Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane Division)[1] is the principal tenant command located at Naval Support Activity Crane (NSA Crane) in Indiana.[2]
NSA Crane is a United States Navy installation located approximately 25miles southwest of Bloomington, Indiana, and predominantly located in Martin County, but small parts also extend into Greene and Lawrence counties. It was originally established in 1941 under the Bureau of Ordnance as the Naval Ammunition Depot for the production, testing, and storage of ordnance under the first supplemental Defense Appropriation Act. The base is named after William M. Crane. The base is the third largest naval installation in the world by geographic area and employs approximately 3,300 people. The closest community is the small town of Crane, which lies adjacent to the northwest corner of the facility.
With an increasing demand in the 1990s and 2000s by the US military for bases to support multiple functions rather than being sole-purpose installations, Crane has taken on a broad variety of development and support operations. These include expeditionary warfare systems, fleet maintenance, and modernization, radar, power systems, strategic systems, small arms, surface and airborne electronic warfare, night vision systems, and undersea warfare systems. Crane is also involved in systems development for the upcoming DD(X) class of destroyer for the US Navy and the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
Operations at Crane are divided into three distinct focus areas: Strategic Missions, Electronic Warfare, and Expeditionary Warfare.[3]
"Deter – Defend – Defeat"
The Strategic Missions Focus Area encompasses the full range of DoD activities that alter an adversary's will and ability to attack the United States and its interests.
The Platform and Launch Systems Division (Code GXP) models and simulates:
The Technology and Infrastructure Protection Division's Strategic Test and Validation Systems Branch Code GXQP models and simulates Strategic Weapon Systems Coordination. Analyses are performed for requirements verification using Matlab/Simulink.
The Radar Systems Engineering Division (Code GXR) models and simulates:
"Control the Spectrum – Control the Fight"
Electronic Warfare supports any military action using electromagnetic energy to control the electromagnetic spectrum or attack an adversary
The IR/RF Systems Technologies Division's Navy Infrared Countermeasures Effectiveness Laboratory, (NICEL), models and simulates threat IR missile vs. aircraft engagements to support aircraft countermeasure development.
The Maritime Electronic Warfare Systems Division models a systems engineering sustainment system that automates Electronic Warfare (EW) Systems sustainment activities. The model is created using the IBM Rational Rhapsody tool using the SysML modeling language and DoD Application Framework (DoDAF). The sustainment model implements life-cycle activities including logistics delays based on real or proposed replacement part reliabilities, quantities, and locations, along with workflows and processes to support a performance-based sustainment (PBS) solution for Electronic Warfare Systems. Using SysML and DoDAF, the interactions between Crane employees, automated tools, the Electronic Warfare systems, and data to accomplish PBS are simulated.
The Maritime Electronic Warfare Systems Division provides modeling and simulation for shipboard Electronic Warfare (EW) Systems. Scenarios have been constructed to characterize the effects of various threats on EW systems and to develop technology for increasing system performance. Antenna patterns measured in the anechoic environment are used to both enhance models and validate simulations.
"Rapid Response – Proven Solutions"
Special Missions supports military forces engaged in Special Operations, Irregular Warfare and Riverine Operations
The Small Arms Weapons Systems Division utilizes a weapon shock simulator to augment live-fire on weapon accessories and other weapon-mounted electronics to ensure proper survivability. Measured shock profiles from actual weapons are used with the simulator to test the survivability of batteries, electrical connections, and optical components. This division also uses a six-axis platform that simulates sea states for testing auto tracker software. The Electro-Optic Technology Division uses modeling tools in a number of applications. Examples include using a variety of commercially available tools to do the following:
Additional modeling capabilities within the Special Missions Focus Area use common modeling tools (i.e., Finite Element Analysis, MATLAB, COMSOL, etc.) as well as tools developed within the government to better understand electrooptic phenomena, warfighter technology applications, benefits, and trade spaces of new technologies, etc.
In the late 1940s, an ammunition quality evaluation unit was added by the Bureau to expand its quality control system. As the complexity and sophistication of weapons increased in the 1950s and 1960s, Crane's activities, capabilities, and expertise expanded in scope under the newly formed Bureau of Weapons to include small arms, sonobuoy surveillance, microwave tubes, POLARIS missiles, and other scientific and engineering support to the Bureau.
In the 1960s, Crane came under the command of the newly established Naval Ordnance Systems Command and began providing technical support for weapons systems including logistics, in-service engineering, repair, overhaul, and design. In the 1970s, Crane's support began to include batteries, rotating components, electronic components, failure analysis, and standard hardware and new technologies related to night vision systems.
In 1974, Crane came under the Naval Sea Systems Command that was established from the merger of the Naval Ordnance Systems Command and Naval Ship Systems Command. Shortly after in 1975, Crane's name was changed to the Naval Weapons Support Center which more accurately reflected the true function of the installation.
In 1977, a major change occurred with the designation of the United States Army as the single-service manager of conventional ammunition. This resulted in the establishment of the tenant command, Crane Army Ammunition Activity (CAAA) which took over the loading, assembly, and storage of ammunition at the installation. CAAA and Crane's strong partnership continues today.
In 1992, Crane's name was changed to the Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center when the warfare centers were established under the related systems commands. Today, grown from its ordnance roots, Crane is recognized worldwide as a modern and sophisticated leader in diverse and highly technical product lines.
In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended to retain most existing operations at Crane, with weapons and armaments research, development and acquisition, and test and evaluation, but moving gun/ammunition, combat system security, and energetic materials to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.[4] This BRAC change resulted in a net loss of 672 civilian jobs from the base.[5]
Naval Support Activity Crane hosts a number of different commands and divisions. These are:
The base is the third largest naval installation in the world, comprising approximately 280km2 of territory. Lake Greenwood, a 320ha lake, is entirely encompassed by the base. White oak wood for reconstruction of is harvested at this base from a grove of trees known as "Constitution Grove".[6] [7]