Naval Research Laboratory

Washington, DC 20375-5320

NRL/MR/1001--06-8951

June 30, 2006

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Authored By

Don DeYoung (NRL 1001.1), Jill Dahlburg (NRL 1001.2),

Richard Bevilacqua (NRL 7200), Gerald Borsuk (NRL 6800),

Jay Boris (NRL 6400), Simon Chang (NRL/MRY 7500),

Richard Colton (NRL 1100), Robert Eisenhauer (NRL 8100),

Herbert Eppert (NRL/SSC 7400), Edward Franchi (NRL 7100),

Thomas Giallorenzi (NRL 5600), Donald Gubser (NRL 6300),

Herbert Gursky (NRL 7600), Erik Mokole (NRL 5300),

Francis Klemm (NRL 5700), John McLean (NRL 5500),

James Murday (NRL 6100), Sidney Ossakow (NRL 6700),

Ruth Preller (NRL/SSC 7300), John Schaub (NRL 8200),

and Joel Schnur (NRL 6900)

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

Fulfilling the Roosevelts’ Vision

for American Naval Power

(1923-2005)
Front Cover

The Roosevelts Gold Medal for Science was conceived by the New York Council, Navy 

League of the United States, and designed by Tiffany, in 1986. It is awarded “to an 

individual, institution, or corporation for extraordinary scientific contributions to the 

security of America.”

The Gold Medal carries the profiles of Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, both assistant 

Secretaries of the Navy on their way to the White House, and both keen supporters of 

science and naval power. For over 100 years, the traditional objective of the Navy and 

the Navy League has been “Peace Through Strength — Strength Through Science.”
i

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The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (1923-2005)

Fulfilling the Roosevelts’ Vision for American Naval Power

Don DeYoung (NRL 1001.1), Jill Dahlburg (NRL 1001.2) Richard Bevilacqua (NRL 7200), 

Gerald Borsuk (NRL 6800), Jay Boris (NRL 6400), Simon Chang (NRL/MRY 7500),

Richard Colton (NRL 1100), Robert Eisenhauer (NRL 8100), Herbert Eppert (NRL/SSC 

7400), Edward Franchi (NRL 7100), Thomas Giallorenzi (NRL 5600), Donald Gubser (NRL 

6300), Herbert Gursky (NRL 7600), Erik Mokole (NRL 5300), Francis Klemm (NRL 5700), 

John McLean (NRL 5500), James Murday (NRL 6100), Sidney Ossakow (NRL 6700),

Ruth Preller (NRL/SSC 7300), John Schaub (NRL 8200), and Joel Schnur (NRL 6900)

NRL/MR/1001--06-8951

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified

UL 73

Don DeYoung

(202) 767-2445

30-06-2006 Memorandum Report

Naval Research Laboratory

4555 Overlook Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20375-5320

Since its establishment on July 2, 1923, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has excelled in its mission of conducting a broadly based 

multidisciplinary program of scientific research and advanced technological development directed toward maritime applications of new and 

improved materials, techniques, equipment, systems, and ocean, atmospheric, and space sciences and related technologies. Products of the 

Laboratory include a number of innovations that have revolutionized capabilities of the United States Navy and of our Nation as a whole. 

Among these innovations are radar, which ushered in the era of modern warfare; inventing the first U.S. intelligence satellite; and conceiving 

several key ideas for satellite time-based navigational systems, which eventually led to the Global Positioning System (GPS). More recently, 

NRL has developed powerful new warfighting capabilities for a post-Cold War environment marked by regional conflict and terrorism. One 

example is Specific Emitter Identification technology that identifies any radar by its unique characteristics with such accuracy as to “fingerprint” 

it. It was selected by the National Security Agency as the national standard. Another is Dragon EyeTM an affordable, expendable, hand-launched 

5.5-pound miniature surveillance plane with the radar signature of a bird. Carried by backpack, this airborne sensor platform provides U.S. 

Marine units deployed to Iraq with reconnaissance, battle damage assessment, and threat detection capabilities. A final example is Project Silent 

Guardian, implemented when there were concerns for military and civilian health during special events held in the Washington, DC, area during 

the 2005 Presidential Inauguration. This project marked the first demonstration of a capability for rapidly obtaining data for a broad range of 

pathogens in clinical specimens collected from the general population.

Office of Naval Research ONR

One Liberty Center

875 North Randolph Street

Arlington, VA 22203-1995

1923 - 2005
CONTENTS

v	 PREFACE

	 1	 INTRODUCTION

	 5	 The Early Years through World War II

	 	 	 6	 Gamma-Ray Radiography

	 	 	 7	 Development of High-Frequency Radio Equipment

	 	 	 8	 Radio Propagation and the “Skip-Distance” Effect

	 	 	 9	 Invention of U.S. Radar

	 	 	10	 First Operational U.S. Sonar

	 	 	11	 Liquid Thermal Diffusion Process

	 	 	12	 Aircraft Radio Homing System

	 	 	13	 First Proposal of a Nuclear Submarine

	 	 	14	 Identification Friend-or-Foe Systems

	 	 	15	 First American Airborne Radar

	 17	 THE COLD WAR

	 	 	18	 Monopulse Radar

	 	 	19	 First Far-Ultraviolet Spectrum of the Sun

	 	 	20	 First Detection of X Rays from the Sun

	 	 	21	 The Principles of Fracture Mechanics

	 	 	22	 Molecular Structure Analysis and the Nobel Prize

	 	 	23	 The Viking Program

	 	 	24	 Synthetic Lubricants

	 	 	25	 Over-the Horizon Radar

	 	 	26	 Vanguard Program — The Rocket

	 	 	27	 Vanguard Program — Minitrack and Space Surveillance

	 	 	28	 Vanguard Program — The Satellites and the Science

	 	 	29	 SOLRAD I

	 	 	30	 America’s First Operational Intelligence Satellite

	 	 	31	 Improved Aircraft Canopy and Window Materials

	 	 	32	 Purple-K-Powder

	 	 	33	 Improved Boilerwater Treatment

	 	 	34	 Fracture Test Technology

	 	 	35	 Deep Ocean Search

	 	 	36	 NAVSTAR GPS

	 	 	37	 Aqueous Film-Forming Foam

	 	 	38	 Nuclear Reactor Safety

iii
	 	 	39	 Linear Predictive Coder

	 	 	40	 Submarine Habitability

	 	 	41	 Flux-Corrected Transport

	 	 	42	 Fiber-Optic Interferometric Acoustic Sensors

	 	 	43	 Semi-Insulating Gallium Arsenide Crystals

	 	 	44	 Super Rapid-Blooming Offboard Chaff

	 	 	45	 Fixed-Wing Airborne Gravimetry

47	 REGIONAL CONFLICT AND TERRORISM

	 	 	48	 Specific Emitter Identification

	 	 	49	 Deep Space Program Science Experiment (Clementine)

	 	 	50	 Polar Ice Prediction System

	 	 51	 Optical Immunoassays and Sensors

	 	 	52	 Mesoscale Prediction Systems

	 	 	53	 Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance for Detection

	 	 	 	 of Explosives and Narcotics

	 	 	54	 Surface Acoustic Wave Chemical Sensors

	 	 	55	 Tactical Receive Equipment

	 	 	56	 AN/ALE-50 Towed Countermeasures

	 	 	57	 Low Observables Detection Radar

	 	 	58	 First Software Defined Tactical Radio

	 	 	59	 CT-Analyst

	 	 	60	 Mountain Wave Forecast

	 	 	61	 Low Solar Absorbance Ship Paint

	 	 	62	 InfraLynx

	 	 	63	 SHARP Reconnaissance System

	 	 	64	 Dragon Eye

	 	 	65	 Secure Voice Technology

	 	 	66	 Pulsed X-ray Radiography

	 	 	67	 Project Silent Guardian

	 	 	68	 Tactical Microsatellite Experiment (TacSat-1)

	 	 	69	 Body Armor to Counter Improvised Explosive Devices

iv
PREFACE

	 In 2005, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) was selected to receive the Roosevelts Gold

Medal for Science by the New York Council, Navy League of the United States. Designed by Tiffany

in 1986, the Medal is awarded “to an individual, institution, or corporation for extraordinary scientific 

contributions to the security of America.” 

	 The Roosevelts Gold Medal for Science was created in honor of Theodore Roosevelt and

Franklin Delano Roosevelt. During their service to our nation as assistant secretaries of the Navy, and

then as U.S. presidents, both were keen advocates of American naval power and strongly supportive of

the vital role played by science in creating and sustaining it.

	 With minor modifications, the pages that follow contain the full nomination package provided to

the New York Council of the Navy League for consideration by its award selection panel. 

	 	 	 	 	

Don J. DeYoung

Executive Assistant to the Director of Research

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

11 November 2005

v
1 

INTRODUCTION

Origins: Thomas Edison, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. 

History reveals a strong relationship between technology and national security. Early in the last century, 

Thomas Edison’s belief in that linkage led to his idea for establishing what would become the U.S. Naval 

Research Laboratory (NRL). In May 1915, when asked by a New York Times correspondent to comment 

on the war raging in Europe, Edison argued that the nation should look to science. “The Government,” he 

proposed, “should maintain a great research laboratory.” Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels seized 

the opportunity to enlist the great inventor’s support. Edison agreed to serve as the head of a new body of 

civilian experts — the Naval Consulting Board — to advise the Navy on science and technology and to 

oversee the creation of the new laboratory. Working closely with the board was Franklin D. Roosevelt, 

the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. 

On July 2, 1923, NRL was officially established. A marriage of technological innovation with national 

security interests was perhaps preordained given that Edison, America’s most famous inventor, and 

Roosevelt, destined to be the nation’s Commander in Chief, played roles in the Laboratory’s origin. It 

was further fitting that Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., son of President Theodore Roosevelt, assumed his 

father’s and cousin’s former post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and formally inaugurated NRL’s 

opening as the principal speaker. His remarks were not recorded, but earlier Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. had 

told the House Subcommittee on Appropriations, 

 “I feel strongly that the Navy must not be allowed to petrify. We will petrify unless we are constantly 

reaching out for new and better things. The research laboratory is in direct line with this thought.”1

His view of the Laboratory was important because Roosevelt was formally in charge of the new facility. 

As the Naval Consulting Board had wished, NRL was placed administratively in the Secretary’s Office, 

under the Assistant Secretary. This was done to ensure the Laboratory’s focus on the long-term needs of 

the Navy rather than on short-term operational activities. 

The Early Years through World War II: Radio, Sonar, the First U.S. Radar, and more... 

NRL’s three earliest divisions — Radio, Sound, and Metallurgy — pioneered the fields of radar, highfrequency radio, underwater sound propagation, and defect analysis in castings during the 1920s and 

1930s. The Laboratory’s work in those pre-war years proved vital to preparing the American Fleet for the 

approaching global war against fascism. A number of new devices, systems, and processes were 

developed, including: gamma-ray radiography for improving the production of high-quality steel for 

armor, ship frames, and fittings; the foundation for modern High-Frequency (HF) wave-propagation 

theory, which led to the Navy’s acceptance of HF frequencies in naval communications; the first 

operational U.S. sonar to detect and track enemy submarines; and the first U.S. radio recognition 

Identification Friend-or-Foe system capable of identifying friendly aircraft returning to carriers under 

poor visibility. But most noteworthy was the Laboratory’s invention of modern radar in the early 1930s. 

NRL installed the first operational radar on the battleship USS New York in 1939. The technology was 

transferred rapidly to industry and units were fielded in time for duty in the great Pacific naval battles of 

World War II, contributing to crucial victories at Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal. This work also 

laid much of the basis for the rapid development of radar during the war. Among these included NRL’s 

 

1

 U.S. Congress, 67:4, House, Hearings Before the Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations in Charge of the 

Navy Department Appropriation for 1923 (Washington: GPO, 1922), p. 728. ________________________________ 

Manuscript approved March 15, 2006.
2 

invention of monopulse radar, a breakthrough in precision target tracking, and the first U.S. airborne 

radar, used extensively by the U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps and the British military. 

Work in other areas also continued during the war, with more than 900 applied research projects 

conducted. One of the developments was a new uranium separation process called liquid thermal 

diffusion, which was a significant contribution to the success of the Manhattan Project. In a related area, 

NRL was the first to conceive, propose, and investigate the use of nuclear power in submarine propulsion, 

and during the Cold War it contributed to the development of the world’s first atomic-powered 

submarine, the USS Nautilus. 

Cold War: The First Intelligence Satellite, the Global Positioning System, and more...

Following the end of World War II, NRL focused on basic research into the Navy’s operational 

environments — from the ocean depths, on the sea surface, and into sky and space. 

Deep sea search technologies were developed by NRL and were used by expeditions to find the U.S. 

Navy’s lost submarines, USS Thresher and USS Scorpion, and the lost French submarine Eurydice, and 

to locate and recover a lost H-bomb off the coast of Spain. The Laboratory’s emergency search mission 

was later transferred to other Navy organizations. 

For the realm of the ocean surface, NRL developed Aqueous Film-Forming Foam in the aftermath of the 

destructive fires aboard the USS Forrestal and USS Enterprise. This firefighting agent is used by U.S. 

aircraft carriers, all branches of the U.S. armed forces, and NATO members, as well as fire departments 

throughout the world. 

For the skies, NRL developed synthetic lubricants needed for the new gas-turbine engines of the highperformance jet aircraft that dominated the skies in the Korean War. Essentially all turbine engines now 

used by military and civilian aircraft are lubricated with ester oils whose development was based on this 

early work at NRL. 

For the final frontier, the birth of the U.S. Navy space program was marked by NRL’s use of captured 

German V-2 rockets to monitor the Sun’s behavior and its effect on naval communications. The 

Laboratory also conducted America’s first satellite program by directing the Vanguard project and by 

developing the world’s first satellite tracking system, which later formed the basis of NRL’s development 

of the Navy Space Surveillance System. Not long thereafter, the Laboratory invented the world’s first 

intelligence satellite (GRAB-I), launching it only 52 days after an American U-2 was lost over Soviet 

territory. The GRAB-I spacecraft made a profound impact on the Nation’s intelligence gathering 

capabilities and on national security decision-making, particularly with regards to the deterrence of 

nuclear war. 

Finally, NRL formulated the original concepts and developed the satellite prototypes for the NAVSTAR 

Global Positioning System, which earned NRL the coveted Collier Trophy “for the most significant 

development for safe and efficient navigation and surveillance of air and spacecraft since the introduction 

of radio navigation 50 years ago.” The military and commercial applications of GPS are revolutionary 

and pervasive. 

Regional Conflict and Terrorism: Dragon Eye, InfraLynx, Silent Guardian, and more...

Regional Conflict: Today, NRL’s multidisciplinary R&D program continues to be conducted with an 

awareness that the challenges posed by international conflict can, in part, be addressed by innovative 

R&D solutions. Technologies developed by the Laboratory have addressed traditional military challenges 
3 

in post-Cold War regional conflicts such as in Kosovo and Iraq, as well as for continuing security 

requirements like national missile defense. The following are three examples. 

NRL’s AN/ALE-50 electronic warfare decoy protects combat aircraft so well that it has earned 

the nickname “Little Buddy” from our pilots. In the Kosovo campaign alone, 1,479 of these 

decoys were used and the system was credited with saving several aircraft. 

NRL’s Dragon EyeTM is an affordable, expendable, hand-launched, 5.5-pound miniature 

surveillance plane with the radar signature of a bird. Carried by U.S. Marines in a backpack, this 

airborne sensor platform provides small unit reconnaissance, battle damage assessment, and 

threat detection capabilities. It has been deployed with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in 

support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and was mentioned in a New York Times front-page article 

about the U.S. Marines’ fight for Falluja.2 

NRL was given responsibility for mission design, spacecraft engineering, and flight operations 

for a space mission to test advanced sensor and component technologies for missile defense 

systems. NRL put the satellite Clementine into lunar orbit, returning America to the Moon for the 

first time since 1972. Built in less than 1/2 the time and for 1/5 the cost of similar space probes, 

Clementine was so simple to operate that its mission control center comprised eight engineers 

working in a warehouse in Alexandria, Virginia. 

Terrorism: In addition to regional conflicts that feature traditional military threats, America is engaged in 

a prolonged struggle with an opportunistic, fanatical enemy who has unlimited apocalyptic goals and is 

not deterred by traditional means. Technologies such as sensors, communications, and intelligence 

systems have become even more vital. NRL is providing improved capabilities in such areas for 

homeland defense and the war on terrorism. The following are three examples. 

NRL’s Specific Emitter Identification technology identifies any radar by its unique characteristics 

with such accuracy as to “fingerprint” it. In fact, it can distinguish between identical models 

produced off the same assembly line. The National Security Agency selected it as the national 

standard. It was used in Kosovo, but its uses go beyond that of traditional military requirements. 

Coast Guard vessels, naval warships, and aircraft use it to monitor the movement of materials 

used in weapons of mass destruction. 

Three days after the September 11 terror attacks, NRL designed an interoperable communication 

infrastructure that provides assured communication capabilities to military and civilian 

authorities. The Infrastructure Linkage and Augmentation System (InfraLynx) allows First 

Responders to communicate when local infrastructure is destroyed. It was deployed by the Office 

of Domestic Preparedness during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and Super Bowl 

XXXVII. InfraLynx has also supported counter-terrorism training and WMD preparedness drills. 

Project Silent Guardian was implemented when there were concerns for military and civilian 

health during special events held in the Washington, D.C., area during the 2005 Presidential 

Inauguration. A team composed of NRL scientists, Navy reservists, and Air Force staff 

successfully made the first demonstration of a capability for rapidly (i.e., in less than 24 hours) 

obtaining data for a broad range of pathogens in clinical specimens collected from the general 

population. The team accurately detected samples spiked with inactivated bio-threat agents in 

blind trials and identified numerous cases of influenza in patient samples collected from military 

treatment facilities. 

 

2

 Dexter Filkins, “In Falluja, Young Marines Saw the Savagery of an Urban War,” New York Times, 21 November 2004, p. 1. 
4 

Conclusion 

At its most fundamental, the idea behind NRL’s creation was to help build American sea power and 

protect national security through technological innovation. The record shows that NRL has helped make 

the U.S. Fleet the most formidable naval fighting force in the world. And, over the more than eight 

decades since its establishment, the Navy’s corporate laboratory has fulfilled Thomas Edison’s vision 

with a record of technical excellence that has had a profound impact on national security. 

The unclassified innovations described in this report are only representative of the thousands, many of 

them classified, that NRL has produced since 1923. It should also be noted that the more recent 

achievements described in the last section on “Regional Conflict and Terrorism” may not have yet 

reached full fruition in terms of applications and impact. Some research can take as much as 20 years or 

more to reach that point. 

This representative selection of achievements confirms that NRL has made a profound difference, in 

times of war and in times of peace, through the creative work of scientists and engineers who serve in the 

nation’s interest. Knowing the Laboratory’s record of excellence, the following notable political, 

military, and technical experts made these comments in 1998 when NRL celebrated its 75th anniversary. 

“What you do here [at NRL] is probably the biggest force-multiplier that we have in our 

military.” 

― Senator John Warner (Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee) 

 

“NRL has a reputation for clever solutions where others thought none were possible. NRL 

continues to be a national treasure.” 

― VADM Arthur K. Cebrowski (USN, Ret.) (former Director, Force Transformation) 

“I know from experience that there are few other institutions—public or private—which have had 

a greater impact on American life in the 20th century, both in terms of military needs and civilian 

uses.” 

― Norman Augustine (CEO of Lockheed Martin) 

“This efficient, relatively small government agency has had an enormous impact, touching the 

lives of just about every American...the Naval Research Laboratory is a national asset, not just a 

military asset.” 

― Peter Teets (former Director, National Reconnaissance Office) 

“NRL is the equivalent of the most significant technology jewel in our country.” 

― Robert Galvin (Chair of the Executive Committee of Motorola, Inc.) 

“NRL is important to all of us — to defense industry and to science.” 

― Dr. Charles Townes (Nobel Laureate, inventor of the laser) 

In summary, NRL’s impressive success in transferring technology to industry, academia, and other 

government agencies, and the national impact made by those technological innovations, prove the value 

of having a great research laboratory, maintained by the Government, in service to the U.S. Navy. 
The Early Years through World War II

6	 Gamma-Ray Radiography

7	 Development of High-Frequency Radio Equipment

8	 Radio Propagation and the “Skip-Distance” Effect

9	 Invention of U.S. Radar

10	 First Operational U.S. Sonar

11	 Liquid Thermal Diffusion Process

12	 Aircraft Radio Homing System

13	 First Proposal of a Nuclear Submarine

14	 Identification Friend-or-Foe Systems

15	 First American Airborne Radar

5
6 

Gamma-Ray Radiography

Achievement 

NRL’s development of gamma-ray radiography was an important contribution to the nondestructive 

testing (NDT) of metal castings and welds. The method, devised by R.F. Mehl in the 1920s, entailed the 

use of gamma-ray radiation as a shadow-graphic technique to detect flaws in cast or welded steels. 

This technique was first used to ascertain the extent of suspected flaws in the sternpost castings of the 

U.S. Navy’s new 10,000-ton heavy cruisers.3

 The integrity of these post castings was vital to the 

successful operation of the vessels. Upon examination, the sternpost castings of these vessels were found 

to be faulty, and all 10 cruisers of the affected class subsequently had to be repaired to avoid operational 

failure. 

During the five-year period before World War II, this NDT technique facilitated the development of 

improved steel casting processes. By trial and nondestructive examination, the methods used in all stages 

of the molding, casting, and testing of steel were improved. 

Impact 

Mehl’s work on the Navy’s cruiser sternpost castings established gamma-ray radiography as an NDT 

technique in this country.4

 It also contributed to American seapower by improving the production of 

high-quality steel for armor, ship frames, and fittings. 

In 1941, the American Society for Nondestructive Testing originated the biannual Mehl Honor Lecture 

series to honor R.F. Mehl for his pioneering work in gamma-ray radiography. The selected speaker is 

chosen for having made an outstanding contribution to the field of NDT.5

Primary Reference Documents 

• Mehl, R.F., Doan, G.E., and Barrett, C.S., “Radiography by the Use of Gamma Rays,” Transactions of the 

American Society for Steel Treating, Chicago, 1930. 

