Download or read book Testing and Evaluation of Military Systems in a High Stakes Environment written by Raphael E. Moyer and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Testing is a critical element of systems engineering, as it allows engineers to ensure that products meet specifications before they go into production. The testing literature, however, has been largely theoretical, and is difficult to apply to real world decisions that testers and program managers face daily. Nowhere is this problem more present than for military systems, where testing is complicated by of a variety of factors like politics and the complexities of military operations. Because of the uniqueness of military systems, the consequences of failure can be very large and thus require special testing considerations, as program managers need to make absolutely sure that the system will not fail. In short, because of the high stakes consequences associated with the development and use of military systems, testers must adjust their testing strategies to ensure that high stakes consequences are adequately mitigated. The high consequence space is broken down into two types of consequences, programmatic and operational. Programmatic consequences occur while a system is under development, and result when insufficient testing is conducted on a system, leading a program manager to have inadequate certainty that the system works to specification. When the program comes under inevitable scrutiny, a lack of testing data makes the program difficult to defend and can thus result in program termination. To address programmatic consequences, testers must utilize a broad based and adaptive test plan that ensures adequate testing across all system attributes, as a failure in any attribute might lead to program termination. To connect programmatic consequences to the realities of system development, the developments of the Division Air Defense System (DIVAD) and the M- 1 Abrams main battle tank are examined in comparative perspective, using testing as an explanation for their dramatically different programmatic outcomes. The DIVAD's testing strategy was not adequate, and the program suffered termination because of public and Congressional criticism; the M- l's strategy, by contrast, was very rigorous, allowing the system to avoid programmatic consequences despite criticism. Operational consequences result from failures of specific attributes during military operations, after the system has already been fielded. Operational consequences are distinguished by their disproportionate impacts at operational and strategic levels of operations, and require targeted testing based on analysis of critical system attributes. The procedure for this analysis is established through use of two case studies. The first case examines a sensor network designed to stop SCUD launches in austere areas; the second case, designed to analyze one system across several missions, conducts an analysis of the potential operational consequences of failures in the Predator drone's system attributes. The following seeks to better define the consequences of system failure with the understanding that the military world is in many ways unique from the civilian world. Implicit in this thesis is a plea for program managers to think carefully before cutting testing time in order to reduce program costs and shorten schedules, because less testing means a higher likelihood of disastrous programmatic consequences and less insurance against operational consequences that can dramatically effect the lives of troops in the field.
Download or read book Improved Operational Testing and Evaluation and Methods of Combining Test Information for the Stryker Family of Vehicles and Related Army Systems written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-01-29 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) is responsible for the operational testing and evaluation of Army systems in development. ATEC requested that the National Research Council form the Panel on Operational Test Design and Evaluation of the Interim Armored Vehicle (Stryker). The charge to this panel was to explore three issues concerning the IOT plans for the Stryker/SBCT. First, the panel was asked to examine the measures selected to assess the performance and effectiveness of the Stryker/SBCT in comparison both to requirements and to the baseline system. Second, the panel was asked to review the test design for the Stryker/SBCT initial operational test to see whether it is consistent with best practices. Third, the panel was asked to identify the advantages and disadvantages of techniques for combining operational test data with data from other sources and types of use. In a previous report (appended to the current report) the panel presented findings, conclusions, and recommendations pertaining to the first two issues: measures of performance and effectiveness, and test design. In the current report, the panel discusses techniques for combining information.
Download or read book Statistics Testing and Defense Acquisition written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-09-17 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Panel on Statistical Methods for Testing and Evaluating Defense Systems had a broad mandate-to examine the use of statistics in conjunction with defense testing. This involved examining methods for software testing, reliability test planning and estimation, validation of modeling and simulation, and use of modem techniques for experimental design. Given the breadth of these areas, including the great variety of applications and special issues that arise, making a contribution in each of these areas required that the Panel's work and recommendations be at a relatively general level. However, a variety of more specific research issues were either brought to the Panel's attention by members of the test and acquisition community, e.g., what was referred to as Dubin's challenge (addressed in the Panel's interim report), or were identified by members of the panel. In many of these cases the panel thought that a more in-depth analysis or a more detailed application of suggestions or recommendations made by the Panel would either be useful as input to its deliberations or could be used to help communicate more individual views of members of the Panel to the defense test community. This resulted in several research efforts. Given various criteria, especially immediate relevance to the test and acquisition community, the Panel has decided to make available three technical or background papers, each authored by a Panel member jointly with a colleague. These papers are individual contributions and are not a consensus product of the Panel; however, the Panel has drawn from these papers in preparation of its final report: Statistics, Testing, and Defense Acquisition. The Panel has found each of these papers to be extremely useful and they are strongly recommended to readers of the Panel's final report.
Download or read book Operations Research Analysis in Test and Evaluation written by Donald L. Giadrosich and published by Aiaa. This book was released on 1995 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text represents a significant contribution to the available technical literature on military and commercial test and evaluation (T&E). The first chapter provides important history and addresses the vital relationship of quality T&E to the acquisition and operations of defense weapons systems. Subsequent chapters cover such concepts as cost and operational effectiveness analysis, modeling and simulation, and verification, validation, and accreditation, among others.
