Introduction
This conference will be be held at the SECRET/U.S. ONLY classification.
Recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have highlighted the need for our combat systems to be survivable and effective. Many of our systems employed in combat have undergone statutorily-mandated Live Fire Test and Evaluation (LFT&E), and have benefited from the advanced understanding of how our weapons perform and how our systems will respond when hit. This conference will address the impact of global threats, including strategic, tactical (including ballistic, directed energy and other non-ballistic threats) and unconventional threats (IEDs, others) on the safety and survivability of our armed forces. It will explore new survivability techniques and approaches to integrate survivability concerns within the broad considerations of system design and employment. The conference will also address issues related to lethality of our weapons systems, from small caliber munitions to missile defense. Lethality will be discussed within the operational context of increased precision of delivery and the desire to limit collateral damage. Other topics, which also play a vital role in this process, will include modeling and simulation, experimental design, test ranges, instrumentation and environmental issues related to this type of testing. LFT&E policies, procedures and best practices will also be addressed.
This year marks the 26th anniversary of the statutory requirement for LFT&E of
acquisition programs under Title 10, United States Code (Section 2366). The statute,
which became effective in FY1987, requires realistic survivability testing and realistic
lethality testing for applicable systems. Since FY1995, OSD oversight of LFT&E has
been provided through the Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation,
which provides for an integrated assessment of operational effectiveness (including
lethality), suitability and survivability.
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS - DEADLINE EXTENDED
Abstract Submittal Deadline: Monday, May 13, 2013
Download/View/Print the Call for Abstracts and submittal instructions.
ARTHUR STEIN AWARD
Please submit your nominations to Ms. Laura Yuska, Meeting Planner, lyuska@ndia.org by Friday, May 10, 2013.
The NDIA T&E Executive Committee is soliciting nominees for this year’s Arthur Stein Award for lifetime achievement in Live Fire Test &Evaluation (LFT&E). This award will be presented at this year's Live Fire Test & Evaluation Conference.
Mr. Arthur Stein began his Defense career during World War II, when he joined distinguished scientists and mathematicians from throughout the country to work at the Ballistics Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland. He had a long and distinguished career in the private sector, most of which was spent in Buffalo, New York, working for Calspan. In semi-retirement, he worked as consultant for the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). It was there that Mr. Arthur Stein became involved with the new Joint Live Fire program, the Army-conducted Bradley Live Fire Test, and later the congressionally mandated LFT&E program. During those early years of LFT&E, he had a great influence on IDA analysts and on OSD’s Live Fire Test Office. He was a distinguished member of two blue-ribbon National Research Council panels to investigate LFT&E issues. Mr. Arthur Stein was unusual not only for his distinguished career, but for staying intellectually young even until his death in 1995 at the age of 76. His work seemed to energize both him and those around him. He firmly believed in the importance of Live Fire Test and Evaluation, and wanted to pass on his interest and knowledge to the next generation.