The results of a quantitative comparison of two architectural options in developing a multisensor data fusion system are presented. One option is the contact-level or centralized architecture: a single track file is maintained and updated using raw sensor measurements. The second option is the autonomous or track-level sensor fusion architec- ture: each sensor maintains its own track file. The sensor tracks are then transmitted to a central processor responsible for fusing this data to form a master track file. The emphasis for this study is given to measuring the quality of the fused product and the bandwidth of the communications required between the sensors and the fusion center. The evaluation is conducted with the Concept Analysis and Simulation Environment for Automatic Target Tracking and Identification testbed. This testbed pro- vides the algorithm-level test and replacement capability required to con- duct this kind of performance study. © 1998 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumen- tation Engineers. (S0091-3286(98)00202-5)