FBI builds replica town for cyberattack training

In Huntsville, Alabama, the FBI has constructed a 22,000 square-foot replica town, complete with fully furnished houses, a grocery store, and a power company. This facility, the Kinetic Cyber Range, exists solely to simulate and investigate cyberattacks, according to TechCrunch and Mezha.

Cyber warfare is fought in the digital realm, yet the FBI is investing in this sprawling physical replica town to train its defenders. The FBI's investment in this sprawling physical replica town equips law enforcement to better respond to real-world cyber incidents, but its scale highlights the escalating and pervasive nature of modern cyber threats.

Inside the Kinetic Cyber Range: A Town Built for Digital War Games

Opened in February 2025, the Kinetic Cyber Range features a simulated town with houses, a hotel, a gas station, a courthouse, a hospital, a power company, a grocery store, and an energy utility, as reported by TechCrunch and Mezha. While the replica town itself spans 22,000 square feet, the entire facility occupies a 6,700-square-metre building, according to the Toronto Sun—a Toronto Sun—a notable discrepancy in reported scale. The Kinetic Cyber Range's meticulous design, integrating physical infrastructure with detailed virtual environments, enables highly realistic cyberattack simulations. The sheer scale and detail suggest a recognition that effective cyber defense requires understanding both digital vulnerabilities and their physical manifestations.

Who Trains for Cyber Threats at the FBI's Cyber Range?

Over 1,400 students, including FBI personnel and partners from federal and local agencies, have trained at the Kinetic Cyber Range since its opening, according to TechCrunch and Mezha. The program leverages a dedicated data center with over 200 physical servers, simulating corporate and critical infrastructure systems in Windows and Linux environments, as reported by Mezha. The rapid deployment and broad inter-agency participation, with over 1,400 students training, confirm a critical, widespread demand for advanced, hands-on cyber defense capabilities across government levels. The rapid deployment and broad inter-agency participation also signal a shift towards a unified, multi-agency response model for complex cyber incidents.

The Kinetic Cyber Range, with its meticulously crafted replica town and integrated digital infrastructure, confirms a stark reality: cyber warfare now extends beyond screens. It demands defenders understand and respond to tangible, real-world devastation on critical services and daily life. The FBI's use of a physical town for cyber training acknowledges that the most damaging cyberattacks have physical consequences, requiring integrated physical and digital response training. The inclusion of details like fully furnished houses and a grocery store, alongside corporate server simulations, shows the FBI trains responders to grasp the cascading human and societal impacts, moving beyond purely technical incident response. The facility, located at the FBI's Redstone Arsenal campus in Huntsville, Alabama, provides a secure, controlled environment for these comprehensive, hands-on exercises, preparing personnel for scenarios where attacks disable critical infrastructure and disrupt civilian life.