As weapons systems grow more sophisticated, so must the equipment that is used to test them. Aeronautical, ballistic and orbital testing take place on a regular basis at the Western Test Range (WTR). In order to insure the integrity of these flight test programs, a computerized decision support network has been developed. At the heart of this network is the Range Safety Display System (RSDS). RSDS is a real-time missile flight safety system. The displays present flight safety information in a timely and understandable manner. RSDS can be considered the control panel for the unmanned systems tested at the WTR. The Range Safety Display System was developed from a hybrid mechanical/graphic display system. The Hybrid RSDS was used to prove the concept of electronic display of missile flight performance. RSDS has been further developed to take advantage of the speed, flexibility and reliability of graphic displays. Other concepts and technologies, such as fiber optics, parametric control and front end processing have also been used.
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