target portfolio, including expendable mobile training targets and heavyweight training targets. Key objectives are expanding sprint speed and frequency capabilities, developing long endurance and low frequency variants, and integrating continuous active sonar for enhanced detection and tracking. These upgrades enable more realistic training and evaluation of anti-submarine warfare tactics, supporting compatibility with new sensors and extended training exercises for multiple crews.