IC Technology & Surveillance — 2026-06-14

FBI Opens 22000-Square-Foot Replica Small Town in Alabama as Dedicated Cyber Training Range

BLUFCo-locating physical forensics with network intrusion response at scale closes a long-standing training seam that has degraded FBI cyber breach investigations for over a decade.

The FBI's Operational Technology Division opened the Kinetic Cyber Range on its Huntsville, Alabama campus in February 2025, a 22,000-square-foot indoor facility built to replicate a functioning U.S. community for cyber investigations training 123. The FBI disclosed details publicly in a writeup dated June 10, with program manager Dave Beachboard describing a range that includes wired residences, a hotel, a hospital, a courthouse, a gas station, and a data center running more than 200 physical Windows and Linux servers 1. Scenarios include simulated ransomware attacks that lock hospital networks and hands-on vehicle forensics requiring trainees to physically extract electronic control units 12. Since opening, the facility has trained more than 1,400 students drawn from FBI personnel and partner federal and local agencies 1234.

Analysis
The Kinetic Cyber Range closes a structural seam between digital forensics and network intrusion response, disciplines that historically trained in separate pipelines and created handoff gaps during complex breach investigations. The 1,400-student throughput from federal and local agencies extends this capability gain beyond Bureau ranks into the broader law enforcement ecosystem. Hands-on vehicle forensics requirements normalize physical evidence collection in inherently digital investigations, reshaping how agencies scope warrants and allocate forensic resources. The June disclosure, resting solely on FBI's own account with no independent reporting, may function primarily as Congressional credibility signaling timed against the Bureau's record $20.9 billion cybercrime-loss figure rather than routine transparency.

4 sources

Inside the FBI's Kinetic Cyber Range - Federal Bureau of Investigation
The FBI built its own replica small town to simulate real-world cyberattacks - TechCrunch
The FBI built a fake town to train agents for cyberattacks. It has a hospital, a power company, and 200 servers. - The Next Web
The FBI secretly built an entire fake town just to practice cyberattacks - Digital Trends