Army Tests Move to 'Virtual Proving Ground'.

• Author: Cast, Mike

Developmental Test Command focusing on system interoperability

The U.S. Army is applying advanced simulation technologies, communications architectures and real-time data-sharing processes to be able to test multiple weapon systems from different locations, simultaneously.

To make that possible, the Army's Developmental Test Command is focusing on "virtual proving-ground" technologies, which rely on modeling and simulation to create realistic testing environments. In a briefing to military testers and evaluators last year, DTC's technical director and deputy commander, Brian Simmons, said the virtual proving-ground is DTC's "highest-priority investment."

He said that modeling and simulation can cut costs by helping test directors prepare to receive the data from expensive, destructive tests at sites such as the White Sands Missile Range, where a live missile test can cost $1 million per day. Simmons said of the virtual proving-ground, "All of this is anchored in real testing and is a tool, not a replacement for physical testing."

The virtual proving ground is a composite of facilities and technologies throughout the DTC that enhance test programs with the aid of computer modeling and realistic simulations.

To meet growing needs for interoperability testing, the U.S. Army's Developmental Test Command is shifting its focus from the testing of separate platforms--such as ranks, trucks or aircraft--to testing how systems work together within a network, said Rick Cozby, chief of DTC's Technology Management Division.

"Throughout the Cold War period, as well as during World War I and World War II, the Army was essentially platform-centric," Cozby explained. "Our battlefield tactics and doctrine dictated a heavy force, and the cornerstone of the heavy force is the Abrams M1 tank. Along with that are the mechanized infantry, light infantry and airborne infantry. So we organized ourselves for testing around these platforms but that is all changing.

"It started changing in Desert Storm, when the prospect of maneuver became the dominant battlefield force. Dominant maneuver is the chess-like maneuver that causes the threat to capitulate, because. we surprised him, enveloped him and rendered him incapable of executing his mission, even though his forces may be numerically superior. We did that successfully in Desert Storm and learned a lot from it. We learned that, in order to have dominant maneuver, you must have information superiority."

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