Army Evaluation Center

Abstract

This funding line supports test and evaluation (T&E) of Army Modernization Priority Programs. This Program Element (PE) provides the resources to operate the Army Evaluation Center (AEC), the Army's independent evaluator for Army Futures Command (AFC) Cross Functional Team (CFT) efforts and all other Army and Joint Service programs (currently over 700 programs in total). AEC is the lead agent to plan, direct, and evaluate all required program testing and is the unbiased, independent authority for reporting on system progress. AEC is the focal point in test strategy development, system safety verification, and data analyses from early developmental consumer tests through operational tests. AEC develops Critical Operational Issues and Criteria (COIC) in conjunction with AFC to narrow the focus of testing to what is essential. AEC reviews and shapes system requirements to ensure they do not drive unnecessary testing. AEC provides critical independent assessments on system effectiveness, suitability, survivability, and safety to include cybersecurity and electronic warfare (EW); artificial intelligence (AI); safety of materiel solutions; and viability of emerging technologies and engineering change proposals in order to support major acquisition/fielding decisions including but not limited to acquisition milestones, materiel changes, and materiel releases. AEC is responsible for all assigned developmental and independent operational evaluations of Army materiel, information, and acquisition systems, an inherently governmental mission. AEC must remain independent from the development community. AEC assists the Chief of Staff of the Army decision making process by supporting Army Capabilities Integration Development System (A-CIDS) processes as well as supporting the AFC through the CFT concept. AEC evaluates operational effectiveness by determining if the system provides intended benefits to the Force. AEC assesses, confirms, and releases system safety for use by Soldiers upon fielding and during government sponsored experiments and demonstrations. AEC determines impacts to readiness through Human Systems Integration (HSI), Unit Systems Integration (USI), and Army Systems Integration (ASI), as well as doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities and policy (DOTMLPF-P) impacts. AEC evaluates ballistics survivability and lethality missions, adversarial assessments/ threat computer network operations (TCNO), cooperative vulnerability and penetration assessments (CVPA), and EW (attack, support) countermeasures in support of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2016 Section 1647, establishment of Cybersecurity and Electromagnetic Affects (CEMA). AEC manages, plans, and executes Information Assurance (IA) operational assessments during annual Combatant Command and Army Service exercises in support of the congressionally mandated Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) assessment, and performs operational test agency (OTA) duties for the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). This PE funds direct civilian labor and minimum non-labor requirements to include: Temporary Duty (TDY) travel, personnel training, career development, supplies and equipment, hardware, software, and other external Other Government Agency (OGA) support as well as methodology development required to evaluate emerging technologies and instrumentation requirements. AEC consists of seven directorates - Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Engineering Evaluation Directorate (AAIDED); Aviation-Fires Evaluation Directorate; Ballistic Missile Defense Evaluation Directorate (primarily funded by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA); Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Evaluation Directorate; Mounted Systems Evaluation Directorate; Soldier Evaluation Directorate; and Survivability Evaluation Directorate - and a lean headquarters element as AEC receives staff services from the Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) Headquarters (HQ). AEC provides direct support to AFC with personnel geographically co-located with eight CFTs - Long Range Precision Fires; Next Generation Combat Vehicle; Future Vertical Lift; Network; Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing; Air and Missile Defense; Soldier Lethality; and Synthetic Training Environment - and the Rapid Capabilities-Critical Technology Office and the Artificial Intelligence Task Force. The AEC primary competencies are: identify what decision makers need to know; plan and direct T&E strategies; evaluate operational effectiveness, suitability, survivability, and safety; and provide senior leadership unbiased advice on Army and Joint Service programs.

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Document Details

Document Type
R2 Budgetary Justification
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2023
Source ID
0605716A_6_2040_PB_2023
Change Summary Explanation
FY 2023 funding increase reflects the fact that the FY 2022 President's Budget request did not include out-year funding.
Service Agency Name
Army

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Army

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cloud Computing
  • Combat Vehicles
  • Computer Networks
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Management
  • Data Mining
  • Data Visualization
  • Digital Engineering
  • Education
  • Emerging Technology
  • Human Systems Integration
  • Information Assurance
  • National Security
  • Task Forces
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training

Readers

  • Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.
  • Military Training and Readiness Simulation

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - DoD AI Strategy
  • Cyber
  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
  • Microelectronics

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