How can you be sure a system you’re developing actually works?
You test it, right? You test its functionality to ensure it meets the necessary requirements, then make adjustments and re-test as needed. This is developmental test in a nutshell.
Operational test takes that system and places it in operational context – takes it for a test drive – and tries to shake out the bugs developmental test didn’t find or address, as well as determine the system’s effectiveness and suitability.
It’s a logical progression, but it can be an expensive, time-consuming process, particularly when development schedules are measured in years or decades. A system may function exactly as expected in development, but still not be able to deliver the required warfighting capability when placed in a real-world environment and interacting with other systems.
“We are looking to deliver capabilities, not just programs or systems,” said Rear Adm. Brian Corey, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division commander. “We must deliver capabilities that make our warfighters more lethal, and we must do it quickly to help them maintain their advantage; we don’t want a fair fight.”
Developing discrete systems independently reduces the “noise” in a test, but it can also reduce the test’s ability to determining how valuable the system under test will be in the end state. Interoperability issues or unpredicted conflicts are just two of the many possible problems that can arise in operational test or fleet use of a system that tested well in the laboratory.
The solution to that issue is capabilities-based test and evaluation; or at least, that’s Naval Air Systems Command’s solution, which NAWCWD has fully embraced.
“CBTE evaluates the capability of the system to effectively accomplish its intended mission in a realistic environment, rather than simply focusing on meeting the individual technical specifications,” said Ed Romero, deputy director for NAWCWD test and evaluation business operations. “When fully implemented, CBTE provides the ability to understand, verify and validate mission performance prior to delivering a system to the fleet.
“Rear Admiral Corey has challenged us to fully understand and embrace the principles of capabilities-based acquisition and CBTE as a way to support NAWCWD’s Warfighting Strategy.”
At its heart, CBTE focuses on continuous evaluation and improvement of a system or system of systems in a mission context.
“It affords a greater understanding of how a system under test relates to mission execution, which then allows us to assess the impact that system has on mission effectiveness,” Romero said.
It’s challenging to integrate developmental test in a live mission environment, so NAWCWD’s CBTE practitioners use live, virtual, constructive test parameters.
“In this context, we have real people operating real systems (live); hardware and software in a simulated environment (virtual); and simulated people operating simulated systems (constructive),” Romero explained. “For example, we regularly do live testing on the ranges, virtual testing in the Advanced Warfighting Lab, and constructive testing in facilities like the Electronic Warfare Integration Lab.”
Recently, NAWCWD’s Live, Virtual, Constructive Working Group completed a series of events, called the Gemstone series, focused on increasing modeling and simulation capabilities and to train the workforce to quickly respond to future LVC requests.
Amethyst, Bloodstone and Cat’s Eye took place over six months, starting in March 2017.
“Amethyst was a ‘can we even do this’ type of event,” said Wendy Chang, program analyst.
Lessons learned in Amethyst allowed Bloodstone to come together even faster, and Cat’s Eye built on that knowledge base. During the exercise, the team developed, and then modified, a concept of operations for LVC events.
“That’s huge because, in the future, not only are we going to have a team of people who can put it together, we also have a CONOPS that can be a baseline for all future LVC events,” Chang added.
In addition to being more immersive, realistic tests, LVC testing can be cheaper and faster than the regular cycle of developmental and operational test cycles. There is also a reduced chance that major re-works will be necessary after a system has been fielded.
“We can reduce re-works and re-designs, as well as costly live ground and flight testing by providing data on systems earlier in the process and see prototype capabilities and limitations earlier,” Romero said. “We can test against current, emerging and future warfare threats in a more realistic, responsive way.”
| Date Taken: | 11.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.13.2017 14:16 |
| Story ID: | 255168 |
| Location: | POINT MUGU, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
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This work, Testing for the real world: A case for CBTE, by Kimberly Brown, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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