Laboratory Information:
Electronic Systems Center
ESC/CX
45 Arnold Street
Hanscom AFB, MA 01731-2142
Website: http://www.hanscom.af.mil/
Agency/Department: Dept. of Defense - Air Force
Region: Northeast
FLC Laboratory Representative:
Mr. David Parker
Phone: (781) 377-0747
Fax: (781) 377-9565
Email: david.parker.ctr@hanscom.af.mil
Background/History of the Laboratory:
Electronic
Systems Center is a dynamic organization with the important
mission of providing the latest in command and control and
information systems for the Air Force, the Department of
Defense and our allies. It currently manages approximately
200 programs, and has an annual budget of more than $3
billion. Many of their systems represent America's most
valuable defense assets, such as the E-3 AWACS and the E-8
Joint STARS. It is a product organization of Air Force
Materiel Command and is located at Hanscom Air Force Base,
Mass.
Formerly known as
Electronic Systems Division, ESPC became part of Air Force
Materiel Command on 1 July 1992 when Air Force Systems
Command and Air Force Logistics Command were merged as part
of an Air Force reorganization to better meet the challenges
of the future. Hanscom Air Force Base owns neither runway nor
aircraft. Hanscom Field, adjacent to the base, was turned
over to the Massachusetts Port Authority and is now operated
as a civilian airport. Although no military aircraft have
been stationed at Hanscom since 1973, the base uses the main
runways at Hanscom Field. ESC develops and acquires systems
that combine computers, radars, information displays, and
communications gear. These systems monitor enemy forces and
allow U.S. commanders to make quick decisions based on the
latest information and quickly transmit those decisions to
troops in the field.
Among the systems developed by the Electronic System Product
Center are the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS),
the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, the North
American Aerospace Defense command center in Cheyenne
Mountain, Colo., and the Joint Surveillance Target Attack
Radar System (Joint STARS). ESPC does not design or
manufacture equipment; civilian contractors do that. In its
system acquisition mission, ESPC serves as manager;
determining the eventual user's operational needs,
defining systems to best meet those needs, soliciting
proposals from industry, selecting contractors to build the
product, monitoring the contractor's progress, and
eventually testing the equipment to ensure it meets the
user's requirement.
With its annual
funding profile of over $3.3 billion, Hanscom AFB has a
substantial economic impact on the Massachusetts and New
England economy. Compared with the sales of Massachusetts
firms, Hanscom AFB would rank among the top four industrial
organizations in the state and sixteenth in New England. The
Hanscom complex, including MITRE Corporation and MIT Lincoln
Laboratory, has nearly 13,000 military and civilian employees
with an annual payroll of more than $633
million.
Facilities:
Technology Transfer Mechanisms:
- Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs)
- Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
Technology Areas of Expertise:
- Learning and Communication
- Command and control systems
- Information systems
