Automatic Test Equipment Development

Abstract

This program element (PE) provides for development and testing of general-purpose test equipment, state-of-the-art diagnostics and prognostics technologies, and software and systems to support the increasingly complex electronic components of the Army's new and upgraded weapon systems. It focuses on implementation of commercial test and diagnostic technologies across multiple weapon platforms to minimize the cost of troubleshooting and maintenance of Army equipment in the field. Modular, reconfigurable automatic and semi-automatic systems are being developed under this program to satisfy weapon system test and diagnostics requirements. The Next Generation Automatic Test System (NGATS), currently under development, provides state-of-the-art test and diagnostic capabilities to support current and future weapon systems. It is the platform for transitioning Agile Rapid Global Combat Support System (ARGCS) technologies into the Army weapon system support structure, and it will replace several aging automatic test systems (ATS) that are becoming prohibitively expensive to operate and maintain. This PE also provides for continued development and improvement of general-purpose test equipment and calibration standards with emphasis on the incorporation of digital electronics and tailoring of configurations to improve deployability, mobility and survivability of the support equipment. It includes development, demonstration and testing of calibration standards and techniques to support new Army test equipment requirements. It also includes feasibility studies, market research, inventory analyses, bid sample testing and prototyping to support acquisition of calibration systems and general-purpose test and diagnostics equipment. FY 2017 Base funding for this program continues development of the Army's standard NGATS which will improve deployability and mobility of test and diagnostic equipment. The NGATS provides state-of-the-art test and diagnostic capabilities and a means for reducing the Army's test equipment operating and support costs and the costs for supporting a number of the Army's vital warfighting systems. The FY 2017 funding will develop or significantly modify test equipment to satisfy modular force and homeland security support requirements that cannot be accommodated with test equipment currently available in the commercial marketplace such as radio frequency (RF) and electro-optic (EO) testing capability. It will also provide for technology enhancements to the Army's standard at-system tester to meet test and diagnostic requirements of the supported weapon systems, develop/redesign test program sets and hardware for support of legacy and emerging weapon systems, develop a network centric software framework for NGATS, and develop and test general-purpose test equipment and calibration standards to meet Army weapon system support requirements.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2017
• Source ID: 0604746A_5_2040_PB_2017
• Change Summary Explanation: FY 2017, $2.201 million reduction to support higher priority projects
• Service Agency Name: Army

Entities

Organizations

• United States Army

Tags

Communities of Interest

• Advanced Electronics
• Biomedical
• Electronic Warfare
• Ground and Sea Platforms
• Sensors
• Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

• Accuracy
• Acquisition
• Application Software
• Biological Factors
• Combat Support
• Commercial Equipment
• Cost Analysis
• Department Of Defense
• Detection
• Detectors
• Diagnostic Equipment
• Feasibility Studies
• Logistics
• Maintenance
• Small Arms
• Test And Evaluation
• Test Equipment

Readers

• Aerospace Test and Evaluation
• Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.

Technology Areas

• Microelectronics
• Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems