About

Our Work

Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific provides the U.S. Navy and military with essential capabilities in the areas of:

• Full lifecycle engineering for information warfare
• Robust research, development, and technology transition
• Applied electromagnetics, photonics, and atmospheric propagation
• Development of offensive and defensive cyber capabilities
• Positioning, navigation, and timing laboratory and test facilities
• Rapid prototyping and delivery
• Cloud-based digital development environment, cloud-enabled digital twins (aka “Digital Abe”, “Digital TR”), DevSecOps, Agile
• Machine learning, artificial Intelligence, data science, decision optimization
• Development and support of unmanned systems (UUV, USV, UAV)

The Workforce

• NWIC Pacific employs a highly educated, diverse, multidisciplinary workforce of more than 5,200 computer scientists, electrical engineers, cyber engineers, AI/ML scientists, technical specialists, contract managers and more, who hold more than 200 Ph.D./J.D. degrees, and approximately 1,500 master’s degrees.
• The lab, located in San Diego, California, is ranked as a top generator of patents and license agreements. With 81 issued patents in FY20, the Center’s active IP portfolio (invention disclosures, filed patent applications and issue patents) grew to over 1,100.
• FY20 also saw 59 active Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) signifying research and development partnerships with industry and academia. These CRADAs allow parties to share resources, personnel, equipment and costs.
• NIWC Pacific’s workforce also includes the largest number of active-duty military personnel stationed at any naval laboratory or warfare center. Approximately 32% of the workforce is made up of active duty, reservists and veterans. This unique arrangement combines the fleet and operational expertise of the warfighter with the skills of the Center’s research staff to tackle real-world problems facing the U.S. today and in the future.

Location

In San Diego we are close to many of America’s top defense contractors, global leaders in digital communications and computing, world-class educational institutions and major Navy and DoD commands. We actively partner with industry, academia and other government and non-government entities.

We offer unique laboratory settings and simulated operational environments that are unachievable elsewhere—San Clemente Island, BMD/L16 combined test bed, live virtual and constructive environments. Our facilities allow us to create large-scale virtual integrated systems to support architecture development, systems engineering, acquisition, training and fleet operations.

Unique Facilities

Cyber, C4ISR, And Space Laboratories providing results unachievable elsewhere

High Performance Computing Center (HPCC)

The high-end supercomputers offered by the NIWC Pacific HPCC allow our scientists and engineers to address complex computational challenges, solving problems in domains such as machine learning, modeling and simulation, and signal processing.

NIWC Pacific was designated as an Affiliated Resource Center (ARC) in 2010. ARCs are DoD laboratories and test centers that share their systems and expertise with the DoD high performance computing community.

Mixed Reality Lab

Mixed reality is an immersive technology created by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data, where physical and digital objects interact in real time. The Center is home to the Battlespace Exploitation of Mixed Reality (BEMR) Lab.

By looking at how commercial technology is being used, NIWC Pacific researchers are hard at work developing low-cost technology that can be used for Navy applications.

Transdec acoustic pool

The TRANSDEC pool is filled with six million gallons of water and simulates a vast underwater expanse. The pool’s design eliminates all extraneous man-made or natural biologic noises and permits precise control of surface and underwater conditions.

Antenna Pattern Range

GCCS-Brass ship models with working antennas are placed in the center of the turntable for hemispherical antenna radiation pattern measurements. While computer modeling techniques are continuously improving, the brass model is currently still the best method for broadband antenna design and direction-finding array configuration. globally.

Testing and Intergation of Nanosatellites Lab

Small satellites extend communications beyond the direct range of larger satellite networks. The Accelerated Capability for Testing and Integration of Nanosatellites (ACTION) Lab develops, tests, and deploys small satellites capable of supporting underutilized radio frequencies communications, optical communications and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance payloads.