• Barrett, C.S., Gezelius, R.A., and Mehl, R.F., “The Technique of Radiography by Gamma Rays,” Metals 

and Alloys, December 1930. 

• Mehl, R.F., “Report on Use of Gamma Rays for Radiographic Inspection of Sternpost and Keel Knuckle 

Casting,” NRL Report, June 30, 1931. 

• Mehl, R.F., “Radiography Inspection with Gamma Rays,” American Machinist, Vol. 75, 278-80 (1931). 

 

3

 Taylor, A.H., The First Twenty-Five Years of the Naval Research Laboratory (NAVEXOS P-549), April 1948, p. 26. 

4 Materials Science and Technology Division History, NRL/PU/6300--93-240 (May 1993), p. 91. 

5

 Lambert, R.H., VADM, “A Tribute to Robert F. Mehl,” Materials Evaluation, March 1972, p. 15. 
7 

Development of High-Frequency Radio Equipment 

Achievement 

In addition to NRL’s pioneering work in radio propagation, the Laboratory’s development of radio 

equipment, such as quartz-crystal frequency control, high-power transmitters, and receivers, led to the 

adoption and extensive utilization of high-frequency (HF) communications by the Navy. Many of these 

NRL developments were adopted Navy-wide. For example, the quartz crystal oscillator circuit became 

the Navy standard oscillator circuit (1924),6

 and the Model RG receiver was the first to reach the Fleet in 

large numbers, becoming the Navy’s principal receiver (1925) for over a decade and continuing in service 

during World War II.7

 NRL’s HF radio equipment enabled the following achievements that, in turn, 

facilitated Navy-wide adoption of HF communications. 

• An important factor in the Navy’s adoption of HF was the performance of the NRL-developed 

HF transmitter and receiver carried by USS Shenandoah, the Navy’s dirigible, during its 

transcontinental trip in 1924. This equipment accomplished the unusual feat of remaining in 

communication with NRL throughout the entire trip.8

• An NRL HF crystal-controlled transmitter communicated directly with the flagship USS Seattle

during the cruise of the Fleet to Australia in 1925, a demonstration that contributed importantly to 

the Navy’s adoption of HF. 

• NRL maintained regular communications with the Antarctic base and support ships of 

Commander R.E. Byrd’s expedition to the South Pole in 1929. The base and ships were equipped 

with NRL-designed and -fabricated radio gear.9

Impact 

NRL’s advances in radio equipment made possible the Navy’s adoption of that part of the radiofrequency spectrum known as the HF band (2 to 30 MHz). That technological advance had a profound 

effect on naval communications for the next 50 to 60 years during times of peace and war. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Crossley, A., “Piezo-Electric Crystal-Controlled Transmitters,” Institute of Radio Engineers, January 1927. 

• Model RG Receiver, Naval Radio and Sound Reports, Project V-6E-26 (1925) and Project V-6E-27 (1927 

and 1933). 

• “Report of the Shenandoah Flight,” Naval Radio and Sound Reports, December 1924. 

 

6

 Gebhard, L.A., Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report 8300, 

1979, p. 51. 

7 Ibid., p. 60. 

8 Ibid., p. 46. 

9

Taylor, A.H., Radio Reminiscences: A Half Century (NRL, Washington, DC, 1948), pp. 134-135. 
8 

Radio Propagation and the “Skip-Distance” Effect 

Achievement 

In 1925, NRL discovered the principles governing the “skip-distance” effect, which could not at the time 

be explained by the prevailing wave-propagation theory. The effect refers to radio signals that disappear 

after the “ground wave” dissipates but reappear at a considerable distance, varying with frequency, time 

of day, and season. Building upon the work of Sir Joseph Larmor, NRL’s A. Hoyt Taylor and E.O. 

Hulburt jointly published in 1926 a modification of the theory that adequately explained the highfrequency “skip-distance” effect and that agreed with the experimental data.10 In connection with this 

high-frequency-propagation work, NRL was the first to determine the frequency above which radio waves 

would penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere and propagate through outer space, making radio communication 

in space possible.11 NRL would later develop the world’s first satellite communication system using the 

Moon as a relay. 

NRL’s work in this area further demonstrated that around-the-world HF transmissions could be obtained 

through successive reflections from the Earth’s ionosphere with the proper choice of frequency, time of 

day, and season. Encirclement of the globe as many as three times in the same transmission and in both 

directions was observed in 1926. At the same time, reflections of the pulsed HF transmissions from Earth 

surface prominences, currently called “backscatter,” were first observed. These HF “backscatter” 

observations generated the first concept of detecting and ranging on targets over very long distances.12 

This concept led to the later development of over-the-horizon radar by NRL. 

Impact 

NRL’s seminal work in the field of radio propagation laid the foundation for modern HF wavepropagation theory, led to the Navy’s acceptance of HF radio frequencies which had a profound effect 

upon naval communications for the next 50 to 60 years, led to NRL’s development of the world’s first 

satellite communication system, and led to the Laboratory’s development of over-the-horizon radar. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Taylor, A.H. and Hulburt, E.O., “Wave Propagation Phenomena at High Frequencies,” Naval Radio and 

Sound Reports, September 1925. 

• Taylor, A.H., “An Investigation of Transmission on the Higher Radio Frequencies,” Institute of Radio 

Engineers, December 1925. 

• Taylor, A.H. and Hulburt, E.O., “The Propagation of Radio Waves Over the Earth,” Physical Review, Vol. 

27, February 1926. 

 

10 Gebhard, L.A., Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report 8300, 

1979, pp. 43-45. 

11 Ibid., p. 115. 

12 Ibid., p. 44. 
9 

Invention of U.S. Radar 

Achievement 

Prior to the development of radar, Navy ships could track other ships or aircraft only by using optical 

techniques, sound ranging, or primitive radio direction finding. New methods of detection and ranging 

were necessary. In 1922,13 while working on radio direction finders for aircraft, A.H. Taylor and L.C. 

Young noted a distortion of “phase shift” in radio signals reflected from a steamer on the Potomac River. 

In short, NRL had detected a moving ship by radio waves and had, as a result, discovered the radar 

principle.14 Eight years after the initial discovery of the radar principle, NRL scientists observed that 

reflections of radio waves from an airplane could also be detected. 

From 1930 to 1940, NRL explored the use of radio for detection and ranging. In 1933, the use of a pulse 

technique to detect aircraft and ships was proposed by Young. R.M. Page made major advances over the 

next few years in the area of transmitters and receivers, eventually developing the highly important 

“duplexer” in 1936. The duplexer permitted the use of the same antenna for both transmitting and 

receiving. The pulse technique combined with the duplexer did away with the separate receiving and 

transmitting antennas that most of the other early radar developers employed. Page and Young received 

the patents for the duplexer, an invention that dramatically changed the nature of radar in the U.S. and 

abroad. 

Impact 

NRL invented, developed, and installed the first operational U.S. radar, the XAF, on the battleship USS 

New York in 1939. It was rapidly transferred to industry for production. By the time of the attack on 

Pearl Harbor, 20 radar units were in operation. Radar of this type contributed to the victories of the Coral 

Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal.15 

The invention of radar and the developments that flowed from it (e.g., monopulse radar and over-thehorizon radar) are among the foundations of modern military power. And, as a sensor for navigation and 

surveillance, radar plays a major role in the operation of civilian transportation systems, weather 

forecasting, astronomy, and automation, among other uses. 

 

Primary Reference Documents 

• U.S. Patents: No. 1,981,884 to Taylor, A.H., Hyland, L., Young L.C., “System for Detecting Objects by 

Radio,” 1934; No. 2,512,673 to Page, R.M., “Radio Pulse Duplexing System,” 1950; No. 2,688,746 to 

Page, R.M. and Young, L.C., “Impedance Control Coupling and Decoupling Systems,” 1954. 

• R.M. Page, Laboratory Notebook 171, Vol. III, March 1934; letter from NRL to the Bureau of Engineering, 

June 11, 1936, in File S-S67-5 #1, National Archives Building. 

 

13 The discovery was made by researchers working for NRL’s predecessor organization, the Naval Aircraft Radio Laboratory 

(NARL). When the facilities of the new Laboratory became available, the personnel and activities of NARL were transferred to 

become the major component of NRL’s Radio Division. 

14 For this work, Taylor has been called the “Father of Radar.” [Howeth, L.S., 1963, History of Communications-Electronics in 

the United States Navy, Washington (Chapter XXXVIII, Sec 4) Library of Congress Catalogue Number: 64-62870; 

http://earlyradiohistory.us/1963hw.htm] 

15 King, E.J., ADM, U. S. Navy at War: 1941-1945 (Navy Department, Washington, DC, 1946), p. 226. 
10 

First Operational U.S. Sonar 

Achievement 

Underwater acoustic research was started by the U.S. Navy in 1917 with a small group at the U.S. Naval 

Experimental Station in New London, Connecticut, investigating the use of underwater sound in World 

War I. This group, headed by H.C. Hayes, was eventually moved to NRL on its opening in 1923. 

Hayes and his colleagues decided that the passive sonic devices used in World War I were seriously 

limited in the detection of enemy submarines. It was their belief that active echo-ranging sonar would 

provide the best antisubmarine warfare system for surface ships. This approach was taken from the start 

of the new Sound Division at NRL, where practically all of the U.S. Navy’s R&D in sonar prior to World 

War II was carried out.16

NRL’s first effort was to develop an improved quartz-steel transducer. Extensive effort was placed on 

each of the components of the new sonar system, from the transducers and signal processing to the 

mechanical mounting and housing functions. Of particular significance was the development of the 

streamlined sonar dome to house the transducer. The dome enabled surface ships to make attacks at 

speeds up to 15 knots. In 1927, a number of U.S. naval vessels conducted tests with the NRL quartz-steel 

echo-ranging sonar. This was the first practical sonar based on the 1918 demonstration by P. Langevin, a 

French physicist, of the possibility of echo-ranging or “pinging” at supersonic frequencies.17 

A later system, the Echo Detection Equipment Model QB, became the first operating sonar used by the 

U.S. Navy.18

 

Impact 

Sonar transformed naval warfare by improving the ability of surface ships and submarines to detect and 

track enemy submarines. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• U.S. Patent No. 2,005,741 to Hayes, H., “Magnetostrictive Sound Generator,” June 25, 1935. 

• Klein, E., “Notes on Underwater Sound Research and Applications Before 1939,” ONR Report ACR-135, 

September 1967. 

 

16 “Sonar Systems,” NRL Achievements File (1982). This source cites as references: Sonar Detector, OPNAV P413-104, Navy 

Department, Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, DC, 1946; and “Notes on Underwater Sound Research and Applications 

Before 1939,” by E. Klein, ONR Report ACR-135, September 1967. 

17 Baxter, III, J.P., Scientists Against Time (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1946), p. 171. This book is the brief official wartime 

history of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. 

18 Stephenson, E.B., “Instructions for Echo Detection Equipment Model XQB,” NRL Report RA55A227, August 1934. 
11 

Liquid Thermal Diffusion Process 

Achievement 

NRL was the first research center that GEN Leslie Groves visited when he took charge of the Manhattan 

Project in September 1942. The Laboratory at that time had the distinction of being the first U.S. 

government agency to support uranium research in 1939.19 One result of that support was the first 

successful separation of uranium isotopes by the liquid thermal diffusion process. 

The liquid thermal diffusion process was one of the three methods that the Manhattan Project used to 

obtain the enriched uranium necessary to form the first atomic bombs. In its early stages, the project 

employed two enrichment methods, but in 1944 the project hit a technical impasse. When the project’s 

technical director, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, became aware of NRL’s research in using liquid thermal 

diffusion as a method of separating uranium isotopes, he ensured its use in the Manhattan Project.20 In 

June 1944, the blueprints of NRL’s liquid thermal diffusion plant were sent to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and 

within three months, the first columns of the Oak Ridge uranium separation plant were in operation. In 

the spring of 1945, Oak Ridge was producing uranium-235 for the Hiroshima weapon.21

The Laboratory’s contribution was accomplished by a team led by P. Abelson at NRL’s main site and 

later at a larger pilot plant built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1943.22 Abelson had invented the 

process earlier with NRL funding while he was employed by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 

But, by 1941 he had become an NRL employee hired to investigate the scale-up of the process. Abelson 

also invented the first practical method for making uranium hexafluoride, a key material needed for the 

process of U-235 separation.23

Impact 

The liquid thermal diffusion process was a significant contribution to the success of the Manhattan 

Project. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Ruskin, R.E., “Separation of Isotopes,” NRL Progress Report (September 1947). 

• NRL memorandum, Subj. “Early History of Uranium Power for Submarines,” May 1, 1946. 

 

19 Hewlett, R.G. and Duncan, F., Nuclear Navy: 1946-1962 (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1974), p. 17; Bowen, H.G. 

VADM, Ships, Machinery, and Mossbacks (Princeton University Press, 1954), p. 187. 

20 Rhodes, R., The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, 1988), pp. 551-553. 

21 Hewlett and Duncan, p. 21. 

22 Smyth, H.D. “Atomic Energy for Military Purposes,” cited in R.E. Ruskin, “Separation of Isotopes,” NRL Progress Report, 

September 1947. 

23 Rhodes, p. 550.
12 

Aircraft Radio Homing System 

Achievement 

When the first aircraft carriers — the USS Langley (CV-1) in 1922, and the USS Lexington (CV-2) and 

USS Saratoga (CV-3) in 1928 — became available, there was need for a suitable means of navigating 

carrier-based planes to and from carriers and air facilities ashore.24

To solve this problem, NRL developed an aircraft radio homing system that was installed on all Navy 

aircraft carriers and their aircraft and that provided the primary means for aircraft to navigate back to their 

carriers during World War II. NRL’s experimental model was installed on the carrier USS Saratoga, the 

flagship of the Commander, Aircraft Battle Force, then ADM E.J. King in May 1938. 

After witnessing its performance, ADM King, in a letter to the Navy Department dated August 29, 1938, 

recommended, “Adopt the (Model YE) system for primary means of homing radio aircraft.” As a result, 

the system was installed on all aircraft carriers and was used extensively in the Pacific during World War 

II.25

The homing system used two frequencies that confused the Japanese admirals, who realized that U.S. 

aircraft were successful in returning to their carriers but did not understand how this was accomplished. 

In one reported incident during a battle in the Marianas, in the waning hours of daylight, when American 

planes followed the stricken enemy nearly to the limit their fuel would permit, most of the planes and 

their pilots were saved by homing back to their carriers in the dark with this equipment.26

Impact 

This system had a major impact on Pacific combat operations during World War II. The many glowing 

reports received from combat units and individual pilots whose lives were saved under trying 

circumstances attested to the importance and value of this NRL development. The British also eventually 

adopted this system for their carrier aircraft. The system continued in use until it was replaced by the 

Tacan system in 1960.27

Primary Reference Documents 

• “Homing Devices for Aircraft,” NRL File F42-1/25, 1935-1938, National Archives. 

• “Aircraft Homing Devices,” NRL File F42-1/69H, National Archives; NRL CRMO. 

 

24 Gebhard, L.A., Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report 8300, 

1979, p. 271. 

25 Ibid, p. 273. 

26 Ibid, p. 274; Taylor, A.H., Radio Reminiscences: A Half Century (Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, 1948), p. 171. 

27 Gebhard, p. 274. 
13 

First Proposal of a Nuclear Submarine 

Achievement 

The use of nuclear power to propel submarines under water was first proposed by an NRL physicist, R. 

Gunn, soon after fission was discovered in 1939.28 In March 1939, Navy officials, one of which was 

Gunn, met with several civilian scientists who felt the military should be made aware of the vast 

possibilities of nuclear fission. Among the civilian scientists was Enrico Fermi. While most of the Navy 

personnel present at the meeting concentrated their attention on a nuclear weapon, Gunn was conceiving 

the idea of using nuclear power to drive the world’s first nuclear submarine.29 

Within a few days after this historic meeting, Gunn had requested and received $2,000 for preliminary 

work on the possibility of developing nuclear power for ship propulsion.30 Later, in June 1939, in a 

memo to the NRL Director, Gunn stated: 

“Under certain special circumstances of bombardment by neutrons, the heavy element uranium dissociates 

into two other elements with the evolution of tremendous amounts of energy which may be converted 

directly into heat and used in a flash boiler steam plant. Such a source of energy does not depend on the 

oxidation of organic material and therefore does not require that oxygen be carried down in the submarine 

if uranium is used as a power source. This is a tremendous military advantage and would enormously 

increase the range and military effectiveness of a submarine.” 

In April 1946, NRL forwarded a report to the Bureau of Ships entitled “The Atomic Energy Submarine,” 

which concluded that it was considered feasible to construct atomic power plants of a size and output 

suitable for ship propulsion. This report also marks the first interest in liquid metal coolants for 

reactors.31 

Impact 

NRL was first to conceive, propose, and investigate the use of nuclear power in submarine propulsion, 

and through subsequent efforts the Laboratory contributed to the planning and development of the world’s 

first atomic-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus. The nuclear submarine is one of the most formidable 

weapons systems ever developed. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Gunn, R., Memorandum for the Director, Subj. “Submarine Submerged Propulsion — Uranium Power 

Source,” June 1, 1939. 

• Abelson, P.H., Ruskin, R.E., and Raseman, C.J., NRL Memorandum to Director, Subj. “Atomic Energy 

Submarine,” March 28, 1946. 

 

28 Pegram, G.B., to Hooper, Admiral S.C., March 16, 1939, quoted in Fermi, Atoms in the Family, p. 162-163; H.W. Graf, 

memorandum for file, March 17, 1939, AEC.

29 Hewlett, R.G. and Duncan, F., Nuclear Navy: 1946-1962 (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1974), p. 16. 

30 NRL Memorandum, “Early History of Uranium Power for Submarines,” May 1, 1946. 

31 Address by Honorable James H. Wakelin, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development, before the 22nd 

Annual Meeting of the American Power Conference in Chicago, Illinois, March 29, 1960, p. 9. 
14 

Identification Friend-or-Foe Systems 

Achievement 

In the 1930s, neither the Army nor the Navy had a device that could adequately identify targets on the 

ground, sea, or in the air, particularly in overcast weather and at night. Identifying friendly planes 

returning to carriers under poor visibility was an especially serious problem. To solve the problem, NRL 

sought a solution through the use of radio waves. 

NRL developed the first U.S. radio recognition identification friend-or-foe (IFF) system, the Model XAE, 

in 1937. This system provided coded transmissions from aircraft, which were received for identification 

aboard ship, and transmitted back to aircraft for verification. In 1939, NRL devised the first U.S. IFF 

system in which radar pulses received by a target ship or aircraft were repeated back to the radar and 

displayed as a pulse associated with the echo pulse on the scope. As part of this system, NRL’s R.M. 

Page developed the first U.S. pulse transponder, basic to pulse IFF systems, and pulse beacon systems.32

The Mark X IFF was a later radar beacon system developed by NRL. It was essential to the military 

because it reduced fratricide when using beyond-visual-range weapons. By 1958, the FAA had 

established the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS), essentially the civil version of the 

Mark X. The International Civil Air Organization later adopted the ATCRBS, making the Mark X the 

basis of the world’s air traffic control system. 

In 1948, NRL began research seeking a high-security IFF system. NRL’s work, as well as the work of 

institutions such as the Air Force Cambridge Laboratory, led to the Mark XII IFF system in 1960.33 It 

was the first IFF system to use cryptographic techniques to prevent deception where an enemy appears as 

a friend by using a captured transponder (the device giving the “yes” answer to interrogations), which had 

been experienced in World War II. 

Impact 

The first U.S. IFF system, NRL’s Model XAE, met an urgent operational requirement to allow 

discrimination of friendly units from enemy units. In subsequent developments, the Mark X impacted 

U.S. and allied armed forces, as well as national and world civil airways, and the cryptographic Mark XII 

essentially nullified the threat of deception by an enemy using captured IFF transponders. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• U.S. Patent No. 3,143,733 to Page, R.M., “Automatic Range and Bearing Follow-up System,” August 

1964. 

• Cleeton, C.E., “Proposed System of Electronic Recognition,” NRL P-3131, June 1947, National Archives. 

• Cleeton, C.E., “Coding and Security of Electronic Recognition and Identification Systems,” NRL Report 

2972, September 12, 1946. 

 

32 Gebhard, L.A., Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report 8300, 

1979, p. 251. 

33 Ibid., p. 259. 
15 

First American Airborne Radar 

Achievement 

Prior to the entry of the U.S. into World War II, and in anticipation of having to contend with the German 

submarine menace, NRL developed the first American airborne radar, the Model ASB, in 1941. During 

the war, it was known as the radar that fought the war from the air in the Pacific.34

It was the first operational U.S. airborne radar widely used for bombing, detection of ships and surfaced 

submarines, and airborne intercept. The Model ASB was the first radar to be used in carrier-based 

aircraft, employed in attacking and destroying Japanese ship convoys in the Pacific. It was also very 

effective against submarines because it tremendously widened the area that could be covered by patrol 

planes.35 

Experience with this type of radar led to NRL’s involvement in the UHF E2 Airborne Early Warning 

Radar, microwave intercept radar, and antisubmarine warfare periscope detection radars. 

Impact 

This radar saw extensive use during World War II, not just by the U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps, but 

also by the British military. It was installed almost universally in U.S. naval aircraft and became known 

as the “workhorse of Naval Aviation.” Over 26,000 units were procured (from 1942 to 1944), the largest 

procurement of any model radar during the war.36

Primary Reference Documents 

• Airborne Radar,” NRL File S-F42-5, May 1941-December 1942, National Archives. 

• Taylor, A.H., The First Twenty-Five Years of the Naval Research Laboratory (NAVEXOS P-549). 

