Located 15 km south of Rennes, DGA-MI is the most important technical and experimental center of the French MoD. More than 2 000 people, mainly engineers, work there. The activities of the center concern Electronics, telecommunications, detection, navigation systems and cybersecurity. Three major experimental facilities will be presented (see below): BEDYRA, STRADI and CHEOPS.
The visit is limited to 45 persons. A copy of your passport is needed when registering to the visit as the access inside the site is subject to the authorization of the French MoD.
BEDYRA is a hardware in the loop simulator. It combines digital simulation, radio frequency generators and a three-axis table, in order to reproduce the mechanical and electromagnetic environment in which radio-frequency seekers and airborne tracking radars might be involved.
The tested equipment is set up on a three-axis table, which simulates the platform movements. It is placed in front of an array of emitters representing the electromagnetic scene and the whole is located in a shielded anechoic chamber. The bench commands are computed in real time, which allows closed loop as well as open loop functionality.
STRADI is an outdoor facility used for Radar Cross Section measurements on any kind of targets such as armored vehicle, helicopters or naval ship superstructures. It can also be used to perform antenna diagram measurements, such as passive antennas or electronic sweep array antennas.
The whole structure is composed of a circular turntable, with a diameter of 17 meters and a payload of 70 tons, an 88 m high pylon, located at 260 m from the turntable center and a mobile gantry tower with a laboratory located 30 meters above the ground, moving along a 200 m long railway.
CHEOPS is an anechoic chamber dedicated to Radar Cross Section measurements of missiles, UAVs and to antenna patterns evaluation. Measurements performed in CHEOPS are mainly use, in the field of electronic warfare, for: evaluation of new radar stealth concepts, RCS and antennas characterization of national weapon systems, radar and counter measures specifications, radar signatures digital simulation validation.