Since the original contract issue in 1987, DMJM (dba Holmes & Narver, Inc.) has provided comprehensive architecture, engineering, and construction support services for this major high-technology test and evaluation facility. Ongoing services over the life of the complex have extended to all aspects of new and renovation/enhancement facility design and construction. The Avionics Test and Integration Complex (ATIC) contains two primary facilities: the Integrated Facility for Avionics Systems Testing (IFAST), and the Benefield Anechoic Facility (BAF). The original project consisted of an anechoic chamber to support ground testing of electronic warfare systems on full-scale aircraft such as the B-1B and B-2 bombers. The chamber–the largest in the world–is a massive, 250 x 264 x 70-foot steel plate box enclosed in a metal hangar building. The walls, ceiling, and floor are covered in 816,000 pyramidal foam cones designed to absorb radio frequency signals. The chamber is RFI shielded to 100 dB, and equipped with a turntable (160 feet in diameter) capable of carrying objects weighing up to 1 million pounds. The turntable can rotate 360 degrees and has two hoists—each with a 40-ton capacity.
DMJM has provided programming, design, complete construction documents, and construction support for three phases of additions and alterations to the existing BAF. |