 

34 Page, R.M., The Origin of Radar (Doubleday & Company, Inc, New York, 1962), p. 173. 

35 Taylor, A.H., The First Twenty-Five Years of the Naval Research Laboratory (NAVEXOS P-549), p. 215. 

36 Gebhard, L.A., Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report 8300, 

1979, p. 201. 
17

18	 Monopulse Radar

19	 First Far-Ultraviolet Spectrum of the Sun

20	 First Detection of X Rays from the Sun

21	 The Principles of Fracture Mechanics

22	 Molecular Structure Analysis and the Nobel Prize

23	 The Viking Program

24	 Synthetic Lubricants

25	 Over-the Horizon Radar

26	 Vanguard Program — The Rocket

27	 Vanguard Program — Minitrack and Space Surveillance

28	 Vanguard Program — The Satellites and the Science

29	 SOLRAD I

30	 America’s First Operational Intelligence Satellite

31	 Improved Aircraft Canopy and Window Materials

32	 Purple-K-Powder

33	 Improved Boilerwater Treatment

34	 Fracture Test Technology

35	 Deep Ocean Search

36	 NAVSTAR GPS

37	 Aqueous Film-Forming Foam

38	 Nuclear Reactor Safety

39	 Linear Predictive Coder

40	 Submarine Habitability

41	 Flux-Corrected Transport

42	 Fiber-Optic Interferometric Acoustic Sensors

43	 Semi-Insulating Gallium Arsenide Crystals

44	 Super Rapid-Blooming Offboard Chaff

45	 Fixed-Wing Airborne Gravimetry

THE COLD WAR
18 

Monopulse Radar 

Achievement 

To overcome the angular limitations of existing radars, NRL developed the first monopulse radar in 1943. 

The monopulse technique makes angular determinations simultaneously on each individual received 

pulse. This new type of radar provided a tenfold improvement in angular accuracy over previous fire and 

missile control radars at longer ranges.37 The monopulse radar is now the basis for all modern tracking 

and missile control radars. Although monopulse radar was developed independently in other countries 

that often treated the work as classified, the Laboratory’s R.M. Page holds the U.S. patent on this 

technique. 

The monopulse technique was first applied to the Nike-Ajax missile system, which was the nation’s U.S. 

continental air defense system. The radar of this system was patterned after NRL’s experimental model. 

After additional improvements to provide a more compact and efficient monopulse antenna feed and lobe 

comparison waveguide circuitry, monopulse tracking radar became the generally accepted tracking radar 

system for military and civilian agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In fact, NRL’s work eventually led to the 

AN/FPS16, developed jointly by NRL and RCA, which was the first radar designed especially for missile 

ranges. It was used to guide the launchings of the first U.S. space satellites, Explorer I and Vanguard I, at 

Cape Canaveral in 1958.38 

Impact 

The invention of monopulse (simultaneous lobing) tracking radar was a breakthrough in precision target 

tracking. Monopulse radar performance is critical to gunfire control, missile guidance, missile-range 

precision launch, range safety, space vehicle tracking, FAA civil aircraft landing systems, Navy aircraft 

carrier landing systems, and target recognition. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Page, R.M., “Accurate Angle Tracking by Radar,” NRL Report RA-3A-222A, December 28, 1944. 

• U.S. Patent No. 2,929,056 to Page, R. M., “Simultaneous Lobing Tracking Radar,” March 1960. 

 

37 Gebhard, L.A., Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report 8300, 

1979, p. 200. 

38 Ibid., p. 200. 
19 

First Far-Ultraviolet Spectrum of the Sun 

Achievement 

In 1946, using a captured German V-2 rocket, NRL scientists obtained the first far-ultraviolet spectrum of 

the Sun from beyond the atmospheric boundary. NRL was not alone in the early attempts to measure the 

solar ultraviolet spectrum as Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory obtained excellent 

results only 6 months after NRL.39 

The successful flight of October 10, 1946, carried cosmic ray detectors, pressure and temperature gauges, 

radio transmitters, and antennae to measure propagation through the ionosphere, as well as a 

spectrograph.40 Although earlier flights had returned scientific data revealing cosmic-ray counts and 

pressure and temperature information, the successful retrieval of an ultraviolet spectrum of the Sun 

captured the attention of both the scientific and popular press. The Washington Post heralded the 

discovery of the “new ultraviolet” and reproduced samples of two spectra on page 1. The New York 

Times, Times Herald, and Washington Star all followed suit.41

Impact 

Scientifically, NRL had extended the known spectrum of the Sun, but more significantly, this 

achievement marked the birth of space-based astronomy and the U.S. Navy’s space program. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Durand, E., Oberly, J.J., and Tousey, R., “Solar Absorption Lines Between 2950 and 2200 Angstroms,” 

Physical Review, Vol. 71 (1947). 

• Tousey, R., “Solar Spectroscopy from Roland to SOT,” Vistas in Astronomy, Vol. 29 (1986). 

 

39 Friedman, H., “Reminiscences of 30 Years of Space Research,” NRL Report 8113, August 1977. 

40 Newell, H.E. and Siry, J.W., eds., “Upper Atmosphere Research Report No. II,” NRL Report R-3030, December 30, 1946. 

41 DeVorkin, D.H., Science with a Vengeance (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1992), pp. 143-144.
20 

First Detection of X Rays From the Sun 

Achievement 

With the launch of an experiment aboard a V-2 rocket on September 29, 1949, NRL directly confirmed 

that X rays from the Sun are a principal cause of ionization in the E region of the Earth’s ionosphere.42 

Additional experiments, aboard a Viking rocket flight and two Aerobee firings, later indicated that the 

solar X-ray spectrum is adequate to account for all of E-layer ionization.43 This pioneering research 

opened the field of solar X-ray astronomy that the Laboratory explored so extensively in the 1950s and 

thus contributed profoundly to the understanding of the physical processes in the solar atmosphere. A 

practical benefit of this research includes the improved understanding of the effects of solar disturbances 

on radio communication and an improved ability to predict the influence of solar particle emissions on the 

radiation environment of manned space flight. 

NRL’s H. Friedman led the Laboratory’s pioneering efforts in X-ray astronomy. In 1969, he received the 

National Medal of Science, the U.S.’s highest honor for scientific achievement, for “pioneering work in 

rocket and satellite astronomy and in particular for his contributions to X-ray astronomy.” More recently, 

in honor of this work he received the coveted Wolf Foundation Prize for Physics in 1987. The Wolf Prize 

committee recognized Friedman and the other two co-recipients of the award: 

“as the principal founders of X-ray astrophysics, a new field of astronomical science which has proven to 

be a prolific source of fundamental discoveries and deeper physical understanding about high-energy 

processes in the universe. Their work has profoundly influenced every area of astronomical research. All 

agencies engaged in space science are now developing major orbiting facilities for X-ray observations, 

which will play a vital role in the future of astronomical science.” 

Impact 

Solar X-ray emission is used to predict the state of the ionosphere and its effect on radio frequency 

transmission, especially at the HF frequencies. This was of major importance to Naval communications. 

The knowledge gained from the first detection of X rays from the Sun was a major milestone in a 

continuing endeavor by NRL that began with E.O. Hulburt’s theoretical efforts44 in the late 1920s and 

continued through the SOLRAD satellite series, as well as other space satellite research programs. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Friedman, H., Lichtman, S.W., and Byram, E.T., “Photon Counter Measurements of Solar X-Rays and 

Extreme Ultraviolet Light,” Physical Review, Vol. 83, 1025-1030 (1951). 

• Byram, E.T., Chubb, T.A., and Friedman, H., “The Contributions of Solar X-Rays to E-layer Ionization,” 

Physical Review, Vol. 92, 1066-1067 (1953). 

 

42 DeVorkin, D.H., Science with a Vengeance (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1992), p. 240. 

43 Hevly, B.W., Basic Research Within a Military Context: The Naval Research Laboratory and the Foundations of Extreme 

Ultraviolet and X-Ray Astronomy (Johns Hopkins University, 1987), p. 224. 

44 Hulburt, E.O., “Ionization in the Upper Atmosphere of the Earth,” Physical Review, Vol. 31, 1018 (1928). 
21 

The Principles of Fracture Mechanics 

Achievement 

Fracture mechanics is a field that recognizes that all structures are manufactured with, or will ultimately 

contain, flaws that govern the eventual failure of the structure. The study of the stresses caused by the 

flaws, and the material’s resistance to failure from them, forms the basis for the field of fracture 

mechanics. Fracture mechanics permitted, for the first time, the capability to calculate the strength of 

structures containing defects, which inevitably occur in fabrication or during service operation. The net 

result of these new design principles increased the reliability of structures due to improved design 

capability and an improved predictive capability of in-service damage. 

NRL’s G.R. Irwin is recognized as the pioneer of modern fracture mechanics.45 He developed the 

scientific principles for understanding the relationships between applied stresses and cracks or other 

defects in metallic materials. Irwin developed, around 1947, the concept that fracture toughness should 

be measured in terms of resistance to crack propagation. Critical values of the stress intensity describing 

the onset of fracture, the commencement of environmental cracking, and the rate of fatigue crack growth 

were established later. 

As a consequence of Irwin’s scientific work, fracture mechanics is now taught in many graduate schools 

and remains an active field of R&D today. 

Impact 

Using these fracture-safe design principles, NRL assisted in the solution of many important military and 

commercial problems, for example, by solving the catastrophic failures in commercial jet aircraft in 1953, 

and the fracture problems experienced by the Polaris and Minuteman missile programs in 1957.46 

Fracture mechanics has been applied throughout the world for the design of any structures where sudden, 

catastrophic failure would cause loss of life or other serious consequences. Examples include nuclear 

reactor pressure vessels, submarines, aircraft and missiles, and tanks for storage of toxic or flammable 

materials. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Irwin, G.R., “Fracture Dynamics,” Fracturing of Metals (ASM, Cleveland, 1948), pp. 147-166. 

• Irwin, G.R., Kies, J.A., and Smith, H.L., “Fracture Strength Relative to Onset and Arrest of Crack 

Propagation,” Proceedings of the ASTM, Vol. 58, 640 (1958). 

• Irwin, G.R., “Fracture Mechanics,” in Structural Mechanics (Pergamon Press, London, 1960), pp. 560-574. 

 

45 Rossmanith, H.P., “George Rankin Irwin - The Father of Fracture Mechanics,” presented at the George R. Irwin Symposium 

on Cleavage Fracture, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, 1997. 

46 Ibid., 19-20; and Irwin, G.R., “Fracture Mechanics,” Report of NRL Progress, NRL (1973), p. 36. 
22 

Molecular Structure Analysis and the Nobel Prize 

Achievement 

NRL has produced two Nobel Laureates, J. Karle and H. Hauptman, who each received the Nobel Prize 

for Chemistry in 1985 for devising direct methods employing X-ray diffraction analysis in the 

determination of crystal structures. The seminal research paper, “The Phases and Magnitudes of the 

Structure Factors,” was published in 1950. The major events leading to these new methods were: 

quantitative molecular structure analysis in 1948; foundation mathematics for the X-ray phase problem in 

1949; and the first general procedure for solving crystal structure problems in 1963.47 As experience with 

applications developed, I. Karle made a major contribution to the development of analytical techniques of 

broad applicability to all types of crystals, whether they had a center of symmetry or not. It was a 

considerable step to bridging the gap between theory and practical application. 

X-ray diffraction analysis involves the determination of the arrangement of atoms in crystals from which 

the molecular formula is derived directly. Determination of the molecular structure is important in that 

once the structural arrangement is understood, the substance itself can then be synthesized to produce 

useful products. This research occupies an almost unique position in science because the information it 

provides is used continuously in other fields. In fact, many phenomena in the physical, chemical, 

metallurgical, geological, and biological sciences are interpretable in terms of the arrangements of atoms. 

J. Karle and I. Karle are still conducting research at NRL since joining the Laboratory in 1946. Their 

research plays a large part in the Navy’s energetic materials program, which focuses on making 

explosives and propellants that are safer, more powerful, or both. 

Impact 

Methodologies for determining molecular structures are major contributions to science and technology. 

For example, they form the basis for the computer packages used in pharmaceutical laboratories and 

research institutions worldwide for the analysis of more than 10,000 new substances each year. A 

significant portion of structural research has direct application to public health, including the 

identification and characterization of potent toxins found in animals and plants, antitoxins, heart drugs, 

antibiotics, antiaddictive substances, anticarcinogens, and antimalarials. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Karle, J. and Hauptman, H., “The Phases and Magnitudes of the Structure Factors,” Acta 

Crystallographica, Vol. 3, 181 (1950). (This was the mathematical foundation.) 

• Karle, J. and Karle, I.L., “The Symbolic Addition Procedure for Phase Determination for Centrosymmetric 

and Noncentrosymmetric Crystals,” Acta Crystallographica, Vol. 21, 849 (1966). (This was the foundation 

for practical application.) 

• Karle, J., “Recovering Phase Information from Intensity Data,” (Nobel Lecture), Chemica Scripta, Vol. 26, 

261 (1986). 

 

47 Karle, I.L. and Karle, J., “Recollections and Reflections,” in Crystallography in North America, D. McLachlan, Jr., and J.P. 

Glusker, eds., 1983. 
23 

The Viking Program 

Achievement 

In 1946, NRL directed the development of a new sounding rocket called Viking, which was designed and 

built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The rocket motor was built by the Reaction Motors Company, 

the firm that had just constructed the motor for the Bell X-1 aircraft, in which Chuck Yeager broke the 

sound barrier in 1947. Viking was the first rocket designed for essentially research purposes and the first 

to use a gimballed motor to control the direction of flight.48 

The first successful launch of the Viking took place at the White Sands proving ground in 1949. Later in 

1950, a rocket was launched from a ship, the USS Norton Sound, achieving an altitude of 106.4 miles.49 

This launching of such a large rocket from the deck of a ship had very important national security 

ramifications in that it was a step toward the eventual deployment of missiles at sea. In fact, Life 

magazine reported that Navy officials “had proved for the first time that big rockets, capable of carrying 

A-bombs several hundred miles, could be launched from the deck of a ship.”50 

In all, 12 Vikings were launched by NRL between 1949 and 1954, establishing many milestones: highest 

altitude of any research rocket at that time (136 miles); first measurements of temperature, pressure, and 

winds in the upper atmosphere; first measurements of the electron density in the ionosphere; and first 

high-altitude (approximately 100 miles) photographs of the Earth. 

Impact 

The Viking program established many scientific milestones, demonstrated the feasibility of sea-based 

missile systems, and took the first high-altitude picture of a hurricane in October 1954. This was the first 

color photograph successfully taken from such altitudes, and it initiated the interest of the weather service 

in high-altitude weather monitoring.51 Finally, Viking paved the way for the historic Vanguard project, 

America’s first satellite program. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Rosen, M.W. and Bridger, J.M., “Rocket Research Report No.1 - The Viking No. 1 Firings,” NRL Report 

3583, 1949. 

• Rosen, M.W., The Viking Rocket Story (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1955). 

• Newell, H.E., Sounding Rockets (McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1959). 

 

48 Caidin, M., Vanguard! (E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, 1957), p. 138. 

49 Glaeser, “Space: A New Dimension in Naval Warfare,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 113, 132 (May 1987). 

50 “Seagoing Rocket,” Life (June 26, 1950). 

51 Krause, E.H., “The Genesis of Rocketborne Space Research,” Report of NRL Progress, NRL (1973), p. 47; and Mitchell, P.A., 

“The Navy’s Mission in Space,” Oceanus, Vol. 20, No. 2, 22 (Summer 1985). 
24 

Synthetic Lubricants 

Achievement 

Soon after the introduction of gas turbine-powered aircraft in World War II, it became evident that new 

and better lubricants were required to take advantage of the potential capabilities of these engines. The 

new lubricants would have to retain sufficient viscosity to support bearing loading at 280° to 300° F and 

be stable enough oxidatively and thermally to withstand heat “soak back” temperatures of from 400° to 

500° F. Because of NRL’s previous success in developing synthetic lubricants for instrument bearings, 

the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics requested in 1947 that it undertake the development of lubricating oils 

for turbojet and gas turbines. 

Responding to this request, W.A. Zisman, C.M. Murphy, and their colleagues conducted fundamental 

studies that related molecular structure to lubricating and temperature/viscosity properties. Structural 

guides, derived from those fundamental studies, permitted extending the useful temperature range of the 

oils.52 As a result, NRL developed the first hydrocarbon ester fluids as lubricants that would perform 

acceptably at the high bearing operating temperatures in jet engines. 

By the early 1950s, diester lubricants developed at NRL were in use in Navy turbine engine aircraft and 

soon were used by nearly all military and civilian turbine-powered aircraft. As turbine engine power 

requirements and operational temperatures increased, NRL was active in developing lubricants and 

lubricant additives to meet these more stringent conditions as well. 

In addition to extending the high temperature range, instrument oils were also developed for service at 

–65° F to overcome the problem of losses resulting from the aircraft cannon freezing at the high altitudes 

that were newly reachable by jet aircraft at the time of the Korean War.53

Impact 

The U.S. military needed new lubricants to be able to utilize turbine aircraft at their maximum 

performance, especially in combat. NRL research met this requirement. Essentially all turbine engines 

now used by military and civilian aircraft are lubricated with ester oils whose development was based on 

early research and development at NRL. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Bried, E.H., Kidder, H.F., Murphy, C.M., and Zisman, W.A., “Synthetic Lubricant Fluids from BranchedChain Diesters, Physical and Chemical Properties of Pure Diesters,” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 

Vol. 39 (1947). 

• Murphy, C.M. and Zisman, W.A., “Structural Guides for Synthetic Lubricant Development,” Industrial 

and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 42 (1950). 

• Zisman, W.A., “Historical Review of Lubricants and Lubrication,” in Synthetic Lubricants, R.C. 

Gunderson and A.W. Hart, eds. (Reinhold Publishing, 1962), Chapter 2. 

 

52 American Chemical Society, Langmuir, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1987). 

53 Ibid.
25 

Over-the-Horizon Radar 

Achievement 

During the late 1940s, NRL foresaw the need for detecting moving targets, including aircraft and missiles, 

at distances and altitudes beyond line-of-sight distances. Microwave radar as developed during World 

War II was limited in range by the curvature of the Earth. In 1950, while using the pioneering work it 

accomplished in 1926 (radio “skip distance” effect theory), NRL began to investigate the use of radar 

operating in the high-frequency (HF or short wave) portion of the radio spectrum to extend the range 

beyond the horizon. This is achieved by the refraction (bending) of radar waves when traveling through 

the ionosphere, which is located high above the Earth’s surface. Using the ionosphere to bend the radar 

energy back to the Earth’s surface can extend the range of a radar out to 2,000 nautical miles. 

By 1955, NRL was operating on HF pulse doppler radar called MUSIC (Multiple Storage Integration 

Correlation). MUSIC was eventually able to detect missile launchings up to 600 nautical miles and 

atomic explosions up to 1700 nautical miles. With the use of a bank of reed filters, it could display 

multiple aircraft targets and the frequency spread of the backscatter.54 

In 1961, based on the success with MUSIC, a high-power, high antenna-gain OTH radar known as 

MADRE (Magnetic Drum Radar Equipment) was installed at the NRL Chesapeake Bay field site. It was 

able to detect and track aircraft as they traveled across the Atlantic Ocean. With the NRL MADRE 

experimental radar, nearly all the fundamental capabilities of HF OTH radar were discovered and 

demonstrated: aircraft detection and tracking, ship detection, missile launch detection, nuclear test 

location, sea state determination, storm tracking, and vectoring aircraft to intercept. 

Impact 

NRL’s development of OTH radar solved a critical military requirement where the horizon limit of 

conventional radar was overcome, giving an order of magnitude or more increase in useful range. This 

technology formed the technical base that led to the Air Force’s AN/FPS-118 radar for continental air 

defense and the Navy’s Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar, as well as influenced HF radar development 

in other countries of the world. HF OTH radar is the most cost-effective wide-area sensor available 

today.55

Primary Reference Documents 

• Page, R.M. and George, S.F., “Magnetic Drum Storage Applied to Surveillance Radar,” NRL Report 4878, 

January 1957. 

• Headrick, J.M., et al., “MADRE Detection of Aircraft and Missiles Using Narrow-Band Spectrum Analysis 

After Backscatter Rejection,” Proceedings of the ARPA Meeting of October 17, 1961,” Stanford Research 

Institute Contract SD-66, under ARPA Order 90, SRI-1-275, October 1961. 

 

54 Gebhard, L.A., Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report 8300, 

1979, p. 216. 

55 Headrick, J.M., “Looking Over the Horizon,” IEEE Spectrum, July 1990. 
26 

Vanguard Program — The Rocket 

Achievement 

Between 1955 and 1959, NRL conducted the first American satellite program, called Vanguard. The 

program was initiated to represent the United States in the International Geophysical Year (IGY), a 

cooperative international scientific effort to study the physical properties of the Earth. The nation’s 

leaders chose to participate in the IGY by placing an artificial satellite in orbit, and a competition was 

held to determine which government agency would build and launch the satellite. NRL’s plan was 

selected, due in part to its success with the Viking program. The Laboratory’s pioneering task was to 

design, build, launch, place into Earth-orbit, and track an artificial satellite carrying a scientific 

experiment. The contractor for the rocket project was the Glenn L. Martin Company. 

The rocket successfully met the program’s objective of putting a satellite into orbit during the IGY. The 

Vanguard I satellite was launched into Earth orbit on March 17, 1958, 5 months and 13 days after the 

Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, and about 6 weeks after the launch of Explorer I. Successfully 

designing and developing a three-stage rocket, with three brand new and unproven stages, on such a 

timely schedule was unprecedented. Experience in the DoD at that time showed that in missile programs 

it took more than 5 years from the start of a program to arrive at the date of the first successful launching; 

the Vanguard team achieved their objective in 2 years, 6 months, and 8 days.56 Wernher von Braun, chief 

architect of the Redstone rocket, called it a miracle.57

Impact 

The Vanguard rocket successfully met the program’s objective of launching a scientific satellite into orbit 

during the IGY, and the rocket technology pioneered by Vanguard was used by later programs. The use 

of a “strapped down” gyro platform, the rotatable exhaust jets of the first-stage turbopump which ensured 

efficient roll control, and the C-band radar antenna beacon employed on the Thor-Able vehicle all 

originated with Vanguard. In fact, the Air Force used many design concepts from Vanguard’s second and 

third stages in its Thor-Able booster. Finally, one of America’s most versatile and reliable launchers, the 

Delta rocket, reflects much of Vanguard’s design.58

Primary Reference Documents 

• “A Scientific Satellite Proposal,” by the Rocket Development Branch of the Atmospheric & Astrophysics 

Division, NRL Memorandum Report 487, April 13, 1955. 

• “Project Vanguard Report No. 1 Plans, Procedures, and Progress,” NRL Report 4700, January 13, 1956. 

