ARTICLE

July 2003

Army Sets Up New Testing Center for Future Combat System

by Mike Cast

The Army opened a new facility designed specifically to test the capabilities of the Future Combat System. Called the Combined Test Organization for Future Combat System, the site is located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

At the helm of the CTO will be C. David Brown, who previously served as director of the Developmental Test Command’s Test Technology Division. He said the CTO will play a central role in the testing and fielding of Future Combat Systems.

The program is an unprecedented effort by the Army to integrate various families of ground vehicles and aircraft, as well as robotic systems.

The command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities will be linked in a digital network, to facilitate the exchange and flow of information.

Due to the complexity of the program, several agencies have responsibilities for testing the system. Among them are the Army’s program manager for FCS, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Army Test and Evaluation Command (including the Developmental Test Command, Operational Test Command and Army Evaluation Center) and the lead system integrator—a partnership between Boeing and the Science Applications International Corporation.

Tests will take place in natural and man-made environments, designed to stress the technology and ensure it works in harsh weather, for example. Systems will be tested in conditions resembling real operations, according to Brown. The program will require simultaneous testing of FCS components at test centers in various locations throughout the United States.

This “distributed” testing will help Army evaluators determine how FCS components operate together as a “system of systems,” Brown said.

Following the developmental phase of the FCS tests, the Army’s Operational Test Command will evaluate the system in the field, with soldiers participating in realistic operational scenarios. This also will involve distributed testing at various locations.

The Army Evaluation Center will use the data from developmental and operational testing to complete formal system evaluation reports for the Army.

This information will help senior leaders make critical acquisition decisions at various milestones in the FCS program.

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