Navy’s New, but Almost Abandoned, Radar Testing Center

At the U.S. Navy’s Virginia testing grounds for its most sophisticated air and ballistic missile defense radar systems, a unique six-story building sits largely vacant, after more than a billion dollars was invested in the program behind its purpose.

For about two decades, the Navy worked on developing state-of-the-art radar technology that would allow a new class of destroyers (Zumwalt) to form the backbone of the service’s air and missile defense radar future.

But budget cuts and policy changes forced the Navy to cut back the destroyer program, and with that, went resources for the new radar system. Consequently, the six-story testing center on Wallops Island in Virginia now has only a handful of people in it, instead of the 45 full-time engineers and 60 visitors it was built to accommodate.

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