 

56 Hagen, J.P., “Vanguard—The Laboratory Ventures Into Space,” Report of NRL Progress, NRL (1973), p. 31; “The Viking and 

the Vanguard,” Technology and Culture, Vol. IV, no. 4 (Fall 1963), pp. 435-451. 

57 Green, C.M. and Lomask, M., Vanguard: A History, NASA (Washington, DC, 1970), p. 254. 

58 Ibid., p. 255.
27 

Vanguard Program — Minitrack and Space Surveillance 

Achievement 

Since a suitable satellite tracking system did not exist at the time of the Vanguard program, NRL 

developed the world’s first satellite-tracking system (called “Minitrack”) in 1956. This tracking network 

was later transferred to the Goddard Space Flight Center and formed the basis for the satellite tracking 

networks used by NASA. 

Ironically, the Minitrack system first demonstrated its capabilities by tracking another nation’s satellite. 

From October 5-26, 1957, NRL accurately predicted and tracked the orbits of the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 

I. Three months later, NRL confirmed and tracked Explorer I, America’s first orbiting satellite launched 

into orbit by the U.S. Army. Minitrack tracked the orbit of Vanguard I, launched on March 17, 1958. 

After the Soviet launch of Sputnik I, the detection and tracking of foreign satellites orbiting over the 

United States became a major national security issue. As a result, the Navy Space Surveillance System 

(NAVSPASUR) was developed by NRL on a “crash basis” for the Advanced Research Projects Agency 

from 1958 to 1964 in order to detect and track such satellites. NRL was selected to develop this system 

primarily because of Minitrack’s success. But unlike Minitrack, NAVSPASUR was designed to track 

satellites that transmitted signals and those that were “quiet.” NAVSPASUR, now called the Naval Space 

Surveillance System, consists of nine bistatic radar sites stretching between southern California and 

Georgia and comprises a radar “fence” capable of detecting basketball-sized objects in orbit as high as 

7,500 miles above the Earth.59 The information gathered is used to warn the U.S. naval units of periods 

when they would be vulnerable to detection. By 1983, NAVSPASUR was a critical element in the North 

American Air Defense Command’s Space Detection and Tracking System and was tracking more than 

4,966 objects every day. 

Impact 

As the world’s first satellite tracking system, the impact of Minitrack was significant, not only to the 

primary task of tracking the orbit of the Vanguard satellites, but also in tracking the orbits of the Sputnik 

and Explorer satellites. Later, the concept was employed by NRL in the design and development of 

NAVSPASUR, the primary system for maintaining surveillance of space objects and for warning U.S. 

Fleet units of periods of vulnerability to foreign surveillance satellites. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• “A Scientific Satellite Proposal,” by the Rocket Development Branch of the Atmospheric & Astrophysics 

Division, NRL Memorandum Report 487, April 13, 1955. 

• Mengel, J.T., “Tracking the Earth Satellite, and Data Transmission, by Radio,” Proceedings of the IRE 

National Convention, March 20, 1956. 

• Easton, R.L. and Fleming, J.J., “The Navy Space Surveillance System,” Proceedings of the IRE National 

Convention, April 1960. 

 

59 Glaeser, F., “Space: A New Dimension in Naval Warfare,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 113, 133 (May 1987). 
28 

Vanguard Program — The Satellites and the Science 

Achievement 

The Vanguard I satellite was successfully launched into Earth orbit on March 17, 1958. Although it was 

not the first U.S. satellite successfully launched, Vanguard I met the program’s original objective of 

putting a satellite into orbit during the International Geophysical Year (IGY), a cooperative international 

scientific effort to study the physical properties of the Earth. Vanguard I achieved the highest altitude of 

any man-made vehicle to that time and established beyond doubt geologists’ suspicions that the Earth is 

pear-shaped.60 

A significant innovation in Vanguard I was the use of miniaturized circuits. It carried two radios and a 

temperature sensor and was the first satellite ever to use solar cells as a power source.61 The solar cells 

developed by the Signal Engineering Laboratories, placed by Vanguard engineers on the satellite shell so 

as not to interfere with the functioning of the internal instrumentation, set a new standard of efficiency 

and account for the long operating life of the satellite.62 Vanguard I orbits the Earth today as the oldest 

man-made satellite and it will remain in orbit well into the 22nd Century. 

Vanguard II was placed in orbit on February 17, 1959, and was the first satellite designed to observe and 

record the cloud cover of the Earth. As such, Vanguard II was the forerunner of future meteorological 

satellites.63 

Impact 

The Vanguard program established landmark scientific achievements. Scientists at the National Academy 

of Sciences and NASA acknowledge the program as a progenitor of American space exploration. 

According to a National Academy of Sciences panel in 1958, “The overall scientific program developed 

for use with the Vanguard launching system has made possible the total program of space vehicle 

instrumentation, observation, and data reduction carried out under IGY auspices. Additionally, it has 

provided the original basis of the present expanding program of scientific experiments for space research 

for the U.S.”64

Primary Reference Documents 

• “A Scientific Satellite Proposal,” by the Rocket Development Branch of the Atmospheric & Astrophysics 

Division, NRL Memorandum Report 487, April 13, 1955. 

• “Project Vanguard Report No. 1 Plans, Procedures, and Progress,” NRL Report 4700, January 13, 1956. 

 

60 McDougall, W.A., The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age (Basic Books, Inc., New York, 1985), p. 

168. 

61 Mitchell, P.A., “The Navy’s Mission in Space,” Oceanus, Vol. 20, No. 2, 23 (Summer 1985). 

62 Green, C.M. and Lomask, M., Vanguard: A History (NASA, Washington, DC, 1970), p. 254. 

63 Mitchell, “The Navy’s Mission in Space,” p. 23. 

64 Minutes of the 19th meeting, U.S. Technical Panel on the Earth Satellite Program, July 26, 1958, p. 5. 
29 

SOLRAD I 

Achievement 

The SOLRAD (SOLar RADiation) program was conceived in the late 1950s as an improved means of 

studying the Sun’s effects on the Earth, particularly during periods of heightened solar activity. Of prime 

interest were the effects of solar radiation on the ionosphere, which had critical importance to Naval 

communications. It was NRL’s and the nation’s longest continuing series of satellite projects dedicated to 

a specific research program. SOLRAD I was launched in June 1960, and ten more SOLRADs were 

fabricated by NRL and flown through 1976. 

SOLRAD I was unique for many reasons: it determined that radio fade-outs were caused by solar X-ray 

emissions, verifying a theory of NRL’s H. Friedman; it was one of the two satellites launched during the 

world’s first multiple satellite launching; it was the world’s first orbiting astronomical observatory; and it 

was the first satellite to be successfully commanded to shut off. On August 6, 1960, SOLRAD I recorded 

6 of 18 minutes of the first solar flare recorded by an orbiting satellite and telemetered the information to 

a NASA tracking station. The data recorded throughout SOLRAD I’s active life shed new light on the 

relationships among sunspot activity, solar X-ray emission, and radio wave propagation. 

Subsequent SOLRADs served as solar radiation monitors circling the Earth, on guard for any unusual 

solar disturbances that could have endangered the astronauts during the Apollo missions. Special 

SOLRAD operations for the Apollo 8 moon mission began at the request of NASA in December 1968 

when astronauts first circled the Moon and returned to Earth. Later, during July 1969, solar flare 

forecasts derived from data furnished by SOLRAD 9 were used to safeguard Apollo 11 astronauts and 

their communications systems during the historic first lunar landing mission. NRL furnished solar 

radiation data to the Space Disturbance Forecast Center of the Environmental Science Services 

Administration (now NOAA), which had the responsibility for determining the status of radiation hazards 

to the Apollo astronauts. SOLRADs 9 and 10 provided these data throughout the Apollo and SKYLAB 

programs.65

Impact 

NRL’s SOLRAD series of satellites yielded important new scientific information on the Sun’s effects 

upon the Earth’s atmosphere. The new knowledge gained by the program also yielded practical, and in 

some cases critical, benefits to Naval communication and the U.S. manned space program. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Chubb, T.A., Friedman, H., Kreplin, R.W., Nichols, W.A., Unzicker, A.E., and Votaw, M.J., “Results from 

the NRL Solar Radiation Satellite,” in Space Research II, Van de Hulst, H.C., et al., eds. (North Holland 

Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1961). 

• Horan, D.M., McClinton, A., and Kreplin, R.W., “Solar X-Ray Emission During the Flight of Apollo 8,” 

NRL Report 6917, June 13, 1969. 

 

65 Peterkin, E.W., “The Navy’s Satellite Solar Activity Monitoring and Forecasting System,” the Fourth Allerton House 

Conference on Radiolocation Research, University of Illinois, Monticello, Illinois (1971); “NASA To Launch SOLRAD 

Satellite,” Joint NASA/NRL Press Release, July 2, 1971. 
30 

America’s First Operational Intelligence Satellite 

Achievement 

The now unclassified Galactic Radiation and Background I (GRAB I) payload, an acknowledged co-flyer 

with the publicly recognized Solar Radiation I (SOLRAD I) scientific payload, was America’s first 

operational intelligence satellite.66 In June 1960, fifty-two days after a U-2 aircraft was lost on a 

reconnaissance mission over Soviet territory, the GRAB I satellite soared into orbit and began 

transponding space-intercepted electronic intelligence signals to Earth-bound signals intelligence stations. 

GRAB I was the unique application of many emerging technologies. NRL’s M.J. Votaw, previously with 

Project Vanguard, brought the technical experience and resources necessary to design, build, launch, and 

operate a satellite in space. R.D. Mayo supervised the design and development of the S-band antenna 

with crystal video receiver and ground receive equipment to collect signals from Soviet air defense radar. 

H.O. Lorenzen provided the overall technical direction, obtained intelligence community sponsorship, 

and led transfer of the technology into operational deployment. The notion of operating the 

antenna/detector reconnaissance technology in an orbiting satellite and collecting its transponded signal 

on magnetic tape was a breakthrough answer to CNO ADM Arleigh Burke’s request for naval material 

bureaus and laboratories to consider how they could use space in their design ideas for the Navy. 

With mission sponsorship by the Office of Naval Intelligence, NRL completed development of the 

satellite and its network of overseas ground collection sites. President Eisenhower approved the 

electronic intelligence (ELINT) program and its SOLRAD scientific experiment cover. The 

GRAB/SOLRAD payloads shared a ride into space with the Navy’s third Transit navigation satellite as 

part of the world’s first multiple-satellite launching. Field sites recorded GRAB I signals on magnetic 

tapes, which were couriered to NRL for evaluation and duplication. The National Security Agency 

(NSA) and the Strategic Air Command exploited the tapes for technical ELINT data and to support the 

Single Integrated Operations Plan. 

Impact 

The GRAB project provided proof-of-concept for satellite-collected ELINT. This was accomplished by 

demonstrating that a platform in outer space could collect as much as all other sea, air, and land-based 

reconnaissance platforms operating within the satellite’s field of view, at a fraction of their cost, and at no 

risk to personnel. The output, initially overwhelming, stimulated invention by NRL and NSA of machine 

processing of digitized data using commercial computers. In searching the tapes for new and unusual 

signals, NSA found the Soviets were already operating a radar that supported a capability to destroy 

ballistic missiles. Such information could not be obtained by airborne reconnaissance, nor without 

enormous risk to human sources. The intelligence information gained from GRAB I had a profound 

impact on national security decisionmaking and on deterrence of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Secretary of Defense McElroy letter to President Eisenhower, August 18, 1959. 

• Technical Operations Group Report, October 13, 1960. 

 

66 Dwayne Day, “Listening from Above: The First Signals Intelligence Satellite,” Spaceflight, Vol. 41, no. 8 (1999), pp. 339-346; 

David van Keuren, “Cold War Science in Black and White,” Social Studies of Science, Vol. 31, no. 2 (April 2001), pp. 207-229. 
31 

Improved Aircraft Canopy and Window Materials 

Achievement 

NRL’s interest in aircraft windows originated with the blow-out failures of combat aircraft canopies. 

These failures resulted from the inability of the canopy material to halt the propagation of cracks caused 

by impacts of sharp objects or by missile penetration.67 In 1953, J. Kies applied NRL’s pioneering 

research in fracture mechanics for the first time to a practical problem — the failure of combat aircraft 

canopies.68 

Experiments by I. Wolock, then at the National Bureau of Standards and later with NRL, showed that 

craze cracking of acrylic could be eliminated by hot stretching, a result which led Kies to the idea that hot 

stretching could add to the toughness of aircraft windows. Kies worked with commercial manufacturers 

of acrylic material (e.g., Rohm and Haas) and used fracture mechanics to ascertain the toughness of the 

material. In the course of the work, NRL shattered hundreds of aircraft canopies by projectile impact, and 

then carefully reassembled them to allow crack paths to be traced.69 Kies pointed out that the critical 

stress for a given crack size depended only on the product GcE, which could be directly computed from 

the applied stress and crack size for the test. 

The response of aircraft engineers concerned with testing stretch-toughened glazing materials was to 

express their fracture test results in values they termed K (K for Kies).70 Kies’ work is also incorporated 

in design criteria for aircraft plastic glazing materials issued jointly by the Departments of Commerce, 

Navy, and Air Force. 

Impact 

NRL worked cooperatively with the Air Force and with commercial manufacturers to introduce stretched 

acrylic plastic for military canopies with increased toughness, reduced weight, and prolonged service life. 

This material is now employed in military and civilian aircraft, thereby reducing a once significant source 

of fatal accidents. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Kies, J.A., “Aircraft Glazing Materials, A Method for Evaluating the Shatter Resistance of Aircraft Canopy 

Materials,” NRL Memorandum Report 237, November 1953. 

• “Plastics for Aircraft: Transparent Glazing Materials,” ANC-17 Bulletin, Part II, issued by the Department 

of Commerce, Department of Navy, and Department of Air Force, 1957. 

• “Plastics for Flight Vehicles,” Military Handbook No. 17, Part II, DoD, 1961. 

 

67 Kies, J.A. and Smith, H.L., “Aircraft Glazing Materials,” NRL Memorandum Report 372, October 1954, p. 1. 

68 Rossmanith, H.P., “George Rankin Irwin - The Father of Fracture Mechanics,” presented at the George R. Irwin Symposium 

on Cleavage Fracture, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, 1997, p. 17. 

69 Krafft, J.M., “The Metallurgy and Mechanics Divisions, Post-1950 History,” in Materials Science and Technology Division 

History, NRL/PU-6300-93-240 (May 1993), p. 103. 

70 Irwin, G.R., “Fracture Mechanics,” Report of NRL Progress, July 1973, p. 36; and Rossmanith, H.P., “George Rankin Irwin - 

The Father of Fracture Mechanics,” p. 17. 
32 

Purple-K-Powder 

Achievement 

Prior to the development of potassium bicarbonate dry chemical extinguishing agent, or “Purple-KPowder” (PKP), hydrocarbon fires were extinguished using either sodium bicarbonate dry chemical 

powder or protein foam. The dry chemical was effective on three-dimensional and “hidden” fires (e.g., 

debris from aircraft crash), but provided no protection against reflash. Protein foams were used to 

extinguish fuel spill or in-depth liquid pool fires. The thick foam blanket provided reflash protection by 

excluding oxygen from the fuel surface, but foams were ineffective on 3-D and hidden fires. The agents 

could not be used in combination because the foam bubbles were chemically attacked and destroyed by 

commercially available dry chemicals. The first step in developing an optimum approach was to develop 

a superior, foam-compatible dry chemical. 

In 1959, a series of investigations by NRL in the area of chemical flame extinction gave birth to PurpleK-Powder. Powdered bicarbonate of soda as a flame-halting agent had been employed for many years, 

but its action had never been satisfactorily explained. Working with other investigators, NRL conducted 

fire tests with many powdered substances, which helped to clarify the chemical actions involved. This 

work came to the conclusion that the substitution of the potassium ion for sodium extended the flamequenching efficiencies of the chemical powders by a factor of two.71 This meant PKP extinguished a fuel 

fire in half the time or extinguished twice as much fire as before. Ensuing industry efforts resulted in 

production of surface coatings that allowed PKP to be compatible with foams. 

Impact 

The development of Purple-K-Powder represented a major advancement in the state of the art for 

flammable liquid fire protection. PKP became used throughout the Navy and in U.S. municipal and 

industrial fire protection operations, and thereafter throughout the world. It is the only dry chemical agent 

recognized by the National Fire Protection Association for airport crash rescue firefighting. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Jablonski, E.J. and Moran, H.E., Jr., “Tests of Mobile Dry Powder Crash Fire Extinguishing Units at 

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, NRL Observers’ Report of,” NRL letter report 3250-125/49, September 

21, 1949. 

• Peterson, H.B., Tuve, R.L., Neill, R.R., Burnett, J.C., and Jablonski, E.J., “The Development of New 

Foam-Compatible Dry Chemical Fire Extinguishing Powders,” NRL Report 4986, September 5, 1957. 

• Jablonski, E J. and Gipe, R.L., “A New Method for Determining the Degree of Compatibility of Dry 

Chemical Powders with Mechanical Foams,” NRL Report 5329, June 23, 1959. 

• Military Specification MIL-F 22287 (Wep) December 15, 1959, “Fire Extinguishing Agent, Potassium Dry 

Chemical,” in present form a Federal Specification O-D-1407A. 

 

71 Tuve, R.L., “Recent Navy Research on Dry Chemicals,” NFPA Quarterly, Vol. 54, 162 (1960). 
33 

Improved Boilerwater Treatment 

Achievement 

Naval 1200 psig steam propulsion boilers are subject to the damaging effects of corrosion and scale 

formation on the watersides if a proper boilerwater treatment is not applied. Tube failures due to acid 

corrosion and scale formation are two major concerns that in the past were satisfactorily controlled by a 

low phosphate/free caustic treatment. However, accumulations of suspended solids required mechanical 

and chemical cleaning. Both types of cleaning require ships’ boilers to be out of service and increase the 

crew’s workload. 

NRL and the Naval Ship System Engineering Station (NAVSSES) started investigations into new water 

treatments to clean, in situ, Naval high pressure boilers in the late 1960s. NRL investigated the thermal 

stability chemistry of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) salts as possible active components of a 

boilerwater treatment for high pressure boilers. Nuclear magnetic resonance was used to study the 

chemistry of EDTA salts and free acid under various thermal conditions. The reported kinetics of the 

chemical reactions indicated the amount of EDTA to add to the boiler on a continuous basis. This 

research was the guide that R.L. Dausuel, Jr., NAVSSES, used to introduce EDTA into operating Navy 

boilers.72 

This group effort led to a final treatment that included the addition of hydrazine to stabilize the EDTA 

solutions upon their addition to the boilers. After excellent results from four trial ships, the chief engineer 

of the Naval Sea Systems Command directed the implementation of a boilerwater treatment based on an 

Na4EDTA and hydrazine process. Results of shipboard testing demonstrated that use of the Na4EDTA to 

clean, in situ, high-pressure steam boilers could extend the normal 1,800 hours of operation between 

cleanings to 15,000 to 20,000 hours. In addition, the passivated surfaces within the steam systems treated 

with Na4EDTA would be beneficial when boilers were shut down for long periods of time. 

Impact 

NRL’s basic research was instrumental to keeping Navy ship boilers in service for much longer periods 

and in reducing the costs associated with frequent cleanings. In addition, industrial water treatment plants 

found promise in the Navy’s approach.73

Primary Reference Documents 

• Venezky, D.L. and Moniz, W.B., “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of the Thermal Decomposition of 

Ethylenedinitrilotetraacetic Acid and Its Salts in Aqueous Solutions,” Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 41 

(January 1969). 

• “EDTA for Continuous Treatment of Boilers,” Fourth Inter-Naval Conference on Marine Corrosion, NRL, 

October 12, 1972. Part I — Venezky, D.L., “Rate and Mechanism of EDTA Decomposition in Aqueous 

Solutions at High Temperatures.” Part II — Kelly, B.E. and Dausuel, Jr., R.L., “Shipboard Trial of Chelate 

Feedwater Treatment, 1200 PSIG Boiler.” 

 

72 “Boiler Water/Feedwater Test and Treatment,” Naval Ship’s Technical Manual, S9086-GX-STM-020, Chap. 220, Vol. 2, 

December 15, 1995 (Seventh Revision). 

73 Chagnard, H.A., Shearer, B.L., and Tvedt, T.J., “An In-depth Field Evaluation of Iron Transport in 1400 psi Boilers with 

Various Water Treatments,” presented at International Water Conference, October 27-29, 1980. 
34 

Fracture Test Technology 

Achievement 

While NRL’s G. Irwin was concerned primarily with the basic science of fracture, his colleague W.S. 

Pellini established methods for prevention of fracture based on experimental methods. Pellini developed 

engineering approaches for design and material selection in structures based on metallurgical principles. 

His work solved the mystery of brittle fractures of World War II Liberty ships, in which entire ships 

sometimes fractured in calm water at dockside, and is still relevant in the age of high-performance ships, 

aircraft, and missiles. 

The test methods developed by NRL are the Dynamic Tear Test; the Drop-Weight Nil-Ductility 

Transition Temperature Test (DWT-NDT, standardized by the ASTM in 1963 and used along with the 

Fracture Analysis Diagram for design of steel structures worldwide); the Explosion Bulge Test; and the 

Explosion Tear Test. Such tests were incorporated into materials procurement and fabrication 

specifications for construction of critical submarine and surface ship components.74 A prominent 

example is the selection of materials for submarine pressure hulls that had to withstand local deformations 

from explosive attack, without crack extension. NRL worked with the Navy’s ship and submarine 

materials and design codes to develop methods for evaluating materials, weldments, and welding 

processes. These methods, based on modeling, established the requirements for qualifying welds, 

welders, and new companies for the construction of submarine pressure hull structures. 

The DWT-NDT proved the fracture resistance of HY-80 steel was superior to conventional steels, and the 

fully plastic performance of welded HY-80 plates in the Explosion Bulge Test convinced the Navy that 

HY-80 should be used for submarine hulls and for any other critical application.75 In addition, two Deep 

Submergence Rescue Vehicles that were built with pressure hull material certified to be reliable as 

measured by fracture mechanics methods were put into the Fleet. 

Impact 

For more than 20 years, NRL was recognized as the leading international center for the development of 

structural integrity technology. During this time, the Navy relied upon NRL’s expertise to assure the 

structural integrity of aircraft, ships, and submarines, and in doing so, to safeguard their crew members. 

