6

Conclusion and Summary of Recommendations by Actor

Rapid technological change is driving a new wave of military weapons and technologies, transforming the nature of military conflict itself. Increasingly complex military systems need to be tested and evaluated in ways the Department of Defense (DoD) test ranges had not been originally built to support. Although many DoD test ranges were built during World War II, the ranges have succeeded in advancing many capabilities to enable testing of these emerging technologies. However, military innovation continues evolving faster than the test ranges can keep pace and DoD is at risk of not executing its mission to confirm the operational effectiveness and suitability of defense systems in combat use.

Based on public testimony, site visits to a representative sample of test ranges, test range inputs, and a review of prior unclassified studies, the committee offers a list of the necessary range capabilities highlighted throughout this report that are critical for meeting operational testing needs through 2035 (Box 6.1).

To clarify the obligations of various stakeholders to address these critical needs and ensure the operational superiority of U.S. defense systems through 2035, the following sections parse by stakeholder to the committee’s recommendations. While recommendations are assigned to a stakeholder, their implementation will require collaborative efforts by several or all stakeholders listed below.

THE RECOMMENDATIONS—BY STAKEHOLDER

Congress should

• Consider mechanisms for increasing the effectiveness and applicability of minor military construction for responsive test and evaluation activities (Conclusion 5-1).

The Department of Defense should

• Establish a joint program effort to enable DoD ranges to test kill chains and joint multi-domain operations (MDOs) that can integrate effects across National Defense Strategy modernization areas (Recommendation 3-1).
• Identify and prioritize bands that cover U.S. military operational and test requirements and preserve these capabilities by protecting them from sell-off, ensuring the ability to validate the survivability of DoD weapon systems against a realistic operational threat environment across air, sea, land, space, and spectrum domains (Recommendation 3-2).
• Broaden the authority of the Test Research Management Center (TRMC) to address issues of internal encroachment by reviewing internal range policies and actions to ensure that the test groups retain adequate mission space and prevent the placement of equipment or infrastructure that could potentially interfere with test operations (Recommendation 3-4).
• Grant the Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Advanced Capabilities the authority to mitigate disputes arising over internal encroachment concerns and provide additional funding to manage internal encroachment (Recommendation 3-4).
• Direct that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff require the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) to consult regularly with the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, who is an advisor to the JROC, about the test requirements for systems considered by the JROC. This consultation should include an evaluation of current testing capabilities, facilities shortfalls, and plans to address these shortfalls (Recommendation 5-1).
• Either allow an exemption or set shallower expenditure benchmarks for the first 2 years of test modernization programs. This will reflect realistic expense curves for the technologies and projects needed to test next-generation programs and complex integration (Recommendation 5-2).
• Undertake a pilot program that uses a new process and authorities for funding ranges and infrastructure to make them simpler, more responsive, and more effective (Conclusion 5-2).

The Office of the Director of Operational Test & Evaluation should

• Regularly consult with and advise the JROC on the test requirements for systems considered by JROC. This will include an evaluation of current testing capabilities, facilities shortfalls, and plans to address these shortfalls (Recommendation 5-1).

The Test Resource Management Center should

• Assess current and projected commercial radio frequency communications technologies and spectrum allocations for secure, agile, high-bandwidth operational test needs. In addition, TRMC should determine the feasibility of developing new large-scale enclosed testing facilities combined with expanded modeling and simulation to support electromagnetic (EM) spectrum activities not suitable for open-air testing (Recommendation 3-3).
• Address issues of internal encroachment by reviewing internal range policies and actions to ensure that the test groups retain adequate mission space and prevent the placement of equipment or infrastructure that could potentially interfere with test operations (Recommendation 3-4).
• Develop a strategy that assesses the use of and potential investment in suitable allied resources for open-air testing. This strategy should include criteria for the usage of allied resources and areas of potential investment to include range space available, data collection, security risks, and support facilities (Recommendation 3-5).
• Continue monitoring and supporting the Assured Development and Operation of Autonomous Systems (ADAS) Project, and prioritize efforts to develop a common set of standards, measurement approaches, and operational scenarios from which to evaluate the performance of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems, while recognizing that testing approaches may differ between AI and autonomous systems (Recommendation 4-3).

The Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Advanced Capabilities should:

• Be granted the authority to mitigate disputes arising over internal encroachment concerns and provided additional funding to manage internal encroachment (Recommendation 3-4).

Activities carried out by a Department of Defense joint program effort could include the following:

• Integrate efforts across National Defense Strategy modernization areas to enable DoD ranges to test in a multi-domain battlespace of integrated systems and be capable of testing kill chains and MDOs (Recommendation 3-1).
• Establish a shared, accessible, and secure modeling and simulation (M&S) and data ecosystem to drive development and testing across the life cycles of multiple supporting programs (Recommendation 4-1).

• Adopt and promulgate modern approaches for standardization, architectural design, and security efforts to address data interoperability, sharing, and transmission challenges posed by the complexity of next-generation systems (Recommendation 4-2).
• Determine how to develop and maintain a protected data analysis tool and model repository for testing, increase the interconnectivity of test ranges, and ensure the development of data protocols for the real-time transfer of data at multiple classification levels (Recommendation 4-2).