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1 Introduction
Pages 8-26

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From page 8...
... test range system dates to the years during and after World War II, with the most significant updates having been carried out during the Cold War.1 The committee recognizes that there have been further upgrades and modernization in the 30 years follow­ing the end of the Cold War. However, Raymond O'Toole, the current acting director of OT&E, asserted at the committee's January 2021 public workshop that the ranges have not kept pace with testing demands, technology development, or the capabilities of adversaries 1 From remarks delivered at December 4, 2020, committee meeting; recording available at https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/assessing-the-physical-and-technical-­ suitability-of-dod-test-and-evaluation-ranges-and-infrastructure.
From page 9...
... Moreover, commercial demand and development are creating robust competition for the physical geography and radio frequency spectrum that OT&E has relied upon for decades. The stewardship and use of DoD test ranges relies on multiple stakeholders to effectively test the nation's defense systems.
From page 10...
... The goal of carrying out the two studies is that, by taking advantage of the full range of the nation's science and technology community in the unclassified study while also having access to complete information on adversaries' capabilities in the classified study, the two together will offer a comprehensive assessment of DoD's testing and evaluation ranges and infrastructure. The Committee's Approach To carry out the statement of task and evaluate the nation's military ranges, the National Academies Board on Army Research and Development (BOARD)
From page 11...
... o Electromagnetic Attributes of Range: Can the system under test, and emulated threats to the system, access and utilize spectrum as designed and needed? o Range Infrastructure: Can range instrumentation properly and fully assess system performance and record test data (as well as training data that could be applied to T&E requirements)
From page 12...
... It was supplemented by presentations, typically held via Zoom, by multiple military officials, both active and retired, as well as other experts familiar with military ranges and the challenges of OT&E in the current environment. On January 28–29, 2021, the committee held a public virtual workshop, Assessing the Physical and Technical Suitability of DoD Test and Evaluation Ranges and Infrastructure.
From page 13...
... are a critical component of the DoD acquisition community and its systems development process, and they play critical research, experimentation, development, test, and training roles in the never-ending modernization efforts aimed at ensuring that the country's warfighters are provided with the operational superiority its citizens expect if they are to deal effectively with the nation's adversaries. Among the technologies that must be capable of being tested at the nation's ranges are directed energy weapons, hypersonic platforms, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, space systems, 6th generation aircraft, long-range munitions, acoustic and non-acoustic technologies for undersea warfare, advanced electronic warfare/cyber capabilities, chemical and biological defense, and hard and buried target countermeasures.
From page 14...
... Future U.S. deterrent and combat capability will depend on the ability to close the kill chains and dismantle adversary kill chains.
From page 15...
... . In order to test for the future fight, with composable kill chains across domains, platforms, networks, and command and control systems, the
From page 16...
... Because kill chains will span many or all warfighting domains, from undersea to space and everything in between, test approaches and test ranges will require the ability to stitch together multiple ranges alongside virtual and constructive models of both "blue" and "red" forces. As Marc Bernstein, the chief scientist for the office overseeing all Air Force acquisition, said at the committee's January 2021 workshop, it will be necessary to combine many, if not all, of the nation's test ranges into a very complex "range of ranges" (NASEM, 2021, p.
From page 17...
... with real-world testing in live–virtual–constructive environments will enable the creation of cutting-edge test environments simulating realistic threat densities as well as the adaptability of threat systems. M&S will also support new ways of testing integrated kill chains and enable the evaluation of holistic unit actions and the training of extended forces on how to use new weapon systems.
From page 18...
... Our ability to replicate current operational threats is likewise painfully slow. At the public workshop, Ed Greer, the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for developmental test and evaluation, shared how it takes an average of 3 to 5 years from the time that intelligence is collected on threats to the time those threats are instantiated into testing, during which time adversaries can build new systems faster than intelligence centers can build models.2 As a result of this, test ranges and programs must anticipate "pop up" testing requirements driven by new tactics and techniques, or emerging threats, will be the norm in the future, rather than the exception.
From page 19...
... Develop the "Range of the Future" to Test Complete Kill Chains in JADO Environments In his opening remarks to the committee in December 2020, Behler emphasized that the ranges must be able to integrate systems and domains to enable the promise of combined arms for decisively closing blue force kill chains in the future fight.4 However, OT&E and the range enterprise have focused on the test of single programs and systems against their individual operational requirements, and collaborative effects have not 3 From remarks delivered at December 4, 2020, committee meeting; recording available at https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/assessing-the-physical-and-­technicalsuitability-of-dod-test-and-evaluation-ranges-and-infrastructure.
From page 20...
... A new organizational construct embodied in a joint program office with supporting policy and doctrine changes is recommended to manage the framework for testing of kill chains across systems and technologies, starting from use cases and concepts of operation, continuing through capability development and evolution, enabling integrated kill chain testing, and ultimately providing feedback to both the operational and acquisition communities for informed operations and future developments. Growing encroachment also poses particular threats for integrated kill chain testing, whether in the physical, radiofrequency, or cyber domains, as tests increasingly span geographical regions and make use of extensive spectrum resources for sensing, communications, and weapons effects.
From page 21...
... The current piecemeal, program-driven requirements process results in many projects to develop individual range capabilities, while structures, accountability, and processes to link and integrate these capabilities are immature or ad-hoc. A new joint program office is recommended to develop, maintain, and update cross-service and cross-domain mission threads, JADO test approaches and an integrated systems test requirements framework, and resulting range and infrastructure demands to test for the future fight.
From page 22...
... Increasing availability and reduced costs of high-performance computing and validated functional and physics-based models, coupled with "big data" analytic capabilities, and the application of machine learning expand the opportunity to complement physical testing with large numbers of virtual tests conducted in parallel rather than sequentially. Statistical techniques can be applied to optimize test approaches combining physical and virtual testing, increasing the value of each physical test while minimizing expensive and time-consuming range testing and potentially reducing the quantity and variety of required test assets.
From page 23...
... Similar concepts are needed for rapid and continuous modernization of the range enterprise, to assure connectivity and security, allow integration of capabilities from different ranges into a composable "range of ranges," make productive use of the exponentially increasing amounts of data generated and collected in testing, and effectively integrate M&S with physical testing for all-domain kill chain T&E. However, the range enterprise and T&E functions lack a comprehensive, flexible, and scalable data strategy, resulting in the inefficient use of data collected currently, and the failure to collect some of the most important data that can be used to inform and optimize operational testing.
From page 24...
... Today, range capabilities are funded by a variety of streams from individual programs, the military services and DoD agencies, military construction (MILCON) , and central pools such as TRMC resources.
From page 25...
... It examines the range enterprise factors that contribute to delays in fielding systems and kill chains and asks what needs to change in the way that OT and range requirements are established. Finally, it surveys the resource challenges that affect OT speed and efficiency and recommended remedies.
From page 26...
... Defense Innovation Board.


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