These techniques also increased the performance of Naval vehicles, providing such payoffs as reliable 

deployment of deeper running submarines. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Pellini, W.S., “Use and Interpretation of the NRL Explosion Bulge Test,” NRL Report 4034, Sept. 4, 1952. 

• Pellini, W.S., Puzak, P.P., and Eschbacher, E., “Procedures for NRL Drop Weight Test,” NRL 

Memorandum Report 316, June 1954. 

• Pellini, W.S. and Puzak, P.P., “Fracture Analysis Diagram Procedures for the Fracture-Safe Engineering 

Design of Steel Structures,” NRL Report 5920, March 15, 1963. 

 

74 Lange, E.A., “Personal Account of Research Conducted Between 1950 and 1980 in the Metal Processing and the Strength of 

Metals Branches,” in Materials Science and Technology Division History, NRL/PU-6300-93-240 (May 1993), p. 123. 

75 Pellini, W.S. “Principles of Structural Integrity Technology,” Office of Naval Research (1976), p. 227.
35 

Deep Ocean Search 

Achievement 

On April 10, 1963, the nuclear submarine USS Thresher (SSN 593) was lost in deep water 260 miles east 

of Boston, Massachusetts, with 112 crew and 17 civilian technicians. The loss of the submarine and its 

complement was a deep shock to the Navy and to the country. 

In an effort to determine the reasons for the loss, NRL applied deep-towing technology, developed years 

earlier for underwater acoustic research, to the deep seafloor search for the Thresher. However, the 

search was terminated in September 1963 with the onset of bad weather.76 On May 18, 1964, the task 

group began new search operations. To augment its search capability, NRL had acquired the USNS 

Mizar, a retired cargo ship suited for launching and towing the deep-towed instrument vehicle, or “fish” 

as it was called. NRL’s “fish” included a set of three cameras to photograph the wreckage, a sidescanning sonar to probe beyond camera range, two strobe lights, a magnetometer to locate the Thresher

pressure hull, a transponder, a sonar pinger to measure the “fish’s” altitude, and a telemetry system. This 

unmanned vehicle, towed by Mizar, detected the Thresher hull after only eight hours of bottom 

operations. NRL’s photographs were later assembled into a photomosaic of most of the major parts of the 

sunken submarine.77

After NRL’s success in the Thresher search, the Laboratory was called upon to locate and recover a lost 

H-bomb off the coast of Spain in 1966, locate and photograph the lost submarine USS Scorpion (SSN 

589) in 1968, assist in the recovery of the deep submersible Alvin in 1969, and locate and photograph the 

lost French submarine Eurydice in 1970. NRL’s emergency search mission was transferred to other Navy 

organizations in 1980. 

Impact 

NRL-developed ocean search technology now resides in other government and private organizations. 

According to a 1966 commendation from the Marine Technology Society, NRL was responsible for 

“pioneering new techniques” and had “established a methodology for future ocean engineering.” Years 

later, after the Titanic was located by Dr. Ballard’s team, a former Navy Supervisor of Salvage stated 

before Congress that “the superb work of the scientific teams from NRL...led the way for the [Titanic] 

search operation in the North Atlantic.”78

Primary Reference Documents 

• Spies, F.N. and Maxwell, A.E., “Search for the Thresher,” Science, Vol. 145, No. 3630 (July 24, 1964). 

• Andrews, F.A., “Search Operations in the Thresher Area—1964,” Section 1, Naval Engineers Journal, 

549-561 (August 1965). 

• Buchanan, C.L., “Search for the Scorpion: Organization and Ship Facilities,” Proceedings of the 6th U.S. 

Navy Symposium on Military Oceanography, Vol. 1, 58-63 (1969). 

 

76 Initial discovery of the bulk of the Thresher’s remains was made by the Navy deep submersible Trieste in September of 1963. 

77 Brundage, W., “NRL’s Deep Sea Floor Search Era - A Brief History of the NRL/MIZAR Search System and Its Major 

Achievements,” NRL Memorandum Report 6208, November 29, 1988. 

78 Searle, W.F., Hearings on H.R. 3272, The Titanic Maritime Memorial Act, October 29, 1985. 
36 

NAVSTAR GPS 

Achievement 

The NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) is designed to provide precise navigation data to 

military and civilian users by means of a constellation of 24 satellites. NAVSTAR is based on NRL’s 

TIMATION (TIMe/navigATION) research program, begun in 1964. R. Easton is recognized for 

conceiving the idea of the time-based navigational system, which eventually led to the GPS. NRL tested 

TIMATION concepts by developing and launching two small experimental satellites, TIMATION I and 

TIMATION II. 

NRL launched the TIMATION I satellite on May 31, 1967, and the TIMATION II satellite in 1969. 

TIMATION I demonstrated that a surface vessel could be positioned to within two-tenths of a nautical 

mile and an aircraft to within three-tenths of a nautical mile using range measurements from a timesynchronized satellite. The TIMATION program proved that a system using a passive ranging technique, 

combined with highly accurate clocks, could provide the basis for a revolutionary navigation system with 

three-dimensional coverage (longitude, latitude, and altitude) throughout the world. 

In 1973, NRL’s program was merged with an Air Force program that was investigating similar 

requirements to form the NAVSTAR GPS program. TIMATION III was redesignated the Navigation 

Technology Satellite One (NTS-1), and was launched in 1974 in connection with the new NAVSTAR 

effort. NTS-1 had the distinction of carrying the first atomic clocks into orbit. NTS-2 was launched in 

June 1977 as the first NAVSTAR satellite.79

Impact 

NAVSTAR’s military and commercial applications are revolutionary and too numerous to enumerate 

here. In 1993, the National Aeronautic Association selected the GPS Team composed of NRL, the U.S. 

Air Force, Aerospace Corp., Rockwell International, and IBM Federal Systems Co. as winners of the 

1992 Robert J. Collier Trophy, the most prestigious of all aviation awards in the U.S. The citation 

accompanying the trophy honors the GPS Team “for the most significant development for safe and 

efficient navigation and surveillance of air and spacecraft since the introduction of radio navigation 50 

years ago.” In 2005, Roger L. Easton received the National Medal of Technology from the President for 

“his extensive pioneering achievements in spacecraft tracking, navigation and timing technology that led 

to the development of the NAVSTAR - Global Positioning System.” 

Primary Reference Documents 

• U.S. Patent No. 3,789,409 to Easton, R.L., “Navigation System Using Satellites and Passive Ranging 

Techniques,” January 29, 1974. 

• Easton, R.L., “Optimum Altitudes for Passive Ranging Satellite Navigation Systems,” Naval Research 

Reviews, August 1970. 

• Easton, R.L., “The Role of Time/Frequency in Navy Navigation Satellites,” Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 

60, No. 5, 557-563 (1972). 

• Easton, E.L., et al., “The Contribution of Navigation Technology Satellites to the Global Positioning 

System,” NRL Report 8360, December 28, 1979. 

• National Medal of Technology, awarded to Roger L. Easton in 2005. 

 

79 Mitchell, P. A., “The Navy’s Mission in Space,” Oceanus, Vol. 20, No. 2, 24 (Summer 1985); Glaeser, F., “Space: A New 

Dimension in Naval Warfare,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 113, 134 (May 1987); Easton, R.L., “The Navigation 

Technology Program, Navigation, Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Summer 1978), 107-112. 
37 

Aqueous Film-Forming Foam 

Achievement 

NRL, beginning in the early 1960s, conducted research on fire suppression that eventually led to one of 

the most far-reaching benefits to worldwide aviation safety — the development of Aqueous FilmForming Foam (AFFF). AFFF achieves rapid extinguishment of hydrocarbon fuel fires and has the 

additional property of forming an aqueous film on the fuel surface that prevents evaporation and, hence, 

reignition of the fuel once it has been extinguished by the foam. The film also has a unique, self-healing 

capability whereby scars in the film layer caused by falling debris or firefighting activities are rapidly 

resealed. 

The initial concepts for AFFF came from NRL’s R.L. Tuve and E.J. Jablonski, who patented the first 

formulation for use in a twinned agent firefighting apparatus that combined Purple-K-Powder (an earlier 

NRL development; see page 27) and AFFF. Although NRL was responsible for the original concepts and 

formulations, it was necessary to elicit the aid of the chemical industry to synthesize the fluorinated 

intermediates and agents to achieve improvements in formulations. The Minnesota Mining and 

Manufacturing Co., now 3 M, contributed considerably to the success of the development of AFFF. 

In honor of his work in developing AFFF, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers International awarded 

(posthumously) the Arthur B. Guise Medal to E.J. Jablonski in 1990 for “eminent achievement in the 

advancement of the science and technology of fire protection engineering.” 

Impact 

Following the destructive fires aboard the aircraft carriers USS Forrestal and USS Enterprise, the Navy 

sought more effective firefighting agents. NRL met this Fleet requirement with the development of 

AFFF. In the military, AFFF firefighting foam is now on all Navy aircraft carriers, and is used by all 

branches of the U.S. armed forces and NATO members. The agent is also recognized by international 

standards organizations for the protection of civilian airfields, refineries, and fuel tank farms, where 

potentially catastrophic fuel fires can occur. AFFF is in the inventory of almost all fire departments in the 

United States and in many fire departments throughout the world. In fact, two foam units from the 

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority fought the fires caused by the 9/11 terrorist attack on the 

Pentagon.80

Primary Reference Documents 

• Tuve, R.L., Peterson, H.B., Jablonski, E.J., and Neill, R.A., “A New Vapor Securing Agent for Flammable 

Liquid Fire Extinguishing,” NRL Report 6057, March 1964. 

• U.S. Patent No. 3,258,423 to Tuve, R.L. and Jablonski, E.J., “Method of Extinguishing Hydrocarbon 

Fires,” June 1966. 

• “Fire Extinguishing Agent, Aqueous Film-Formisng Foam (AFFF) Liquid Concentrate, Six Percent for 

Fresh and Sea Water,” MIL-F-24385, originally issued in 1965 as MIL-F-23905B. 

 

80 Weiger, P., “After-Action: Pentagon Report,” NFPA Journal (Nov/Dec 2002), p. 36.
38 

Nuclear Reactor Safety 

Achievement 

A major application of NRL’s fracture-test technology was the Laboratory’s participation in the HeavySection Steel Technology Program conducted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The technical 

issue was to determine the safety of nuclear reactor pressure vessels fabricated from 12-inch thick steel, 

as a function of the thickness and temperatures. NRL’s W.S. Pellini and F.J. Loss built the apparatus and 

conducted experiments on full-thickness specimens to demonstrate the safety of the vessels. The program 

lasted several years and attracted international attention. The ASME Code rules for the operation of 

nuclear pressure vessels are based on the results of that program.81 

In the early 1960s, NRL demonstrated the potentially severe embrittlement of nuclear reactor steels to be 

a function of neutron exposure and irradiation (service) temperatures. While emphasizing light-water 

reactor pressure containment steels and their modes of failure after neutron exposure, the properties of 

other reactor component alloys were studied as well. Broad interest in NRL’s work led to support by the 

Atomic Energy Commission and the Army. This work is believed by most nuclear safety authorities to 

be a primary basis for assurance against catastrophic failure of radiation containment. In 1975, a 

definitive book by NRL’s L.E. Steele, Neutron Irradiation Embrittlement of Reactor Pressure Vessel 

Steels, was published and became a landmark guide for specialists worldwide.82

Impact 

All military and civilian power reactors that feature a steel pressure shell are designed or operated, or 

both, on the fracture principles developed by NRL.83 And, the Laboratory’s work in radiation 

embrittlement in reactor pressure vessel steels led to the production of radiation-resistant steels, which are 

applied in new reactors throughout the world, and in the assurance of reactor containment safety in older 

reactors. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Pellini, W.S. and Puzak, P.P., “Practical Considerations in Applying Laboratory Fracture Test Criteria to 

Fracture-Safe Design of Pressure Vessels,” Journal of Engineering for Power, October 1964. 

• Hawthorne, J.R., Steele, L.E., and Pellini, W.S., “Effects of Nuclear Radiation on the Properties of Reactor 

Structural Materials,” ASME 61-WA-332, No. 28, 1961. 

• Steele, L.E., Neutron Irradiation Embrittlement of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels, Technical Report 163 

(International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1975). 

 

81 E.A. Lange, “Personal Account of Research Conducted Between 1950 and 1980 in the Metal Processing and the Strength of 

Metals Branches,” in Materials Science and Technology Division History, NRL/PU-6300-93-240 (May 1993), p. 127. 

82 Steele, L.E., International Atomic Energy Agency Technical Report 163; quoted in Materials Science and Technology Division 

History, p. 131. 

83 Whitman, G.D., Robinson, G.C., and Sanolainen, A.W., “Technology of Steel Pressure Vessels for Water-Cooled Nuclear 

Reactors,” ORNL-NSIC-21, December 1967, Chapter 7 uses NRL Report 6598, November 1967; cited by Irwin in Materials 

Science and Technology Division History, p. 101. 
39 

Linear Predictive Coder 

Achievement 

The Linear Predictive Coder (LPC) is a means to represent the speech spectrum efficiently. In the LPC 

representation of speech, the speech spectral envelope is represented by an all-pole spectrum. In 1973, 

NRL’s G.S. Kang developed the world’s first LPC prototype capable of operating in real time to encode 

speech at low data rates. NRL’s efforts generated an impetus to modernize DoD tactical secure voice 

communication equipment. Subsequently, NRL incorporated the LPC concept into the DoD Advanced 

Narrowband Digital Voice Terminal (ANDVT) that was under development at the time. Later, Kang 

incorporated the ANDVT voice encoding algorithm in Federal Standard 1015. 

The computational steps required to execute LPC processing were enormous for 1970-technology 

standards. In fact, it was doubted that LPC could be implemented as a voice communication device.84 

But, in 1973, NRL was successful in implementing a real-time LPC telephone operating at 2400, 3600, 

and 4800 bits per second because the Laboratory had developed a computationally efficient iterative 

solution to the LPC analysis. 

Impact 

NRL’s development of the LPC brought a complete upgrading of military tactical secure voice 

communication equipment in the 1970s. The new LPC-based ANDVT replaced the old channel 

vocoders. Currently 40,000 ANDVTs have been deployed by the Navy, Air Force, Army, Allied Forces 

and other government agencies to support tactical secure voice communications. Even today, nearly 

twenty-five years after initial deployment, the ANDVT featuring the NRL-developed LPC is still the 

DoD’s only deployed tactical secure telephone operating at 2400 bits per second. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Kang, G.S., “Application of Linear Prediction Encoding to a Narrowband Voice Digitizer,” NRL Report 

7774, 1974. 

 

84 Moye, L.S., “Digital Transmission of Speech at Low Bit Rates,” (British) Electrical Communication, Vol. 47, No. 4, 212-223 

(1972). 
40 

Submarine Habitability 

Achievement 

In the 1950s, as the age of the nuclear submarine emerged, the requirement grew for extending the 

capabilities of closed-cycle atmospheres for periods up to 90 days. The need for new atmosphere 

habitability capabilities was evident when NRL participated in a scientific cruise of the first nuclear 

submarine, USS Nautilus, in 1956. Its atmosphere was found to be “loaded” with pollutants, such as 

carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and hydrocarbons. NRL formed a team to solve the 

problem. In the 1950s and 1960s, this effort led to the CO/H2 Hopcalite burner, the monoethanol amine 

CO2 scrubber, and the adsorbent carbon bed. The major source of the hydrocarbons was paint thinners. 

As a result, painting was prohibited immediately prior to submergence and during deployment. 

It was also apparent that an analytical instrument was needed to monitor contaminants.85 In the 1970s, 

NRL convinced the Navy that mass spectrometry was the technique of choice for atmosphere analysis 

onboard nuclear submarines. NRL evaluated prototype systems that became the basis of the Central 

Atmosphere Monitoring System Mark-I (CAMS-I). These systems were installed onboard all nuclear 

submarines, replacing previous poorly performing analyzers. Later, NRL’s research capabilities in mass 

spectrometry were used to formulate the design of the next-generation analyzer, the CAMS-II. NRL 

directed the development, laboratory testing, and at-sea trials of the prototype. The CAMS-II is installed 

in Trident and Seawolf class submarines. NRL was also successful in transferring this technology to 

industry and in convincing the British Navy to use the CAMS-II aboard Royal Navy submarines. 

Impact 

Several NRL technologies led to the purification of submarine atmospheres. CAMS replaced atmosphere 

analyzers that were always on the “top ten” problem list of submarines. Combined, these technologies 

enable the Navy to operate its submarine fleet on extended deployments and at the same time be assured 

as to the safety of their atmospheres. The commercial version of CAMS, developed by Perkin Elmer for 

IBM,86 has been used in semiconductor processing facilities to provide continuous monitoring of a variety 

of hazardous materials. The advantages of CAMS are its ability to measure many different atmosphere 

constituents, from part-per-billion to one hundred percent levels, and its reliability. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Carhart, H.W. and Piatt, V.R., “Present Status of Chemical Research in Atmosphere Purification and 

Control on Nuclear Powered Submarines,” NRL Report 6053, December 31, 1963. 

• Saalfeld, F.E. and Wyatt, J.R., “NRL’s Central Atmosphere Monitor Program,” NRL Report 3432, 

December 1976. 

• Wyatt, J.R., “Recent Developments in Atmosphere Monitoring On Board Nuclear Submarines,” JANNAF 

Safety and Environmental Protection Subcommittee, CPIA 436 (1985). 

 

85 DeCorpo, J.J., Wyatt, J.R., and Saalfeld, F.E., “Atmospheric Monitoring in Submersibles,” ASME 80-ENAs-31 (1981). 

86 Krieger, J.H., “System Continuously Monitors Air Quality in Industrial Process Sites,” C&EN, August 12, 1985. 
41 

Flux-Corrected Transport 

Achievement 

In the late 1960s, NRL conducted theoretical and computational investigations of high-altitude nuclear 

effects (HANE) for the Defense Nuclear Agency. During 1970 and 1971, in the process of performing 

this work, NRL developed an entirely new technique for solving fluid dynamic continuity equations on a 

computer. 

The technique, flux-corrected transport (FCT), made possible accurate calculations of shock and steep 

gradient phenomena by eliminating the oscillations, ripples, and numerical diffusion that had plagued all 

other techniques for decades. In addition to the HANE research, FCT has been employed in missile silo 

design, naval oceanography, nonacoustic antisubmarine warfare, and atmospheric communications 

research. Other applications include facilitating research in civil hydrodynamics and water resources, 

mine safety, atmospheric pollution transport, supernova explosions, solar weather prediction, laser and 

ion-beam fusion, aerodynamics, and base and force protection against weapons of mass destruction. 

More recent applications include the 3-D urban aerodynamics computations for CT-AnalystTM and urban 

defense for weapons of mass destruction. 

Impact 

With over 1,000 citations, the original paper on FCT was NRL’s most cited publication during the period 

between 1973 and 1988. This technique has been adopted by over 500 computational laboratories, 

universities, and companies dealing with fluid flow problems that impact military operations, civil 

projects, and public health and safety. A conference entitled “High-Resolution Schemes for Convection 

Dominated Flows: 30 Years of FCT” was held in Dortmund, Germany, in September 2003, to 

commemorate this development. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Boris, J.P., “A Fluid Transport Algorithm That Works,” Computing as a Language of Physics, 171-189, 

(IAEA-SMR-9/18, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, 1971). 

 

• Boris, J.P. and Book, D.L., “Flux-Corrected Transport. I. SHASTA, A Fluid Transport Algorithm That 

Works,” Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 11, 38 (1973). 

• Book, D.L., Boris, J.P., and Hain, K.H., “Flux-Corrected Transport II: Generalization of the Method,” 

Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 18, 248 (1975). 

• Boris, J.P. and Book, D.L., “Flux-Corrected Transport III: Minimal Error FCT Algorithms,” Journal of 

Computational Physics, Vol. 20, 397 (1976). 
42 

Fiber-Optic Interferometric Acoustic Sensors 

Achievement 

In 1977, NRL demonstrated the world’s first fiber-optic interferometric acoustic sensor.87 Based on this 

work, NRL received the first U.S. patent awarded for an optical interferometric sensor to measure 

external fields. This device focused on acoustic fields. From the beginning, it was viewed as a generic 

device in that it would be capable of responding to other external perturbations (e.g., electric field, 

magnetic field, and temperature) depending on the design of the fiber coating or mounting structure. 

NRL’s work launched Navy, DoD, and national interest in fiber-optic acoustic sensors in particular, and 

fiber-optic nonacoustic sensors in general. In 1978, based on the fiber acoustic sensor results, NRL 

conducted the first Navy / DoD program in fiber-optic sensor systems (FOSS) — the vanguard of a 

rapidly growing interest in fiber interferometric sensors. NRL was the leader in this technology in the 

late-1970s to early-1980s. Other organizations, such as the Naval Underwater Warfare Center, the Naval 

Surface Warfare Center, and Litton, have since joined NRL in developing systems based on these sensors. 

A number of sensor system technologies based on interferometric fiber acoustic sensors have been 

successfully demonstrated. One such system is an all-optical towed array (AOTA) with a full 

complement of fiber-optic acoustic sensors. In 1986, fiber-optic acoustic sensors were first tested at sea. 

Based on the results, an AOTA Advanced Technology Demonstration was initiated. Successfully 

completed in 1990, it met all performance goals and showed that the concept was a cost-effective 

alternative to piezoceramic technology. 

Impact 

NRL’s original invention, and the subsequent FOSS program, led to the now ubiquitous presence of fiberoptic sensor devices. These devices resulting from NRL’s pioneering work have been exploited in 

numerous sensor-related areas, including acoustic, magnetic, electric, thermal, vibration, and flow 

applications. Commercial versions of these sensors have been applied to traffic control, medical care, 

construction safety, and seismology. Their military applications are also numerous. For example, the 

fiber-optic Lightweight Wide Aperture Array is deployed on the Navy’s new Virginia- class nuclear 

submarines. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Bucaro, J.A., Dardy, H.D., and Carome, E.F., “Fiber Optic Hydrophone,” Journal of the Acoustical Society 

of America, Vol. 62, 1302-1304 (1977). 

