Classification
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
Distribution
Limited Distribution D: Restricted to U.S. citizens who are employees of the U.S. Department of War or its contractors..
See Security information for instructions on participating in short courses with limited distribution.
Instructor
Mark Neice, Directed Energy Consultants
Duration
Half-day course, runs 1300-1700
Credits awarded
2 CLPs
Course Description
Test & Evaluation (T&E) of Directed Energy (DE) Systems is nothing new; however, the purpose of testing is changing. DE's many decades of research focused testing is now transitioning to support programs of record that lead to fielded DE weapons systems. This course is designed as an entry level short course where the instructors will briefly review the T&E processes and highlight applicable DoD guidance. Since Directed Energy (DE) is a technology very different from the kinetic weapons that form the basis of DoD written guidance, the instructors will apply the core T&E principles to DE weapon system development. This will include familiarization about methodologies along with unique test range resources that are required for DE weapons T&E.
There are differences in DE T&E phases. For instance, laboratory Research and Development (R&D) T&E has a science and engineering focus. In contrast, DE T&E for defense acquisition of fieldable DE weapons for warfighters has a more combat operational focus. The course will highlight the distinct differences between these types of DE T&E to include the spectrum of R&D T&E, Developmental T&E (DT&E) and Operational T&E (OT&E).
The phases of DT&E and OT&E for DE weapon systems are the types of testing that lead to fielding a DE weapon system after it has been proven to meet technical system performance requirements, military utility, and operational suitability requirements. These combat-relevant areas of T&E also include Logistics T&E (LT&E), which are focused on validated reliability, maintainability, sustainability and other specific logistics requirements that help to determine DE weapon system mission availability in a realistic combat environment.
The course will emphasize the need to consider integrated mission-level T&E for DE weapons, since the cost (in time and resources) is very high if done in a sequential DT&E followed by OT&E, followed by LT&E (as was historically done for other types of systems). Live fire testing of DE weapon systems is costly, and the resources are precious and few in terms of full-scale DE weapon systems test ranges and instrumentation. Careful design of test principles can result in much more effective and efficient DE weapons T&E by integrating all the elements of DT&E, OT&E, and LT&E to the maximum extent possible.
Intended Audience
To understand the material in this course, the attendee should have already completed DE 101, or have prior familiarization with DE weapon systems.
Instructor Biography
Mark Neice is the President of Directed Energy Consultants, providing DE subject-matter expertise to the directed energy community. Mark is the former Executive Director of the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS). DEPS fosters research and development in Directed Energy, to include high-energy laser and high-power microwave technologies for national defense and civilian applications, through professional communication and education. Mr. Neice is formerly the Director of the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office, working for the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Research and Engineering. There he supervised the research and development of solid-state, free electron & gas laser devices, beam control technologies, lethality analysis, and the modeling & simulation tools that create military applications of laser energy for combat operations. A command pilot, Col (ret) Neice has time in the 4950th Test Wing, and as initial cadre of the Joint Stars test team. He has over 7800 flying hours, mainly in the C-135 and B-707 variants, and is a member of the DoD Acquisition career force, certified in program management; test & evaluation; systems engineering; and science & technology management. Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Enginerring Sciences from USAF Academy and a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton.