Next Generation Armament Test

Armament maintainers have played a crucial role supporting warfighters since the deployment of the first weapon systems, arguably the spear, bow and arrow. These early weapons were often crafted, used and maintained by the same individuals, but as weapons systems evolved and increased in complexity, there was clearly a need for specialization. Moving forward several millennia, early airborne armament delivery systems quickly evolved as a group of brave warfighters flew in primitive aircraft dropping small bombs by hand, often with limited effectiveness. The age of the highly specialized armament maintainer was upon us.

The 20th century greatly accelerated the need for armament maintainers as US weapons designers played a cat and mouse game to outperform our adversaries in conflicts such as World War I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam and most recently wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Development efforts have continued at a feverous pace resulting in complex armament delivery systems that incorporate advanced electronics and communications interfaces such as MILSTD-1553 and MIL-STD-1760.

In this whitepaper, we will explore the challenges facing today’s armament maintainer as new weapons systems and their associated interfaces enter service by first examining the history of armament test, reviewing processes and equipment. Next we will examine the difficulties posed by a mismatch of munitions and aircraft testers, and identify the impact of these challenges on mission readiness. Finally, we will discuss how next generation test solutions continue to close the test gap between support equipment and the advanced armament systems being deployed, and how these innovative solutions are changing the armament test paradigm as we know it today.