Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
Senator Mark Kelly grilled defense officials last week about their plans to make cuts at the Electronic Proving Grounds at Ft. Huachuca.
Senator Kelly told the defense officials during a senate armed services committee that Ft. Huachuca is critical when it comes to testing the weapons used in electronic warfare.
“If we get rid of personnel at Ft. Huachuca at the electronic proving ground, we will not have the capability to do that developmental test and train our soldiers and pilots to use that capability,” Kelly said.
Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George, acknowledged the importance of electronic warfare but also said Ft. Huachuca could be scaled back.
“We are also testing some of this stuff around the world. What we had was, and what we are looking at is where do we have excess capacity that we are actually not using that,” said George.
Kelly argued that the Cochise County Army post is unique.
“If you want to simulate a surface-to-air missile system, the electronic signature from it in Yuma Proving Ground, you’re talking about point 1 watt of power before you begin to interfere with communication systems, airplanes, TV stations in and around the Phoenix area. When you do that at the Electronic Proving Ground, you can go an order of magnitude or more higher in power output,” Kelly countered.
The Army agreed to meet with Kelly to talk more about the issue.
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