The Scranton Times-Tribune October 26, 2014

Tobyhanna Army Depot builds tower to test weapon system

By David Falchek

A tower under construction at the Tobyhanna Army Depot will help test cutting-edge military equipment that uses lasers, satellites and GPS to mark targets.

The $1.2 million project is supposed to simulate different elevations a soldier may encounter. The view from the 70-foot tower is awe-inspiring — and the terrain is perfect for testing the system, offering an 11-mile view.

The addition adds a new capability for Tobyhanna Army Depot's support of military communications and electronics equipment.

John Pike, a military analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, described the Long-Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System as a combination of infrared night vision goggles, a television camera and a telescope. It has become an valued asset on the battlefield.

"You have scouts out there and you want them to be able to see what is going on and react to it," he said.

The system has been around since 2001 and is usually mounted on Humvee and allows soldiers to detect, recognize and identify distant targets. It can also tag them with a laser. The tag may be read by a communication system that pinpoints the location of the target on the globe, then sends those coordinates to weapons to neutralize the target. Or a weapon can fix directly on the laser, Mr. Pike said.

"These days the military has two types of precision-guided munitions, one using GPS, often used in bad weather, and a laser guided system where the weapon hones in on laser dot," he said.

Justin Eimers, a spokesman for the depot, said the work on the tower should wrap up this month. The depot is funded to service and overhaul 138 LRAS3 systems in the current fiscal year, which equates to 9,800 hours of labor.

While the tower was designed to offer line of sight of 11.5 miles, the range of the LRAS3 is confidential, depot officials said.

Mr. Pike said there isn't much need for a greater distance. He said the capabilities of the laser system have been improving over the years and 11½ miles may be the useful limit of the device simply because it's so difficult to find a line of sight that long in the field.

The LRAS3 replaced systems that require scouts to be much closer, within direct fire range, of the threat they seek to detect.