To accelerate the process from concept to delivery, government organizations are collaborating with prototype integration facilities (PIFs), where engineers design and fab ricate cutting-edge capabilities and integrate them onto military platforms.
are currently designing separate video screens configured to hook directly onto the workstations to provide Soldiers with live, full-motion video feeds of their drop zone environment.
Most prototypes at the CERDEC PIF undergo testing in its environmental test lab. For the transit cases and work station, engineers performed rigorous pull and vibration tests to simulate extreme flying conditions for the C-17. Te MIL-STD 810 testing lab is equipped to simulate many
harsh environments, including
shock, temperature, humidity, salt fog, altitude and immersion.
In just nine months, the collaboration between CERDEC and PM WIN-T yielded a fielded capability that was suc- cessfully tested onboard a C-17 with the 50th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 35th Signal Brigade, which supports the XVIII Airborne Corps’ Global Response Force.
ADVANCING TECHNOLOGY Science and technology organizations also leverage PIF capabilities to support their mission areas. Tese organizations
SHELTER ASSEMBLY Dave Boonstoppel, left, and CERDEC’s Brad McNeilly-Anta erect a tent for the EXP BN CP, which includes preconfigured power and Internet capabilities required to set up the current operations cell’s components. ( U.S. Army photo by J. Tyler Barton, CERDEC CP&I Directorate)
may be working with a more “fuzzy” set of requirements and thus require true research and development activities to prove what is possible. Te PIF helps these customers advance their technology so that they can, in turn, develop specific solutions for their customers.
For example, CERDEC’s Power Division required a mechanism to test its Energy Harvesting Assault Pack, a Soldier- wearable intelligent power manager that would generate electricity from the natu- ral movements of the Soldier and power situational awareness capabilities such as Nett Warrior, GPS and radios. Should the prototype advance to a true require- ment, Soldiers could obtain increased energy independence, reduced resupply logistics, on-the-move charging and bio- mechanical and ergonomic advantages.
PIF engineers are designing the Warrior Torso Test Stand (WaTTS)/Large Kinetic
Energy Harvester (LKEH) test apparatus, which will house a custom-built man- nequin wearing the pack. Engineers will attach the mannequin to a linear actuator, which can simulate Soldiers’ movements in a variety of environments, at different speeds and angles, while carrying various payloads.
INFORMING REQUIREMENTS On a larger scale, the Army is using prototyping—via technology demonstra- tions—to help the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) inform requirements for overarching capability gaps. For example, TRADOC recently teamed with CERDEC to explore expeditionary command post concepts. Te intent was to design, develop and demonstrate various command post pro- totypes from which TRADOC could derive and transition requirements to the Army’s proposed program of record for Command Post 2025.
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