Download or read book Force Development Operational Testing and Evaluation Methodology and Procedures Guide written by United States. Department of the Army and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Army Automation written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Technical Report written by and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Test and evaluation management guide written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Industrial Methods for the Effective Development and Testing of Defense Systems written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-02-27 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the past decade and a half, the National Research Council, through its Committee on National Statistics, has carried out a number of studies on the application of statistical methods to improve the testing and development of defense systems. These studies were intended to provide advice to the Department of Defense (DOD), which sponsored these studies. The previous studies have been concerned with the role of statistical methods in testing and evaluation, reliability practices, software methods, combining information, and evolutionary acquisition. Industrial Methods for the Effective Testing and Development of Defense Systems is the latest in a series of studies, and unlike earlier studies, this report identifies current engineering practices that have proved successful in industrial applications for system development and testing. This report explores how developmental and operational testing, modeling and simulation, and related techniques can improve the development and performance of defense systems, particularly techniques that have been shown to be effective in industrial applications and are likely to be useful in defense system development. In addition to the broad issues, the report identifies three specific topics for its focus: finding failure modes earlier, technology maturity, and use of all relevant information for operational assessments.
Download or read book Test and Evaluation Policy written by United States. Department of the Army and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Phase II Report written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book ATEC Initiatives in Response to the Office of the Secretary of Defense Policy Guidelines for Test and Evaluation written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) is using mission-based test and evaluation (T & E), among other initiatives, to implement the Department of Defense T & E guidelines. Mission-based T & E focuses on the identification and alignment of system components and functions with the tactical missions and warfighting functions/tasks that the system supports. The approach facilitates testing in an "operationally realistic" environment and evaluating "in the mission context at the time of fielding." Further, it facilitates the assessment of system functionality, the assessment of the effect of system functionality on operational capability, and the assessment of the capability of the warfighter to accomplish mission tasks.
Download or read book Test and Evaluation Management Guide written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Testing in a Joint Environment 2004 2008 Findings Conclusions and Recommendations from the Joint Test and Evaluation Methodology Project written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Office of the Secretary of Defense chartered the Joint Test and Evaluation Methodology project to institutionalize testing in a joint environment. The project has now finished most of its major activities. In this article we describe our key accomplishments, findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Testing in a Joint Environment refers to tests of military systems as participating elements in overarching joint systems of systems. The concept first appeared in Strategic Planning Guidance and was formally introduced as Department of Defense policy in a roadmap signed by the Deputy Secretary in 2004. Several working groups were formed to implement the roadmap. The Joint Test and Evaluation Methodology project was initiated in 2005 to continue efforts of the methods and processes working group. Throughout the past three years we have developed, tested, and evaluated a number of methods and processes for defining and using a distributed live, virtual, and constructive joint test environment to evaluate system performance and joint mission effectiveness. We briefly describe those processes, what we learned by testing them, and the extent to which they improve the ability to conduct tests, across the acquisition life cycle, in realistic joint mission environments. We also describe the results of two large-scale distributed tests -- INTEGRAL FIRE 07 and Joint Battlespace Dynamic Deconfliction 08 -- which used mixes of live, virtual, and constructive elements to test a number of systems in joint environments. Several challenges remain, and we make recommendations to continue progress toward the goals of testing in a joint environment. The Department's long-term strategy calls for evaluations of joint system effectiveness throughout all phases of all weapon systems' development and deployment.
Download or read book Testing Regimes Accountabilities and Education Policy written by Bob Lingard and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-02 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the globe, various kinds of testing, including high stakes national census testing, have become meta-policies, steering educational systems in particular directions, and having great effects on schools and on teacher practices, as well as upon student learning and curricula. There has also been a complementary global aspect to this with the OECD’s PISA and IEA’s TIMSS and PIRLS, which have had impacts on national education systems and their policy frameworks. While there has been a globalized educational policy discourse that suggests that high stakes standardised testing will drive up standards and enhance the quality of a nation’s human capital and thus their international economic competitiveness, this discourse still manifests itself in specific, vernacular, path dependent ways in different nations. High stakes testing and its effects can also be seen as part of the phenomenon of the ‘datafication’ of the world and ‘policy as numbers’, linked to other reforms of the state, including new public management, network governance, and top-down and test-based modes of accountability. This edited collection provides theoretically and empirically informed analyses of these developments. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Education Policy.
Download or read book Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing written by IRA/NCTE Joint Task Force on Assessment and published by International Reading Assoc.. This book was released on 2009-12-03 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With this updated document, IRA and NCTE reaffirm their position that the primary purpose of assessment must be to improve teaching and learning for all students. Eleven core standards are presented and explained, and a helpful glossary makes this document suitable not only for educators but for parents, policymakers, school board members, and other stakeholders. Case studies of large-scale national tests and smaller scale classroom assessments (particularly in the context of RTI, or Response to Intervention) are used to highlight how assessments in use today do or do not meet the standards.
Download or read book Operational Testing and Evaluation of Major Systems in the Army written by and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1970 Blue Ribbon Defense Panel Report recommended that the Services establish an agency independent of the developer to conduct OT/E for new materiel being developed and that this agency should report to the Chief of Service. This study examines the evolution of OT/E in the Army leading up to the establishment of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Agency (OTEA) as the Army's independent test agency. OTEA's role in the planning and conduct of OT/E for major systems was examined in the light of guidance provided by DODD 5000.3. This examination reveals that the Army has essentially complied with the guidance of DODD 5000.3 concerning planning and conduct of OT/E for major systems. In accomplishing its mission, OTEA actively interfaces with the materiel developer, Program Manager, user, combat developer, trainer, and the Army Staff.
