Automatic Test Equipment Development

Abstract

This program element (PE) provides for development and testing of automatic test equipment, precision calibration instruments, 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 focused on joint operations in a sophisticated multi-domain area of operation. 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. Funding supports modernization of the test equipment fleets by investigating technology insertions including, but not limited to, condition-based maintenance, instrument reduction/miniaturization, electro-mechanical, electro-optics (EO), radio frequency (RF), physical, radiological, chemical, and biological warfare sensor calibration support capabilities, and other emerging technologies. Funding also supports development of initial prototypes to enable refinement of Operational Requirements documented by Combatant Commands (COCOM), Program Executive Offices (PEO), Army Futures Command (AFC), Army Staff, US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), and early user feedback to support future sustainment and testing capabilities required for emerging weapons platforms . 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; and, it provides for feasibility studies, market research, inventory analyses, bid sample testing and prototyping to support acquisition of calibration systems and general-purpose test and diagnostics equipment. The Department of Defense (DoD) has designated the Next Generation Automatic Test System (NGATS) being developed under this PE as the Army's standard off-platform Automatic Test System (ATS) for field and sustainment maintenance. The NGATS provides general-purpose state-of-the-art test and diagnostic capabilities, reducing cost and logistics footprint while providing the Warfighter fix-forward capability for current and future weapon systems in Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). NGATS is designed to support the Cross-Functional Teams (CFT) in the Army Futures Command (AFC) as they mature in accordance with the DoD ATS Strategy. Current NGATS capabilities support Abrams, Bradley, Common Remotely Operated Weapons Station (CROWS), Crew-Duke, Husky Mounted Detection System (HMDS), and Mounted Family of Computer Systems (MFoCS), with developments ongoing for Blackhawk, M777, Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) Paladin Extended Range Cannon-Artillery (ERC-A), and Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) in the Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) CFT. FY 2022 Base funding for this PE continues incremental 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 2022 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 RF and EO testing capability. It will also provide for technology insertions to modernize 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, develop and test general-purpose test equipment and calibration standards to meet Army weapon system support requirements, and initiate development of enhanced diagnostic software and interfaces to support emerging maintenance concepts for Long Range Precision Fires, Next Generation Combat Vehicle, Future Vertical Lift and Air and Missile Defense. The funding will provide prototype test and evaluation of field level calibration and repair support for the Radiation Detection System (RDS) fielded in FY 2020-2021 in response to Operational Needs Statement ONS 17-22580. The project resolves significant radiation measurement accuracy gaps throughout the Department of the Army operational areas and CONUS. This funding also provides for analysis of courses of action to incorporate additional intrinsic calibration instruments and general-purpose test equipment to reduce the maintenance hierarchy, increase calibration intervals, extend lifecycle reliability, and increase supportability across generational changes in weapon systems and weapon support systems technology.

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Document Details

Document Type
R2 Budgetary Justification
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2022
Source ID
0604746A_5_2040_PB_2022
Change Summary Explanation
FY 2022 - Increase of $4.756 million to allow continuation of high priority automatic test equipment development efforts to support current and future Army weapons and combat support systems.
Service Agency Name
Army

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Army

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Sensors
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Application Software
  • Circuit Boards
  • Condition Based Maintenance
  • Department Of Defense
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Diagnostic Equipment
  • Emerging Technology
  • Logistics
  • Maintenance
  • Measurement
  • Multi-Domain Operations
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Equipment
  • Test Facilities
  • Unified Combatant Commands

Readers

  • Fault Tolerant Diagnosis of Black and White Balloon Isolation Tests Using ¥.
  • Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.
  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems

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