• Bucaro, J.A., Dardy, H.D., and Carome, E.F., “Optical Fiber Acoustic Sensor,” Applied Optics, Vol. 16, 

1761-1762 (July 1977). 

• U.S. Patent No. 4,162,397 to Bucaro, J.A., Dardy, H.D., and Carome, E.F., “Fiber Optic Acoustic Sensor,” 

July 1979. 

• Giallorenzi, T.G., Bucaro, J., Dandridge, A., Sigel, Jr., G.H., Cole, J., Rashleigh, S., and Priest, R., “Optical 

Fiber Sensor Technology,” IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, 626 (1982). 

• U.S. Patent No. 4,648,083 to Giallorenzi, T.G., “All-Optical Towed and Conformal Arrays,” March 3, 

1987. 

 

87 The possibility of incorporating optical fibers into bulk interferometers to detect weak acoustic signals was also demonstrated 

independently by Cole et al. in November 1977 (Cole, J.H., Johnson, R.L., and Bhuta, P.G., Journal of the Acoustical Society of 

America, Vol. 62, 1136 (1977)). (NRL published its paper in July 1977.) 
43 

Semi-Insulating Gallium Arsenide Crystals 

Achievement 

In the 1970s, NRL invented and developed a liquid-encapsulated Czochralski (LEC) method of 

compounding and growing high-purity single crystals of gallium arsenide (GaAs) that were semiinsulating in nature without the need for doping. Because of their high purity semiconductor and semiinsulating properties, wafers made from these crystals could be used simultaneously as a dielectric and 

ion implanted active semiconductor layer material to produce high performance microwave and 

millimeter wave devices and integrated circuits. This development was important because transistors and 

microcircuits made of silicon, the most common semiconductor material used at the time, operated poorly 

at microwave frequencies. NRL performed the basic process development, demonstrated the principles 

for achieving the high-purity semi-insulating GaAs substrate, and was instrumental in transferring the 

technology to industry for commercialization. 

This cost effective method of GaAs wafer production was important because it led to the early adoption 

of high performance GaAs devices and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) in military 

microwave and millimeter wave systems. 

Cost reduction is also critical to the competitiveness of U.S. companies. NRL’s technology was adopted 

by major U.S. industrial firms, such as Rockwell International, Westinghouse, Texas Instruments, and 

Hughes Research.88 In commending NRL’s achievement, one U.S. company claimed that in 1980 

approximately 100% of the GaAs device industry was in Japan, but that in 1997, the GaAs integrated 

circuit industry would realize sales of $447 M, with American companies representing 65% of that total.89

Impact 

NRL’s technology enabled GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit technologies. Military systems 

using these technologies are all forms of military radar systems, electronic warfare systems, 

communications systems, satellite systems, and many weapons systems such as HARM, Phoenix missile, 

AIM-9L, and AMRAAM. Commercial uses are ubiquitous and include weather and navigation radar, 

communications systems including cellular and satellite systems, and wireless LANs. The technology 

demonstrated audited savings to the military for the 10-year period from 1979 to 1989 of over $560 

million (in 1986 dollars).90 This is all the more impressive given that the original investment in NRL’s 

research was $528,000.91

Primary Reference Documents 

• Swiggard, E.M., Lee, S.H., and Von Batchelder, F.W., “GaAs Synthesized in Pyrolytic Boron Nitride,” 

Gallium Arsenide and Related Compounds 1976 (Institute of Physics Conference Series 33b), p. 23. 

• Henry, R.L. and Swiggard, E.M., “LEC Growth of InP and GaAs Using PBN Crucibles,” Gallium Arsenide 

and Related Compounds 1976 (Institute of Physics Conference Series 33b), p. 28. 

• Lessoff, H.,“Non-Uniform Etching of Single Crystal GaAs,” Material Letters, Vol. 3, 251 (1985). 

 

88 Presidential Letter of Commendation to H. Lessoff, nomination of 1985, awarded by President Reagan in 1988. 

89 Letter to H. Lessoff from J. Vaughan (Vice President for Business Development), M/A-COM, September 21, 1997. 

90 Commander, NAVAIRSYSCOM. 

91 Commander, NAVAIRSYSCOM, Letter of Commendation to H. Lessoff and E. Swiggard (March 3, 1986). 
44 

Super Rapid-Blooming Offboard Chaff 

Achievement 

NRL developed the first wide spread decoy system applied to all major Navy surface combatants. The 

MK-36 and MK-182 cartridge was successfully operationally evaluated in 1977. Because of the 

operational success of this system, a follow-on international program was established to provide the 

continual product improvements that result from ongoing innovation. This international program led to 

the successful development of the MK-214 and MK-216 cartridges, which entered the Fleet in 1987 and 

1988, respectively, and which are in current use. The super rapid-blooming offboard chaff (Super RBOC) 

system and its family of decoys will be used by the U.S. Navy and its allies for many years. 

Impact 

Super RBOC and its family of decoys significantly improved the Navy’s capability to conduct electronic 

warfare from its surface combatants. It is a major advancement in the state of the art in its ability to 

rapidly produce an alternate target for the protection of ships against anti-shipping cruise missiles. With 

the extensive proliferation of the cruise missile threat throughout the world, this solution was especially 

timely and critical to the survivability of the Fleet. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• COMTHIRDFLT TACMEMO 221-3-74, “Use of Chaff in Anti-Ship Missile Defense,” May 29, 1975. 

• Report on the CNO Project 114-DT-III, “Technical Evaluation (TECHEVAL) of the Super RBOC 

System,” April 11, 1977. 

• OPTEVFOR Report on CNO Project 114-OT-III, “Operational Evaluation of Super RBOC,” January 20, 

1977. 

• OPTEVFOR, “Follow-On Operational Evaluation of Super RBOC,” Report 3960-12 (114-OT-IV), June 

14, 1977. 

• “The Electronic Warfare Suite for the USS NEW JERSEY,” NRL Memorandum Report 4841, July 1982. 

• “NATO SEA GNAT Radio Frequency (RF) Seduction Cartridge,” Commander Operational Test and 

Evaluation Force Report 3960 (621-1-OT-II), October 3, 1984. 
45 

Fixed-Wing Airborne Gravimetry 

Achievement 

Measurement and analysis of the spatial variations in the gravity field of the Earth are useful from both 

geologic/geophysical and geodetic perspectives. Gravity data serve in the first case as a remote sensing 

probe of shallow and deep mass distributions beneath the surface of the ocean or land, an important tool 

for economic geology and basic geophysical research. In the second area, geodesy/gravity data are used 

to establish the shape and figure of the Earth. Geodetic quantities are of critical operational importance to 

the Navy, primarily as corrections to high-accuracy inertial navigation systems in submarines and ballistic 

missiles. Over the years, enormous efforts and expenditures have been devoted to shipboard and 

terrestrial gravity surveys to meet Navy requirements. 

Airborne gravimetry had long been a desirable goal because of the lower costs, rapid collection, and 

access to logistically difficult areas made possible by airborne surveying techniques. However, the 

extremely poor signal-to-noise characteristics of airborne gravity measurements defeated numerous 

attempts since the 1950s by government, academic, and industry researchers to provide airborne data of 

useful accuracy and resolution. It was found possible to acquire data at low speeds in helicopters, 

however their range was too limited and their costs too high to make them preferable to traditional ship 

and land survey methods. 

In 1979, NRL began a program in airborne gravimetry from long-range, fixed-wing aircraft capable of 

meeting Navy requirements. The research program required the development of extremely accurate 

three-dimensional aircraft positioning, specialized aircraft operational techniques, and improvements to 

gravimeter technology. This program resulted in the world’s first successful demonstration of accurate 

fixed-wing-based airborne gravity measurements. The 1981 field test of the prototype measurement 

system achieved accuracies of 2 to 3 parts per million on several profiles over an Atlantic gravity test 

range at aircraft speeds of 250 knots. Development of the system and techniques continues to the present 

day. 

Impact 

The NRL long-range airborne gravity measurement system is unique and provides required data for Navy 

and other DoD tactical and strategic systems that cannot be acquired in any other way.92 Airborne gravity 

data are now being collected worldwide in support of operational requirements for Trident submarines, 

ballistic missiles, and B-2 and F-117 aircraft. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Brozena, J.M., “A Preliminary Analysis of the NRL Airborne Gravimetry System,” Geophysics, Vol. 49, 

1060-1079 (1984). 

• Brozena, J.M., “Airborne Gravimetry,” CRC Handbook of Geophysical Exploration at Sea (CRC Press, 

Boca Raton, 1992), Chapter 4. 

 

92 Salman, R.D. (Geoscience Program Manager, NIMA) letter to H. Eppert (Superintendent, Marine Geosciences Division, NRL), 

Subj. “DoD Utility of Fixed Wing Airborne Gravimetry,” March 27, 1998; and Forsberg, R. (President, International 

Association of Geodesy) letter to Brozena, J. (NRL), March 30, 1998.
48	 Specific Emitter Identification

49	 Deep Space Program Science Experiment (Clementine)

50	 Polar Ice Prediction System

51	 Optical Immunoassays and Sensors

52	 Mesoscale Prediction Systems

53	 Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance for Detection

	 	 of Explosives and Narcotics

54	 Surface Acoustic Wave Chemical Sensors

55	 Tactical Receive Equipment

56	 AN/ALE-50 Towed Countermeasures

57	 Low Observables Detection Radar

58	 First Software Defined Tactical Radio

59	 CT-Analyst

60	 Mountain Wave Forecast

61	 Low Solar Absorbance Ship Paint

62	 InfraLynx

63	 SHARP Reconnaissance System

64	 Dragon Eye

65	 Secure Voice Technology

66	 Pulsed X-ray Radiography

67	 Project Silent Guardian

68	 Tactical Microsatellite Experiment (TacSat-1)

69	 Body Armor to Counter Improvised Explosive Devices

REGIONAL CONFLICT AND TERRORISM

47
48 

Specific Emitter Identification 

Achievement 

Specific emitter identification (SEI) provides electronics intelligence (ELINT) signal collection platforms 

with the capability to identify uniquely a radar transmitter with such accuracy as to make it possible to 

assign a “fingerprint” to that particular signal. In using SEI techniques, systems with a radar transmitter 

can be cataloged and tracked, and the data interchangeability between SEI systems allows a signal to be 

collected by one system and then “handed off” to another system for tracking. For example, SEI can be 

used to covertly track a contraband transport whose signal of interest can be collected by an aircraft and 

then transmitted electronically to a ship for subsequent tracking. 

On April 14, 1982, R. Goodwin was the recipient of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award. He was 

cited for: 

“performing and directing the research and development efforts that led to the achievement of an important, 

new Navy capability in real-time pulsed-emitter characterization.” 

In June 1993, the National Security Agency (NSA) recognized the superior capability of NRL’s SEI 

concept and equipment after a competition among numerous participants from industry and other service 

laboratories.93 The NSA test served as an impartial means for selecting an SEI methodology for use as a 

national standard. As a result of the test, NSA issued a message (DTG 011440Z, June 1995) that stated in 

part, “Accordingly, NSA has selected the Naval Research Laboratory processor (L-MISPE) to be the 

standard for conducting SEI/UMOP collection operations....” 

Since that decision, SEI platforms have been very successful at cataloging and tracking platforms of 

interest. In one application, a library of over 300,000 specific radar signals has been compiled. This 

library is shared among the sites to aid in performing tactical intelligence and surveillance tasks. 

Impact 

SEI identifies any radar by its unique characteristics with such accuracy as to “fingerprint” it. In fact, it 

can distinguish between identical models produced off the same assembly line. With SEI systems 

deployed on ships, aircraft, submarines, and ground sites, NRL’s technology has had significant 

warfighting impact. It saw combat action in Kosovo and in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Furthermore, Coast 

Guard vessels, Naval warships, and aircraft have used it to support drug interdiction, enforce treaties, and 

monitor the movement of materials used in weapons of mass destruction. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Goodwin, R.L., “System for Classifying Pulsed Radio-Frequency Modulation,” NRL Classified Patent 

Disclosure No. 772,602, February 10, 1977.94

• Goodwin, R.L., “Electronic Warfare Unintentional-Modulation Processors: System Definition 

Considerations,” NRL Report 9040, June 1988. 

 

93 Christiansen, R.M., et al., “Assessment of L-MISPE Performance in Musketeer Dixie II,” NRL Memorandum Report 7404-93, 

February 14, 1994. 

94 This is Goodwin’s original patent disclosure for emitter feature extraction and use for SEI. Since the abstract was classified, 

no patent was pursued. 
49 

Deep Space Program Science Experiment (Clementine) 

Achievement 

The Deep Space Program Science Experiment (Clementine) program was a highly successful lunar 

mapping mission that tested new spacecraft hardware. During the 1980s, the Ballistic Missile Defense 

Organization (BMDO) developed advanced sensor and component technologies for missile defense 

systems. In 1991, a joint NASA/DoD study concluded that a collaborative deep space mission could test 

these developments and provide a significant science return. The DoD’s goals were to test lightweight 

miniature sensors and components by exposing them to a long-duration space environment while 

obtaining imagery of the Moon and the near-Earth asteroid, Geographos. The BMDO tasked NRL with 

responsibility for mission design, spacecraft engineering, spacecraft manufacture and test, launch vehicle 

integration, terrestrial support, and flight operations. 

In 1994, NRL put a satellite, equipped with a sensor payload, into orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft 

successfully used much newly developed hardware, including imaging sensors provided by the Lawrence 

Livermore National Laboratory. A high-quality mapping mission of the lunar surface was completed 

with outstanding success — a complete imaging of the lunar surface (1.8 million images) in eleven 

discrete wavebands with coarse altimetry over most of the lunar surface. 

This imaging of the Moon’s surface was a great success in its scientific returns: relative positions of 

widely separated lunar features could be accurately determined for the first time, including those on the 

Moon’s far side; some regions in the lunar south pole were imaged with good resolution for the first time, 

with some data indicating the presence of ice; and complete multispectral imaging provided information 

on local mineral composition over the entire lunar surface. These images helped resolve issues such as 

the character and evolution of the primitive lunar crust, thermal evolution of the Moon and lunar 

volcanism, and the impact record and redistribution of crustal and mantle materials. Clementine’s images 

are available for students everywhere to explore in a 3-D interactive environment on the Internet.95 

Impact 

With Clementine’s success, the U.S. returned to the Moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo 

lunar missions. NRL’s satellite demonstrated that the goal of “faster, better, cheaper” was attainable: it 

was built in only 22 months (less than half the usual time) for 1/5 the usual cost for similar space probes.96 

The probe was so simple to operate that its mission control center comprised eight engineers working in a 

warehouse in Alexandria, Virginia.97 As for the presence of ice on the Moon, NASA’s Lunar Prospector 

mission in 1998 found evidence of ice at both lunar poles.98

Primary Reference Documents 

• Nozette, S., Rustan, P., Pleasance, L.P., Horan, D.M., Regeon, P., et al., “The Clementine Mission to the 

Moon: Scientific Overview,” Science, Vol. 266, 1835-1839 (1994). 

• “Clementine Mines its First Nuggets on the Moon,” Science, Vol. 264, June 17, 1994. 

 

95 NASA News Release 05.56AR, 26 October 2005. 

96 Excerpt from certificate accompanying the 1995 Stellar Award to the Clementine Development Team. 

97 Excerpt from the Discover Magazine Award for Technological Innovation (1995)

98 NASA Press Release, “Lunar Prospector Finds Evidence of Ice at Moon’s Poles,” (# 98-38), March 5, 1998.
50 

Polar Ice Prediction System 

Achievement 

The Polar Ice Prediction System (PIPS) is the U.S. Navy’s numerical, model-based, sea ice forecasting 

system. PIPS 1.0 went operational in 1987. It executed daily, 120-hour forecasts of ice thickness, ice 

drift, and ice concentration (including ice edge) for the Arctic and the Barents and Greenland Seas. Two 

additional regional forecast systems for the Barents and Greenland Seas became operational in 1989 and 

1991, respectively. These models also made 120-hour forecasts of the same conditions as PIPS 1.0, but at 

five times the resolution. PIPS 2.0 became operational in 1995 and superseded all earlier forecasting 

systems. It is the first fully coupled, operational, ice-ocean nowcast/forecast system in the world 

encompassing all sea-ice covered regions in the northern hemisphere. It combines the Hibler ice model 

technology of the earlier PIPS with a Bryan-Cox ocean model to provide more accurate 5-day ice 

forecasts. 

PIPS’ use of remotely sensed data from assimilation in ice/ocean prediction is also a first. Although 

satellite data have previously been used by the high-latitude scientific community for model validation 

and verification purposes, NRL’s team is the first to make use of satellite-derived ice data (ice 

concentration) as part of a data assimilation technique used to initialize daily ice/ocean forecast systems. 

The value of this capability has been recognized by other international forecasting centers, such as the 

U.K. Meteorology Office, by requesting this technique for incorporation into their own forecast systems. 

PIPS 2.0, built on technology of the late 1980s and early 1990s, is scheduled to be replaced by PIPS 3.0. 

This coupled ice-ocean forecast system will consist of the recently developed Los Alamos ice model, 

CICE, coupled to the latest in Navy operational global ocean forecasting technology, the Global NCOM 

(Navy Coastal Ocean Model). The PIPS 3.0 multi-category ice thickness and improved ice ridging 

capability will provide more accurate forecasts of ice thickness, concentration and ice drift. 

Impact 

Accurate ice forecasts are important to the U.S. Navy operations. NRL’s PIPS (PIPS 1.0 through PIPS 

2.0) provided a major advance to the state of the art in operational sea-ice assimilation and forecasting. 

These were the first of their kind, real-time, operational capabilities in the world and are still unequaled 

today. PIPS provides operational guidance to the National Ice Center (a joint Navy, National 

Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Coast Guard organization) in its civilian and military 

forecasts of high-latitude ice conditions. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Preller, R.H., Posey, P.G., Maslowski, W., Stark, D., and Pham, T.T.C., “Navy Sea Ice Prediction 

Systems,” The Oceanography Society Magazine, March 2002. 

• Preller, R.H., “Sea Ice Prediction-The Development of a Suite of Sea Ice Forecasting Systems for the 

Northern Hemisphere,” The Oceanography Society Magazine, June 1992. 

• Cheng, A. and Preller, R., “An Ice-Ocean Coupled Model for the Northern Hemisphere,” Geophysical 

Research Letters, Vol. 10, 901-904 (1992). 

• Preller, R.J., Walsh, J., and Maslanik, J., “Use of Satellite Data in Model Simulations,” in Microwave 

Remote Sensing of Sea Ice, Carsey, F., ed. (American Geophysical Union, 1992), pp. 385-398. 
51 

Optical Immunoassays and Sensors 

Achievement 

An ideal biosensor for monitoring of contaminants in a manufacturing process or in the environment 

needs to be sensitive, simple to use, and employ minimal sample processing. Systems requiring extensive 

sample extraction or highly skilled personnel will not gain widespread acceptance. NRL has developed 

biosensors for field use that are portable, easy to use, and require only that the sample be a relatively 

nonviscous liquid. NRL’s biosensors use antibodies and other biomolecules to recognize biological threat 

agents and environmental hazards rapidly and at extremely low concentrations. 

NRL’s fiber-optic-based biosensors have been used to measure biological toxins in river water and 

clinical samples (blood, serum, plasma) or harmless bacteria released in field exercises and collected from 

the air. DNA-based assays, which can be used for verification of immunoassay screens, have also been 

developed. In addition, the biosensors have been used to detect drugs of abuse in urine and saliva and to 

monitor explosives in groundwater or soil. 

The Analyte2000 was first developed at NRL for deployment during Operation Desert Storm. This 

device was the first biowarfare agent detector to demonstrate remote identification of aerosolized bacteria 

while mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle.99 It has since been transferred to commercial manufacture. 

Research International is marketing the RAPTOR fiber optic sensor and has signed agreements with 

Canon to supply sensors for food testing and with BAE Systems to provide devices for biological warfare 

agent detection. The flow immunosensor technology has been commercialized in an instrument designed 

for on-site lab-quality drug testing. 

Impact 

NRL’s portable biosensors have demonstrated in the field how antibody recognition can be integrated 

with state-of-the-art optical components to recognize hazardous substances in complex samples. The 

sensors are sensitive, automated, straight-forward to use, and provide valuable on-site detection 

capabilities. The sensors are capable of detecting biological toxins in water, blood, serum, and plasma; 

detecting drugs of abuse in urine and saliva; and monitoring explosives in groundwater or soil. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• U.S. Patent No. 5,077,210 to Ligler, F.S., Calvert, J., Georger, J., Shriver-Lake, L., Bhatia, S., and 

Bredehorst, R., “Immobilization of Active Agents on Substrates with a Silane and Heterobifunctional 

Crosslinker,” December 31, 1991. 

• U.S. Patent No. 5,061,857 to Thompson, R. and Villarruel, C., “Waveguide-Binding Sensor for Use with 

Assays,” October 19, 1991. 

• U.S. Patent No. 5,183,740 to Ligler, F.S., Gaber, B.P., Kusterbeck, A.W., and Wemhoff, G.A., “Flow 

Immunosensor Method and Apparatus,” February 2, 1993. 

• U.S. Patent No. 5,430,813 to Anderson, G.P. and Golden, J.P., “Mode-Matched Combination Taper FiberOptic Probe,” July 4, 1995. 

• Bart, J.C., Judd, L.L., Hoffman, K.E., Wilkins, A.M., and Kusterbeck, A.W., “Application of a Portable 

Immunosensor to Detect the Explosives TNT and RDX in Groundwater Samples,” Environmental Science 

Technology, Vol. 31, 1505-1511 (1997). 

• U.S. Patent No. 6,020,209 to Narang, U., Ligler, F.S., Gauger, P.R, “Microcapillary-Based Displacement 

Flow Assay,” Feb. 1, 2000. 

 

99 “On Alert Against the Bio-Agents,” Jane’s International Defense Review (1 Nov 1998), p. 53. 
52 

Mesoscale Prediction Systems 

Achievement 

Two mesoscale prediction systems have been developed and transitioned to operations by NRL: the Navy 

Operational Regional Atmospheric Prediction System (NORAPS) and the Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere 

Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS).100 NORAPS, implemented in 1982, became the first globally 

relocatable limited-area model of its kind, and in 1985, it became the first regional model in the world to 

use data assimilation. NORAPS supported naval operations in Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert 

Storm, Operation Tandem Thrust, Bosnia, Somalia, and Haiti. 

COAMPS replaced NORAPS as the Navy operational mesoscale model in 1998. COAMPS allows for 

more accurate forecasts over areas that exhibit steep topographic features and strong convection, predicts 

tropical cyclone track and structure, predicts the distribution of aerosols, and explicitly predicts water and 

ice clouds, as well as rain and snow. It has been used to supply forensic re-analyses of the atmospheric 

conditions (wind, temperature, moisture, and pressure) during Operation Desert Storm in support of the 

Presidential Advisory Committee’s investigation into Gulf War Illness.101 For example, it produced 

estimates of where chemicals, accidentally released from the demolition of a large ammunition storage 

site near Khamisiyah, Iraq, may have been transported. Independent expert panels praised NRL’s efforts 

for providing the most accurate assessment of the mesoscale meteorology during that time.102 

COAMPS is supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq by providing high-resolution wind simulation 

data to help evaluate the effects of wind variability on munitions targeting and the probable atmospheric 

effects upon aircraft detection and ranging systems. Measurements from instruments aboard earthobserving satellites, combined with dust modeling research, were used to provide real-time assessments 

of atmospheric dust conditions and dust storm prediction. In fact, a database of dust source regions in 

Southwest and East Asian deserts was developed based on field studies, satellite remote sensing, and 

topography. It allows high-resolution dust storm forecasts for Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. COAMPS was 

also used to produce local forecasts aboard an aircraft carrier, a world-first accomplishment. 

Impact 

NRL’s NORAPS and COAMPS are mesoscale data assimilation systems used for generating highresolution numerical analyses and short-term (0 to 48 hour) predictions of the atmosphere for limited 

areas of the Earth. Weather maps produced from these systems are distributed to operational DoD 

commands around the world to support mission planning, ship and aircraft operations, and hazardous 

weather avoidance. COAMPS has also been requested and is routinely used by other organizations. For 

example, DoE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory uses the model to assist in providing transport 

and dispersion forecasts of hazardous material releases. The Weather Channel also uses COAMPS data. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Hodur, R.M., “Evaluation of a Regional Model with an Update Cycle,” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 115, 

2707-2718 (1987). 

• Hodur, R.M., “The Naval Research Laboratory’s Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction 

System (COAMPS),” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 125, 1414-1430 (1997). 

 

100 COAMPS and COAMPS-OS (On Scene) are trademarks of the Naval Research Laboratory. 

101 Chang, S.W., et al., “A Meteorological Re-Analysis for the Study of Gulf War Illness,” NRL/MR/534--98-7233, January 

1998. 

102 “Comments by Peer Review Panel on Khamisiyah Modeling Report and Presentations, 4-5 November 1997,” (11 Dec 1997). 
53 

Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance for Detection of Explosives and Narcotics 

Achievement 

NRL invented technology for the detection of explosives and narcotics by the method of nuclear 

quadrupole resonance (NQR). NQR is a radio frequency (RF) spectroscopic technique, related to nuclear 

magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, no large magnet is 

required in NQR. The specimen is irradiated with RF energy at specific frequencies, and the size of the 

return signal indicates the presence or absence of known explosives and narcotics. 

NRL scientists pioneered the practical use of NQR for explosives and narcotics detection by successfully 

addressing the technical issues required to take NQR out of the laboratory and into the field. One key 

technical breakthrough allows NQR inspection by low-power RF pulses, rather than the extremely high 

power required in earlier approaches. A second is a customized RF inspection coil specifically applicable 

to the screening of personnel, so that minimal RF energy is deposited. A third approach minimizes some 

of the technical problems of acoustic ringing in metal contents of baggage and also reduces the 

temperature variation of the NQR signal. 

NRL work on NQR was originally funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the DoD 

(Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Special Technologies), to 

advance U.S. capabilities in antiterrorism and antidrug efforts. Explosives detection systems for package 

and baggage scanning in airports and other fixed sites have been built by Quantum Magnetics under NRL 

license. Several package scanners have been sold to the FAA and to the DoD (for mail scanning). More 

recently, NRL has applied this research to land mine detection, which is both a military and humanitarian 

requirement. 

Impact 

This technology provides a major advancement in the state of the art for explosives and narcotics 

detection. In 1997, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security recommended that 

NQR systems be purchased and deployed to enhance security at U.S. airports. NQR is in a preliminary 

testing stage for land mine detection. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Garroway, A.N., Buess, M.L., Miller, J.B., Suits, B.H., Hibbs, A.D., Barrall, G.A., Matthews, R., and 

Burnett, L.J., “Remote Sensing by Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance,” IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and 

Remote Sensing, Vol. 39, No. 6 (June 2001), pp. 1108-1118. 

• Buess, M.L., Garroway, A.N., Miller, J.B., and Yesinowski, J.P., “Explosives Detection by Pure 14N NQR,” 

in Advances in Analysis and Detection of Explosives, J. Yinon, ed. (Kluwer Press, Amsterdam, 1993), pp. 

361-368. 

• U.S. Patent No. 5,206,592 to Buess, M.L., Garroway, A.N., and Miller, J.B., “Detection of Explosives by 

Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance,” April 27, 1993. 

• U.S. Patent No. 5,233,300 to Buess, M.L., Garroway, A.N., and Miller, J.B., “Detection of Explosives and 

Narcotics by Low Power Large Volume Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR),” August 3, 1993. 
54 

Surface Acoustic Wave Chemical Sensors 

Achievement 

NRL scientists pioneered the use of surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology to detect chemical vapors. 

The NRL R&D efforts, dating back to 1981, were supported in the developmental stages by the U.S. 

Army and Air Force, and will become a fielded technology at the point when the DoD’s Joint Chemical 

Agent Detector (JCAD) goes into production. 

JCAD is a handheld device that provides users with the capability to detect, identify, quantify, and 

localize automatically the presence of chemical warfare agent (CWA) vapors by agent class (nerve, 

blister, etc.). JCAD also will provide field commanders information on the type, level, and extent of 

CWA contamination and total CWA exposure received. 

NRL’s SAW research and development efforts have focused on developing chemically selective coatings 

for the device to have chemical selectivity and pattern recognition methods for CWA identification. In 

the early 1990s, NRL developed the first instrument that included a 4-SAW sensor array (for reduction of 

false alarms) and a preconcentrator (for increased sensitivity). Pattern recognition algorithms were also 

employed to interpret the results. From 1993 to 1995, the SAW sensors were field tested in Korea, and in 

the late 1990s, an NRL SAW device was tested in an unmanned aerial vehicle. 

Impact 

SAW chemical sensors, like those implemented in JCAD, are a major capability for military and 

homeland defense detection of chemical warfare agents. Advanced prototype units of JCAD were 

deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and at present BAE is selling a commercial model of the JCAD. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• U.S. Patent No. 4,312,228 to Wohltjen, H., “Methods of detection with surface acoustic wave apparati,” 

January 26, 1982. 

• U.S. Patent No. 4,992,244 to Grate, J.W., “Films of dithiolene complexes in gas-detecting microsensors,” 

February 12, 1991. 

• U.S. Patent No. 5,756,631 to Grate, J.W., “Siloxanes with strong hydrogen bond donating functionalities,” 

May 26, 1988. 

• U.S. Patent No. 5,469,369 to Rose-Pehrrson, S.L., Dilella, D., Grate, J.W., “Smart sensor system and 

method using a surface acoustic wave vapor sensor array and pattern recognition for selective trace organic 

vapor detection,” November 21, 1995. 

• U.S. Patent No. 6,289,328 to Schaffer, R.E., “Chemical sensor pattern recognition system and method 

using a self-training neural network classifier with automated outlier detection,” September 11, 2001. 
55 

Tactical Receive Equipment 

Achievement 

In the area of tactical receive equipment, NRL developed two major items: the Multi-Mission Advanced 

Tactical Terminal (MATT) and the Improved Data Modem (IDM). 

MATT: The MATT is a satellite communications, ultra-high-frequency, four-channel radio terminal, with 

a multi-user format output capability in an 8 x 8 x 19-inch frame. This self-contained unit is capable of 

simultaneously receiving, decrypting, and processing intelligence reports. The U.S. Special Operations 

Command (SOCOM) selected NRL to develop the unit. NRL successfully met SOCOM design 

requirements and delivered the first qualified units in 24 months. The successful evaluation of the MATT 

led to the milestone decision for full-rate production and transfer of the technology to industry as the 

Airborne Joint Tactical Terminal (JTT). 

IDM: In 1990, the Air Force chose NRL to lead a multiservice, multidisciplinary team in developing a 

high-speed digital data modem for use by F-16 aircraft to pass targeting data and situational awareness 

updates rapidly. NRL’s successful record in space and satellite systems development made it uniquely 

qualified for the task of maximizing performance, reliability, and quality, while minimizing size, weight, 

and power. Just nine months later, NRL had developed, produced, and delivered the first five units for 

aircraft integration. Throughout the process, NRL incorporated design features to enhance reliability and 

simplify automated assembly and production. In 1993, the technology transfer process was completed, 

three months ahead of schedule and under budget, with the award of an Air Force contract to a small 

business using the drawing package delivered by NRL. The Air Force considers the IDM program to be 

one of the finest examples of acquisition streamlining. 

Impact 

MATT filled a need for a miniaturized multifunction radio and processor that provides near-real-time 

national intelligence data to field commanders and tactical fighters. In addition, MATT provides the 

ability to combine both intelligence and theater data in the selection of targets. The IDM program 

established the first digital data link capability between fighter aircraft and between fighter aircraft and 

ground units. The IDM provides pilots the ability to do in seconds (or less) what used to take several 

minutes by voice radio, thus minimizing exposure to enemy jamming and/or transmission interception. It 

is used on Air Force F-16s103 and Navy carrier-based EA-6Bs serving in the Persian Gulf. It is a key 

component in all Army aviation platforms and numerous Air Force programs. 

 

Primary Reference Documents 

• MATT System Operator’s Manual, NRAD 0.07.388.5 (January 18, 1993). 

• MATT Certification Approval, NSA R091819 (December 1993). 

• Final Operation Evaluation of MATT, USS Port Royal R070017 (June 1996). 

• Memorandum of Agreement Between the U.S. Air Force and NRL for the Development of the Improved 

Data Modem, December 5, 1990. 

 

103 Covault, C., “F-16 Data Link Sharpens Close Air Support,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 13, 1996. 
56 

AN/ALE-50 Towed Countermeasures 

Achievement 

NRL’s earlier development of monopulse radar provided a ten-fold improvement in angular accuracy for 

long-range tracking by fire and missile control radars.104 By the 1970s, however, adversaries had applied 

monopulse capabilities to their surface-to-air missiles. This created a distinct threat to American aircraft. 

NRL responded to this threat by development of the Airborne Active Expendable Decoy (AAED), which 

was an electronic device designed to counter modern radar-guided antiaircraft threats. Laboratory 

researchers initially explored the development of both towed countermeasures and decoys attached to 

aircraft launched missiles for threat deflection. Eventually, towed concepts proved more practicable, and 

the towed version of the AAED, the AN/ALE-50, was the first towed decoy to be used as an in-flight 

countermeasure. 

The towed decoy concept differs from the traditional goals of electronic warfare where antiaircraft 

missiles are denied the information needed to launch and intercept. Advances in monopulse radars and 

processing have made this an increasingly hard task. Instead, the towed decoy’s effectiveness lies in 

looking more like an aircraft than the aircraft itself, pulling the threat to itself instead of pushing it away, 

as in the case for onboard systems. 

During the joint Navy/Air Force Multi-Service Decoy Program, flight-worthy devices were tested and 

proved to be extremely effective. Over the years, the AN/ALE-50 has surpassed expectations at every 

stage of its development. The end result of this work has been an increased capability for the U.S. 

military. 

Impact 

NRL’s AN/ALE-50 has made billions of dollars worth of advanced antiaircraft threats in the hands of the 

U.S.’s opponents less effective. It has had a dramatic impact on the way U.S. aircraft fly and fight. Until 

the AN/ALE-50, aircrews were forced to fly low altitude, “nap-of-the-earth” flight paths to avoid the 

radar-guided threat, which, in turn, forced them into the envelope of shoulder-fired missiles and 

antiaircraft artillery. In fact, this decoy protects combat aircraft so well that it has earned the nickname 

“Little Buddy” from our pilots.105 In the Kosovo campaign alone, 1,479 were used and the system was 

credited with saving several aircraft.106 

Primary Reference Documents 

• ASN (RD&A) memorandum to Program Executive Officer for tactical Aircraft Programs, subj. “AN/ALE50 (V) Countermeasures Decoy Dispensing Set Milestone III Approval,” dated 9 Dec. 1996. 

• DD1498, “Airborne Active Expendable Decoy,” WU#57-1284-0, dated 12 May 1980. 

 

104 Gebhard, L.A., Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report 

8300, 1979, p. 200. 

105 “Order for ALE-50 Doubles After Success in Kosovo,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, 15 November 1999. 

106 http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/defense/ewarfareqdr.htm, and Benjamin Lambeth, Aerospace Power Journal, Summer 

2002, p. 21. 
57 

Low Observables Detection Radar 

Achievement 

In response to the USS Stark incident and to the increased deployment of U.S. forces in dangerous littoral 

and other heavy clutter environments, NRL scientists developed and tested shipboard radars that can 

detect and track low-radar cross section air and surface targets that pose potential threats to naval assets. 

Sea Skimmer Detection Radar. NRL developed and tested an advanced development model shipboard 

radar that detects and tracks sea-skimming missiles near the horizon in difficult littoral environments, 

with extremely low false alarm rates. The radar operates simultaneously in both surface and air modes, 

with the air mode providing an unprecedented clutter rejection level that is orders of magnitude better 

than previous technology. The surface mode is able to track small boats and helicopters in heavy sea 

clutter. The new technology was obtained at low cost and light weight. The radar, now named the 

AN/SPQ-9B Anti-Ship Missile Defense radar, was transitioned to Northrop Grumman for production. 

Low Observable Detection and Tracking. NRL developed operational means for applying the NRLdeveloped, large power SENRAD radar to the littoral environment. Operating at full sensitivity, this large 

aperture radar is able to detect and track small targets. Laboratory researchers raised the radar’s pulse 

repetition frequency and developed new innovative processing techniques to enable the radar to reject 

signals from stationary clutter while ignoring clutter from slow moving nuisance targets, consisting 

primarily of birds. The radar was then able to concentrate on small, high-speed targets of interest, at a 

small false tracking rate. 

Impact 

The AN/SPQ-9B radar was approved for full-rate production in February 2004. It is the only Fleet radar 

that has been shown to detect and track sea-skimming missiles near the horizon in difficult littoral 

environments, while maintaining very low false-track rates. It is an important addition to naval armament 

in confined sea environments such as the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. NRL’s low observable detection 

technology has been able to provide the AN/SPS-49 radar the ability to detect and track very small highspeed targets through heavy land, sea, rain and ducted clutter, as well as when large numbers of nuisance 

objects, such as birds, are present. It provides the Navy the capability to detect and defend itself from 

attacks from small high-speed vessels in the littoral environment. The AN/SPQ-9B radar is installed on 

the CVN-68, CVN-76, CV-67, and LPD-17, and is under consideration for the CG-47, DD51, and LCS 

ship classes. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• W.J. Cheung et al., “AN/SPQ-9(I) ADM Radar Processor Functions and Software,” NRL Memorandum 

Report 7608, Oct. 3, 1994. 

• B. Cantrell et al., “Test Results of a Radar Operating Without STC,” 32nd Annual Tri-Service Symposium 

Proceedings, July 1986. 

• B. Cantrell et al., “A New Single Scan Range and Range Rate Capability for the AN/SPS-49 Radar,” 36th

Annual Tri-Service Radar Symposium Proceedings, June 1990. 

• D.J. Cardiel, L.M. Leibowitz, H.H. Faust, F.L. Lin, and B.H. Cantrell, “AN/SPQ-9B Radar Test Results 

Onboard USS Oldendorf (U),” NRL Formal Report 5340-01-9965, March 2001. 

• D. Cardiel, P. Jones, J. Cunnick, J. Koss, M. Meyer, L. Leibowitz, “AN/SPQ-9B Radar Technical 

Evaluation Test Results on Board USS Oldendorf (U),” NRL Formal Report 5340-04-10081, May 2004. 
58 

First Software Defined Tactical Radio 

Achievement 

In 1989 the Department of Defense recognized the need to address the serious tactical communication 

problems that were occurring on the battlefield. Existing tactical radios lacked interoperability and could 

not be easily integrated onto military platforms. Comprehensive communications across the battlefield 

required the simultaneous use of many different radios. In response, military R&D efforts were initiated 

to develop a radio that could be software adapted to supporting tactical communications over multiple 

bands and modes. 

In 1994, the U.S. Army contracted NRL to develop an airborne Tactical Operational Center (TOC) that 

was to be housed in a UH-60 Army Blackhawk helicopter. The TOC would need to support 37 heritage 

radios, an impossible housing and power demand for a single helicopter. To meet the Army’s needs, 

NRL developed the Joint Combat Information Terminal (JCIT), an eight-channel software radio designed 

to meet the environmental, volume, and power constraints of the UH-60. The JCIT, through the mediation 

of software, took the place of the 37 heritage radios, demanding as a consequence only a fraction of the 

latter’s size, power, and weight. 

Impact 

The JCIT has been installed and operated on a number of military platforms. As the first military 

software radio to be successfully field-tested, the JCIT has contributed significantly to the proof-ofconcept that the use of software-definable radios could be the basis for solving tactical communications 

problems. Many of the processes and implementation mechanisms developed for the JCIT have been 

adopted by the later, more comprehensive Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS). JTRS is mandated as the 

basis for acquisition of all future tactical communication systems. Additionally, the principles established 

in implementing JCIT have also been applied to civilian communications problems, most particularly 

those relating to homeland security. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• SSD-S-AA001 System Specification for Army Airborne Command and Control System (A2C2S) 

• SSD-S-AA800 Prime Item Development Specification for the JCIT 
59 

CT-Analyst 

Achievement 

The CT-Analyst system (Contaminant Transport System) is the first operational, instantaneous 

emergency assessment system for airborne contaminants and WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) 

threats in cities. 

CT-Analyst takes full account of the effect of buildings on the airflow and is both faster and more 

accurate than all other existing or proposed systems. It automatically combines data from sensors and 

verbal reports to plot optimal evacuation routes through use of an entirely new fluid dynamics solution 

methodology called dispersion nomographs. This new approach uses detailed 3D, high-resolution fluid 

simulations to generate a complete database for the wind flow over a realistic city, with all buildings and 

trees included. The database is compressed into 18 tables, or dispersion nomographs, for each of 18 wind 

directions over the city. The resulting information helps plan effective defense strategies against 

accidental and intentional contaminant releases. 

Impact 

CT-Analyst is already in use by federal emergency managers, police and fire officials in Washington, 

D.C. and Chicago, Illinois, for everyday as well as crisis use. CT-Analyst was used by the Naval Central 

Command during Operation Iraqi Freedom for the protection of U.S. forces and strike planning 

consideration. It has been selected by the Missile Defense Agency for urban dispersion and consequence 

management and is being implemented for force and base protection, as well as mobile deployment in 

conflict situations. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Boris, J.P., “The Threat of Chemical and Biological Terrorism: Preparing a Response,” Computing in 

Science and Engineering 4 (2), March/April 2002, pp. 22-32. 

• Boris, J.P., K. Obenschain, G. Patnaik, and T. Young, Jr., “CT-Analyst: Fast and Accurate CBR 

Emergency Assessment,” Proceedings of the First Joint Conference on Battle Management for Nuclear, 

Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Defense, Williamsburg, VA, 4-8 November 2002. 

• Patnaik, G., J.P. Boris, F.F. Grinstein, and J.P. Iselin, “Large Scale Urban Simulations With the Miles 

Approach,” American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics Paper 2003-4104, Orlando, FL, 23-25 June 

2003. 
60 

Mountain Wave Forecast 

Achievement 

Mountain waves are among the most hazardous conditions that aircraft encounter. They are the result of 

air rising up the windward side of a mountain and then, under certain atmospheric conditions, descending 

on the leeward side. This results in the formation of a series of standing waves downwind from the 

mountain that may extend over considerable areas and form a potential flight hazard.107 

Mountain wave turbulence is the major global source of severe turbulence for high-altitude longendurance DoD aircraft such as the U-2s and Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles. To reach their 

60,000 to 70,000 feet cruise altitudes, such aircraft must eliminate weight and maximize lift, sacrificing 

some of the heavy structural rigidity of conventional aircraft. This makes them vulnerable to any severe 

turbulence they may encounter at altitude. They also have enormous geographical range, and thus require 

global forecasts of atmospheric conditions for safe flight planning. 

In response to these challenges, NRL scientists developed the Mountain Wave Forecast Model (MWFM), 

which is the only meteorological model capable of globally forecasting mountain wave activity and waveinduced turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere from near the surface to beyond 100,000 feet. MWFM is 

also a valuable tool for fundamental atmospheric research. It has been used to direct flights with NASA / 

European Union aircraft and balloons for studying the physics of polar stratospheric clouds. MWFM 

provides hemispheric hindcasts of mountain wave effects for global chemical transport models related to 

the study of the seasonal impact of PSCs on winter ozone loss in the Arctic, and it has provided modeling 

support for the first observations of mountain waves from satellite platforms. 

Impact 

MWFM has had an impact on turbulence forecasting for military and civilian aircraft. It was used to 

predict flight conditions for allied aircraft during operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and 

Iraqi Freedom. It was adapted to run hindcasts of stratospheric mountain wave turbulence over 

Afghanistan from 1994 to 2001, in order to generate a multiyear climatology of anticipated turbulence 

levels and geographical distributions, in response to requests from the Air Force Combat Climatology 

Center. NASA also routinely requests MWFM turbulence forecasts for flight planning during airborne 

science campaigns with their instrumented DC-8 and high-altitude ER-2 research aircraft. 

 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Bacmeister, J.T., P.A. Newman, B.L. Gary, and K.R. Chan, “An Algorithm for Forecasting Mountain 

Wave Related Turbulence in the Stratosphere,” Weather Forecasting, Vol. 9, pp. 241-253 (1994). 

