Testing in a Joint Environment: Where We Are and Where We Are Going

摘要

The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), recently completed a Roadmap, "Testing in a Joint Environment," to meet the needs of testing future weapons systems in a realistic joint mission environment. The Roadmap outlines challenges in (1) test infrastructure and standards; (2) methods and processes (M&Ps); and (3) policy. Subsequently, DOT&E directed the Joint Test and Evaluation Methodology (JTEM) Joint Feasibility Study to propose a methodology for testing in a realistic joint mission environment, which will be validated in a joint Test and Evaluation Project. The JTEM team used the already planned Multi-Service Distributed Event (MSDE) as a risk reduction to understand current abilities to conduct testing in a joint environment. This paper first presents background on the Roadmap and MSDE. The paper then discusses MSDE results and how the JTEM team is using those results to define a way ahead for resolving issues, as well as developing improved M&Ps for testing in a joint environment. The paper concludes with a discussion on the overall concept for testing the proposed M&Ps.