May 23, 2007

Enjoying a recent ribbon cutting are, from left: Dr. Richard Roca, director of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer; Congrad Grant, head, APL's Air and Missile Defense Department; and Tim McKaig, MDA special assistant, reengineering.

With the majority of the Missile Defense Agency's programs and technical work relocating to Huntsville, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) recently opened a new office in Huntsville to better support MDA's mission to develop, test and deploy an integrated ballistic missile defense system.

The Lab's involvement with missile defense dates back to the Strategic Defense Initiative (an early predecessor to MDA). Through its expertise in research, development, systems integration and engineering, testing and evaluation of current and future air defense-related systems and technologies, APL is helping MDA solve some of its most critical challenges in ballistic missile defense.

APL works closely with MDA on a range of programs, including those within the Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense), Combined Test Force, Targets and Countermeasures, Sensors and Ballistic Missile Defense Systems Engineering directorates now located in Huntsville. Additionally, APL serves as technical direction agent for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense program and is a principal technical advisor for MDA's Sensors Directorate.

"The field office will enable the laboratory to more efficiently support MDA, providing them with technical advice, systems engineering leadership and analyses," said David Olivares, APL's Huntsville field office site manager who works closely with MDA's Targets and Countermeasures, GMD and THAAD directorates.

Located near MDA’s offices in Cummings Research Park, APL’s 3,200-square-foot facility will accommodate up to 14 resident employees (six will initially staff the office). The facility is fully connected to the Lab’s main campus in Laurel, Md., “so electronically speaking, it appears users are sitting in an office on our main campus,” Olivares said. The Huntsville office provides a convenient portal through which MDA can access the full breadth of APL capabilities.

Visitors will have a range of services at their disposal including Internet and email-hookups, voice-over Internet protocol phones, administrative support, and classified and unclassified document storage. A classified conference facility, with seating for up to 50, is available for APL – or sponsor-led meetings. Videoconferencing will soon be available as well.

Olivares said he anticipates adding the ability to do on-site engineering analysis to the office’s capabilities by the end of the fiscal year 2008. “We’ll have staff, either full-time or on short-and/or long-term temporary assignments, who will do signature and trajectory analyses, mission planning, and create end-to-end simulations – all of which will enable us to serve our sponsors on an even greater level,” he said.

“We need to be in Huntsville – visible, ready and willing to take on the critical challenges for which we have the core competencies to address,” said Tom Eubanks, APL’s program area manager for Ballistic Missile Defense.

“Our extensive experience in the air and missile defense field spans more than five decades and includes work on ground-, ship- and interceptor-based platforms,” Eubanks said. “We provide expertise on interceptor and propulsion technologies, command, control and communication, and sensors. We also make significant contributions in intercept test and pre-mission planning, including predictive analysis, and post-flight analysis of test results and vehicle performance.”

With its main campus in Laurel, Md., APL operates more than a dozen field offices across the country to provide immediate and continual support for its Department of Defense sponsors. The Huntsville office opened for business on May 14. A joint APL/MDA ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception was held on May 23.

APL, a division of the Johns Hopkins University, meets critical national challenges through the innovative application of science and technology. For information, visit www.jhuapl.edu.