ITS: The Nation’s Spectrum and Communications Lab

Our mission is to ADVANCE innovation in communications technologies, INFORM spectrum and communications policy for the benefit of all stakeholders, and INVESTIGATE our Nation’s most pressing telecommunications challenges through research that employees are proud to deliver. 

News

October 17, 2024

The inaugural International Open RAN Symposium (IORS) convened September 17–19, 2024, in Golden, Colorado, United States of America. NTIA welcomed over 250 participants at the inaugural Symposium from over 20 countries.

From...

April 1, 2024

ITS, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense’s FutureG Office, hosted the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) Forum in Dallas, Texas, from March 26 to 28.

The 2024 RIC Forum brought government, military, telecommunications...

Recent Publications

This Month in ITS History

January 1943: First Radio Proximity Fuzed Ordinance Used in Combat

On January 5, 1943, the St. Louis Class light cruiser, USS Helena fired the first radio proximity fuzed ordinance in a combat action. The proximity fuze is considered to be one of the most important inventions to come out of World War II. Bombs that explode before impact cause greater damage than those that explode after impact, and reduce the effectiveness of foxholes and trenches. During the First World War, bombers realized this and attempted to bounce bombs off trees, cliffs, and other natural formations to trigger contact detonators. Soon timed fuzes were installed in ordinances, but these required perfect timing to explode in the proper position. Radio proximity fuzes held the promise ...

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