Military

Naval Radio Transmitter Facility (NRTF) Niscemi

Naval Radio Transmitter Facility Niscemi is located South West of Naval Air Station Sigonella Operation base (NAS II). The department is composed of four Divisions. Facility Maintenance, Operation/Electronic Maintenance, Antenna Maintenance and a security augmentation force. The mission is to provide HF and LF transmitter support to Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station, Sicily in support of European and Mediterranean theater commanders. Active duty assigned to Niscemi commute in command vehicles to the worksite daily or as assigned. Military members assigned to Pachino reside at the worksite and commute to the base to conduct personal business.

In early 1995 the U.S. Department of Defense released the 18th round of base realignments overseas, listing the Niscemi facility associated with NAS Sigonella, Sicily as a "partial return". There will be no reduction in operations at Niscemi, or a Sigonella itself. Only an unused 170-hectare section of land was returned to Italy. No other reduction of the base is contemplated. In fact, a moderate increase of people was expected over the next few years.

The AN/FRT-95(A) program will provide four 250 kW solid state LF transmitters. Sites planned to receive the new LF transmitters are: Aguada, PR; Keflavik, Iceland; Awase, Okinawa; and Sigonella, Italy. The LF solid state transmitter upgrades improve area coverage in the Northern Atlantic and Northern Pacific regions. Testing of the first AN/FRT-95 (A) solid state LF transmitter was successfully completed at the Aguada, PR transmitter site. The AN/FRT-95(A) transmitter installation and antenna upgrades at Iceland were completed in FY95 while those at Awase, Okinawa were completed in early FY98.

NATO Interoperable Submarine Broadcast System (NISBS) software upgrades have completed formal testing and are awaiting hardware upgrades to facilitate deployment. NISBS Software Release 3.1, deployed October 1994, implemented the standard configuration of software that supports NATO STANAG 5030 Modes N2, N3, N4, N5, and N6 with up to two modulator outputs. NISBS Software Release 3.2, deployed FY 95, added the synchronization of formatter clock to FTS and enhanced the remote circuit configuration to include the four-channel broadcast pass-through mode. NISBS Software Release 3.3, deployed at Niscemi, Italy, adds the capability to access the formatter remotely for status and error logs. These remote access logs accumulate information over a 30-day period.