• Eckermann, S.D., “Climatology of Mountain Wave-Induced Turbulence in the Stratosphere over Central 

Asia: October-December 1994-2001,” Naval Research Laboratory Technical Memorandum, 

NRL/MR/7640-02-8594, May 24, 2002. 

 

107 Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Public Education Factsheets, “Mountain Wave Turbulence.”
61 

Low Solar Absorbance Ship Paint 

Achievement 

NRL developed Low Solar Absorbance (LSA) paint in order to reduce solar heating on Navy ships. The 

paint was tested in 1995, when it was applied to the USS Dextrous (MCM 13), and it produced a 

significant reduction in surface temperatures during summertime operations in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Testing demonstrated that LSA not only reduced ship surface temperatures and the load on air 

conditioning systems, but also decreased the ship’s infrared (IR) signature. 

The USS Dextrous has since been deployed to the Persian Gulf where the paint’s solar reflective 

properties reduce heat buildup, increase crew comfort, and decrease the ship’s IR signature. LCA paint 

has been transitioned into the Fleet, and now all Navy ships are painted with the NRL-designed paint. 

Impact 

LSA paint has reduced solar heating on Navy ships, leading to lower air conditioning and maintenance 

costs and greater crew comfort. The paint has reduced the susceptibility of all coated Navy ships to 

hostile IR sensors and to IR-guided munitions. The per gallon cost of the LSA paint is virtually identical 

to the Standard Haze Grey paint it replaced, resulting in a cost-effective infrared stealth technology for 

the Navy. It is now the standard paint applied to all U.S. Navy vessels. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Brady, R.F. and L.W. Wake, “Principles and Formulations for Coatings with Tailored Infrared Properties,” 

Progress in Organic Coatings, Vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1-25 (1992). 

• Dries, J., D. Fraedrich, and S. Surko, “Infrared Ship Signature Reductions Using Low-Solar Absorbance 

Paint,” Proceedings of the 41st Annual Joint Electronic Warfare Conference, San Francisco, 1996. 

• Surko, S. and D. Fraedrich, “Haze Gray and ... Sunk?,” Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 123, no. 11 

(November 1997), pp. 67-69. 
62 

InfraLynx 

Achievement 

Prior to 2001, NRL engineers designed an interoperable communication infrastructure (InfraLynx) to 

provide assured communication capabilities to military and civilian authorities for use in areas where the 

local infrastructure is destroyed or completely saturated. Three days after the September 11 terrorist 

attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, NRL responded by integrating the InfraLynx 

architecture into two Highly Mobile Multi Wheeled Vehicles to provide a satellite-enabled complex of 

multiple telephone lines, high-speed network access, and private cellular and radio interoperability. The 

resulting capability would allow First Responders to communicate when the local infrastructure had been 

destroyed, as was the case with the World Trade Center in New York City, or when the infrastructure was 

completely saturated, as was the case at the Pentagon. 

The Federal Office of Domestic Preparedness quickly adopted InfraLynx as the primary element of the 

Pre-positioned Equipment Program and began an aggressive program of field exercise and training drills 

to make agencies around the country aware of this technology. This began with a deployment to the 2002 

Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and has continued with several national security events, Weapons of 

Mass Destruction (WMD) training exercises, and Super Bowl XXXVII. 

Impact 

InfraLynx has set the U.S. standard for assured communications and radio interoperability and has filled a 

serious emergency communications gap that existed among federal, state, and local agencies prior to the 

September 11 terror attacks. It was deployed by the Office of Domestic Preparedness for contingency 

communication support during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and during Super Bowl 

XXXVII. InfraLynx has been on more than 16 deployments since 9/11, supporting counter-terrorism 

training, WMD preparedness drills, communications interoperability evaluation and awareness programs, 

and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• U.S. Patent Application 10/691,643, “Infrastructure Linkage and Augmentation System (InfraLynx),” 

October 2003. 

• Dixit, J., “So That a Disaster Doesn’t Become a Communications Disaster,” New York Times, Sept. 12, 

2002, pg. 7. 

• Careless, J., “Preplanning Disaster Communications,” Advanced Rescue Technology, Vol. 6, no. 1 

(Feb/March 2003), pp. 43-46. 
63 

SHARP Reconnaissance System 

Achievement 

The F/A-18 SHAred Reconnaissance Pod (SHARP) is a digital reconnaissance system developed by NRL 

scientists to replace the aging film-based F-14 Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS). 

SHARP provides high-resolution visible and infrared digital imagery from medium and high altitude 

cameras. 

The system is controlled by the NRL-developed Reconnaissance Management System and ground station 

technology, which allows for real-time compression, on-board storage and manipulation, and off-board 

dissemination of the imagery. Real-time imagery is delivered to ground and sea-based forces through 

radio and wideband digital data links. 

SHARP technology includes day / night imaging, in-cockpit image review and exploitation, precision 

geo-coordinate determination for targeting applications, manual or automatic mission execution, real-time 

dissemination of imagery products to ground stations, and standardized hardware interfaces. The multifunctional SHARP technology is adaptable to manned or unmanned platforms. 

The SHARP reconnaissance system and the associated ground station technology have been successfully 

transitioned to the Navy for full-rate production. SHARP and related efforts can also be applied to border 

monitoring. 

Impact 

The first production systems were installed on F/A-18 aircraft and the USS Nimitz and were deployed in 

Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In addition, SHARP-based reconnaissance technology was used in OIF 

with an F-14 squadron on the USS Truman. Front-line Coalition Forces received targeting imagery 

directly from this system. The timeliness of this imagery, as opposed to the three-to-nine day norm 

associated with predecessor imaging systems, was critical to advancing U.S. objectives and saved 

Coalition lives. The SHARP program development has outperformed “all previous joint service efforts to 

rapidly develop, prototype, and field affordable manned and unmanned imaging systems.”108 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Kent, D.C. “The SHAred Reconnaissance Pod (SHARP) Program,” in Airborne Reconnaissance XXV, 

W.G. Fishell, and A.A. Andraitis, Editors, Vo. 4492, Proceedings of SPIE, 2002, pp. 42-52. 

• Duncan, M.D., M.R. Kruer, D.C. Linne von Berg, R.A. Patten, and J.N. Lee, “Report on the SHARP 

Prototype Effort,” NRL Formal Report NRL/FR-MM/5633--01-10,015, December 17, 2001. 

• Duncan, M.D., M.R. Kruer, J.N. Lee, and D.C. Linne von Berg, “Transforming Manned Recon: Navy 

Embraces Digital Imaging for Carrier-Based Fighters,” Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance 

Journal, May-June 2003, Vol. 2. No. 3, pp. 15-22. 

 

108 Rear Admiral J. Michael Johnson, USN (Ret.) and Lieutenant Colonel Michael Lobb, USMC (Ret.), “Manned Reconnaissance 

Must Continue,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 129, No. 7 (July 2003), p. 36-38. 
64 

Dragon Eye 

Achievement 

NRL scientists, in collaboration with the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, developed an affordable 

and expendable airborne sensor platform, Dragon Eye, to provide small unit reconnaissance, battle 

damage assessment, and threat detection capabilities to the U.S. Marine Corps. 

Dragon Eye consists of a man-portable, 5.5 lb., hand-launched air vehicle and a miniature Ground Control 

Station to provide command and control and to receive the aircraft’s video and GPS position. The vehicle 

flight characteristics permit operational use in adverse weather conditions, and the autonomous flight 

capability allows one-person operation. Operational flight endurance is 45 minutes, at an airspeed of 35 

knots, with a range of 5 miles, by using an electric propulsion system with primary lithium batteries. 

Interchangeable modular component payloads include daylight, low-light, and infrared imaging systems. 

Impact 

Dragon Eye was successfully transitioned to the Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC), and preproduction units were deployed with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq during Operation Iraqi 

Freedom (OIF). These units provided critical intelligence to American forces in the field. A post-OIF 

review from the 1st Marine Division noted that on-site intelligence delivered by Dragon Eye proved to be 

the conspicuous bright spot in overall OIF intelligence gathering.109 MCSC awarded a Dragon Eye 

production contract to AeroVironment, Inc., in December of 2003. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Foch, R., “Affordably Expendable Unmanned Air Vehicles,” White Paper prepared for the Secretary of the 

Navy, April 1999. 

• Foch, R., Dahlburg, J., McMains, J. et al., “Dragon Eye, an Airborne Sensor System for Small Units,” 

AUVSI Unmanned Systems 2000, 11-13 July 2000, Orlando, Florida. 

• MacKrell, J., Bovais, C., Foch, R. et al., “Dragon Eye, A Small Unit Reconnaissance Platform,” Unmanned 

Vehicle System Technology Conference, 6-7 December 2001, Brussels, Belgium. 

• Foch, R. et al., “Dragon Eye Small UAV SECNAV Initiative Rapid Development Program,” White Paper 

prepared for the Secretary of the Navy, March 2002. 

• Bovais, C., MacKrell, J., Foch, R., and Carruthers, S., “Dragon Eye UAV: Concept to Production,” 

Eighteenth Bristol Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Conference, 31 March–2 April 2003, Bristol, United 

Kingdom. 

 

109 Jaffe, Greg, “U.S. Intelligence in Iraq Comes Under Fire From Army, Marines,” The Wall Street Journal, Dec 8, 2003, p. B2. 
65 

Secure Voice Technology 

Achievement 

In the 1990s, the Department of Defense introduced a new narrowband voice-processing algorithm, called 

the Mixed-Excitation Linear Predictor (MELP), for supporting tactical communications. NRL scientists 

in the 1970s had specified and developed the predecessor LPC voice-processing algorithm for use with 

the DoD’s Advanced Narrowband Digital Voice Terminal (ANDVT), DoD’s most widely used 

operational tactical terminal. Because of this work, the DoD’s Voice Processor Consortium asked the 

Laboratory to investigate means of converting MELP voice data into the ANDVT voice data (and vice 

versa) so that these two DoD tactical secure phones can interoperate directly. Without the use of 

conversion software, 40,000 ANDVTs that are supporting tactical voice communication for users in DoD 

and special government agencies would have been made redundant and there would have been a 

potentially long transition period. 

In response to the DoD request, NRL scientists took only six weeks to develop a voice communications 

processing algorithm for the translation process. The NRL solution resolved the conversion problem, and 

the resulting algorithm has been widely disseminated both within the DoD and within NATO forces. 

NRL has also developed an enhanced version of the LPC algorithm, which was incorporated into the 

2400 b/s version of the third-generation Secure Terminal Unit (STU-III) telephone. NRL’s Line 

Spectrum Pair (LSP) technology was incorporated into the 4800 b/s version of the STU-III. The Navy 

has deployed over 60,000 STU-IIIs incorporating the 2400 b/s algorithm, with 35,000 of these also 

having the 4800 b/s algorithm.110

Impact 

A range of NRL’s voice communications processing algorithms and technologies have been widely 

disseminated and used within the DoD and the armed forces of allied countries. Almost all low-data-rate 

DoD or COTS vocoders now use the NRL-developed LSP technology. The NRL narrowband voice 

translation system provides direct interoperability between old and new speech parameters, allowing the 

new and the legacy ANDVT phones to work together. The result of this development was that 40,000 

legacy phones did not have to be retired prematurely, and there was no long transition period between the 

new and old systems. The continued use of these legacy units resulted in a one-time cost savings of 

nearly $460 million for the DoD.111

Primary Reference Document 

• Kang, G.S., and D.A. Heide, “Transcoding Between Two DoD Narrowband Voice Encoding Algorithms 

(LPC-10 and MELP),” NRL Formal Report 9921 (1999). 

 

110 U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Research, Award of 2001 Vice Admiral Harold G. Bowen Award for Patented Inventions to 

George S. Kang and Larry J. Fransen, Naval Research Laboratory. 

111 The following numbers are from SPAWAR’s ANDVT Program Manager and “Naval Advanced Secure Voice Architecture,” 

SPAWAR Systems Center, (Version 0.1) 26 February 2004, p. AV-68. Total deployment was approximately 40,000 units 

(29,512 ANDVTs at $28,744/unit; 9,363 KY-99As at $6,207/unit; 342 KY-100s at $12,861/unit; and 700 Tacterm ANDVT 

Shore Systems at $10,000/unit), of which 26,917 units went to the Navy, at a total procurement cost of $917,807,531. Since 50%

of the ANDVT life cycles are over, the DoD and Navy saved 50% of the total paid by avoiding replacement costs due to block 

retirement. 
66 

Pulsed X-ray Radiography 

Achievement 

The rod pinch is a cylindrical, pinched, electron-beam diode that can be used as a bright x-ray source. 

The diode is connected to a pulsed power generator, producing a high current pulse of electrons that 

converge onto the tip of the rod, thus producing an extremely intense burst of x-rays. The rod pinch is 

particularly well suited for x-ray imaging (radiography) applications requiring high x-ray dose, 

moderately deep penetration, resolution of small feature sizes, and sub-microsecond time resolution. 

The rod-pinch radiography source was invented by NRL in the late 1970s but was largely ignored until 

the last few years. Since 2000, NRL has made significant progress in refining the original vacuum rod 

pinch, producing a combination of small source size and high radiation dose that is unmatched by more 

conventional sources. A second-generation version, the plasma-filled rod pinch, produces an extremely 

intense x-ray source with parameters thought to be impossible with conventional techniques. 

The Stockpile Stewardship program of the Department of Energy (DoE) has been the primary user for the 

rod pinch. The program is administered by the DoE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which 

has the mission to validate and sustain the operational capability of the nuclear stockpile and to improve 

nuclear weapons physics understanding. In particular, the program requires radiography sources to 

diagnose the performance of nuclear weapons components at extreme densities and pressures. NRL’s 

vacuum rod pinch has been highly acclaimed as the radiography source of choice for many of these 

applications, producing “outstanding results.”112

 

Impact 

NRL’s device plays a vital role in the nation’s nuclear Stockpile Stewardship program. It was the x-ray 

source for the Cygnus generator used in a recent experiment at the Nevada Test Site that demonstrated a 

major leap in capability, leading the Los Alamos National Laboratory to state, “Many innovations have 

combined to lead to this leap in performance, but perhaps the most important has been the effective 

realization of the rod-pinch diode originally developed at NRL.”113 NRL scientists received a DOE 

Nuclear Weapons Program Award of Excellence in 2003 in recognition of this work.

Primary Reference Documents 

• “Intense Electron-Beam Pinch Formation and Propagation in Rod Pinch Diodes,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 33(9), 1 

November 1978. 

• U.S. Patent No. 4,213,073 to Mahaffey, R. A., Goldstein, S.A., Golden, and J., Cooperstein, G., “Rod Pinch 

Diode,” July 15, 1980. 

• “Ultra-high Electron Beam Power and Energy Densities Using a Plasma-Filled Rod-Pinch Diode,” Phys. 

Plasmas 11(5), May 2004. 

 

112 Final Report of the 6.1 External Review Panel — Chaired by C.L. Olson, Sandia National Laboratories (July 16, 2004), p. 6. 

113 Fulton, R.D., Wilke, M.D., King, N.S.P., “Dynamic Materials Studies in Subcritical Experiments: Rocco, Mario, Vito, and 

Armando,” Materials Studies Research Highlights (Physics Division: Los Alamos National Laboratory), p. 26, found at 

http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/p/highlights.shtml. 
67 

Project Silent Guardian 

Achievement

Concerned about military and civilian health during special events in the National Capital Region (NCR), 

the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) requested that the Air Force Surgeon General’s (AF/SG) 

office implement biosurveillance technology developed by NRL scientists for the U.S. Air Force’s 

Epidemic Outbreak Surveillance (EOS) project. 

The EOS biosurveillance technology, Re-sequencing Pathogen Microarrays, is a system that can identify 

large numbers (20 to 100 depending on the chip) of pathogens simultaneously, including bio-threat agents 

and emerging diseases such as avian flu. The approach was previously demonstrated successfully for 

adenovirus and influenza detection in a limited patient population. The challenge OSD presented to the 

NRL was to take the complex technology from the laboratory to production scale and implement the 

approach as a demonstration project from 1 December 2004 to 31 March 2005. 

NRL, along with critical help from the AF/SG office, the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical 

and Biological Defense, and private industry, moved from routine laboratory research to Full Operational 

Capability in less than six weeks. The NRL EOS Team trained incoming Air Force personnel, developed 

solutions for problems that arose in analyzing large numbers of samples, and set up two complete 

production lines of equipment and reagents. 

Recent results have demonstrated clinical agreement for strain level identification of influenza and other 

pathogens at better than 90%. Avian flu (H5N1) has been identified successfully to the strain level. 

Further development is aimed at automation, portability, and simplified use. 

Impact 

NRL successfully responded to high-level concerns for military and civilian health during special events 

held in the Washington, D.C. area during the 2005 Presidential Inauguration. The combined Silent 

Guardian team, composed of NRL scientists, Navy reservists, and U.S. Air Force staff, successfully made 

the first demonstration of a capability for rapidly (i.e., less than 24 hours) obtaining data for a broad range 

of pathogens in clinical specimens collected from the general population.114 In addition, the team 

demonstrated accurate detection of samples spiked with inactivated bio-threat agents in blind trials, 

identified numerous cases of influenza in patient samples collected from military treatment facilities 

within the NCR, and clearly demonstrated the utility of the Epidemic Outbreak Surveillance protocol for 

medical diagnostics as well as surveillance. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Memorandum from the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Nuclear, Chemical and Biological 

Programs), subj: “National Capital Region Microarray Biodefense Detection (MBD),” November 2004. 

• Lin, B. et al., “Broad Spectrum Respiratory Tract Pathogen Identification Using Re-sequencing DNA 

Microarrays,” [Submitted to Genomics Research for publication] 

• Stenger, D.A., et al., “Silent Guardian at NRL October 2004 - March 2005”, NRL Formal Report, (In 

Press). 

 

114 Stenger, D.A. et al., “Silent Guardian at NRL October 2004 - March 2005,” NRL Formal Report (in press). 
68 

Tactical Microsatellite Experiment (TacSat-1) 

Achievement 

NRL and the DoD Office of Force Transformation (OFT) are developing a tactical microsatellite system 

with the goal of making rapidly deployable spacecraft and their capabilities available to support military 

operations anywhere on Earth. TacSat will provide selectable payloads tailored to a specific area or 

conflict. Payloads will be under direct control of the Joint Task Force commander, making space assets 

an organic part of the force. 

TacSat-1 has several payloads that provide capabilities for cross-platform missions, specific emitter 

identification, and visible and infrared imaging. It will be launched aboard the SpaceX Falcon launch 

vehicle. 

Impact 

TacSat-1 will put space-based, rapidly deployable, mission-relevant capabilities into the hands of the 

Joint Task Force commander, anywhere on Earth. It will make space assets an organic part of tactical 

operations. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Hurley, M., Hauser, J., Felt, R., and Duffey, T., “Microsatellite Deployment on Demand,” paper for AIAALA Section/SSTC Responsive Space Conference, 2003. 

• Raymond, J., Glaros, G., Hauser, J., and Hurley M., “TacSat-1 and a Path to Tactical Space,” paper for 

AIAA 2nd Responsive Space Conference, 2004. 

• Raymond, J., Glaros, G., Stadter, P., Reed, C., Finnegan,E., Hurley M., Merk, C., Kawecki, T., Garner, C., 

and Jaffe, P., “A TacSat Update and the ORS/JWS Standardized Bus,” paper for AIAA 3nd Responsive 

Space Conference, 2005. 
69 

Body Armor to Counter Improvised Explosive Devices 

Achievement 

Nearly two thirds of the wounds sustained by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are to the extremities, 

with 6 percent of the wounded requiring amputations.115 Medical personnel have reported that most 

extremity wounds are being caused by fragments about the size of a pencil eraser, typically from 

improvised explosive devices (IEDs). 

At the request of the Chief of Naval Research, NRL conducted an eight-month rapid response program to 

develop strong and flexible body armor to protect the warfighter’s arms and legs (intended to augment the 

standard Outer Tactical Vest) without compromising agility. The resulting body armor incorporates new 

ballistic materials and designs determined after exhaustive studies that balanced vulnerability to injury 

and amputation against factors such as weight, flexibility, comfort and appearance. The design principles 

for the armor were formulated from anatomical vulnerability studies, the blast threat, and injury statistics, 

which required interaction with medical personnel, ballistic testing experts, warfighters, and clothing 

designers. NRL’s work was supported by the Army Research Laboratory, Oklahoma State University, 

and FS Technology. 

The new technology transitioned from laboratory to combat use in only 17 months. Ten different 

combinations of ballistic materials were evaluated by ballistic testing before choosing the materials from 

which to build the armor. A set of five prototypes was produced in the first 30 days of the program to 

evaluate basic concepts. Twenty Phase II prototypes with an improved design were completed 90 days 

later. The design protects 85% of the surface areas of the arms and legs while being lightweight, flexible, 

and is compatible with weapons and other equipment. It is also cool enough to be worn in desert climate. 

The first units were fielded by Marines in Iraq in November 2005. 

Impact 

For the first time, U.S. Marines will be able to augment the standard equipment OTV (Outer Tactical 

Vest) with blast fragment protection for the arms and shoulders, legs and hips, and buttocks. It is 

expected that the frequency of amputation of extremities will be reduced by a significant factor. 

Recently, 5,000 units of the present QuadGard Phase IV Design were deployed to U.S. Marines in Iraq. 

Among the likely users of this body armor are convoy crews and vehicle occupants, sentries and 

checkpoint forces, security personnel, roadside patrols, explosive ordnance reconnaissance personnel, 

forward deployed medical personnel, and combat engineers. 

Primary Reference Documents 

• Matic, P. and Hubler, G., “Report on Limb Protection Options for CY2004 Marine Corps Deployments to 

Operation Iraqi Freedom,” White Paper prepared for the Chief of Naval Research, 25 February 2004. 

• Patent Application, “The Design and Fabrication of Extremity Armor for Protection Against Fragments 

from High Explosives and Explosive Weapons,” to Hubler, G.K., Simmons, K., Sprague, J.A., Rupert, N., 

Frost, J., Branson, D., Farr, C., and Peksoz, S., Provisional Patent Number 60 / 634533, filed December 10, 

2004. 

 

115 Matic, P. and Hubler, G.K., “Extreme Armor,” Armed Forces Journal (February 2005), p.49.