International Cooperative Testing (ICT) in Support of the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR) Acquisition

Jeffrey S. Kibler, Michael J. Biega, James J. Brewer, Kris A. Fromm, Robert D. Horn, Jamie P. McGrath, Larry D. Vance

Abstract:	The impact of the recent Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition reform philosophy, along with the advent of Non-Developmental Item (NDI) procurements, has made the need for new and alternative Test & Evaluation (T&E) methods and agencies apparent. The first phase of the International Cooperative Test (ICT) Program, which consisted of PLGR testing executed during 1993-1995, proved to be extremely valuable to the participating nations, the GPS JPO and to the PLGR manufacturer. Many anomalies, deficiencies, user requirements and potential enhancements were identified and resolved as a result of this test program. Because of contractual and funding limitations the GPS JPO User Equipment (UE) T&E Branch (SMC/CZUT) was only able to accomplish a very limited amount of testing on the new PLGR hardware baseline upgrades and the Enhanced-PLGR (E-PLGR) software development. The cost savings benefits to the JPO of having this testing conducted by our international allies was estimated to be $3.9M. The success of the first phase of the ICT program implies that future hardware and software upgrades, as well as future procurements such as the DAGR, can benefit from testing accomplished by international test agencies. The continuation of the ICT program during the DAGR procurement will mutually benefit the JPO and the participating nations. The JPO benefits will be in the form of reduced test costs, a more comprehensive test program which will include a large amount of operational testing, and the increased probability of finding any deficiencies before the receiver is fielded. The DoD operational test community benefits will be the data and results from all the operational testing conducted by the participating nations. The participating nations will benefit by having input and influence during the test planning and source selection board evaluation. They also benefit by being able to evaluate the receiver during First Article Test (FAT), before they have bought it, and will receive significant price savings buying on the JPO contract. Typically, as with the PLGR, the international customers do not purchase significant quantities and are subjected to a higher cost per unit and additional fees. Additionally, the DAGR manufacturer will also benefit with consolidated user requirements which results in less part numbers/versions to track; consistency in anomaly reporting as testing becomes standardized among countries; and the opportunity to sell more units with more features (more profit per unit).
Published in:	Proceedings of the 1999 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 25 - 27, 1999 Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	615 - 619
Cite this article:	Kibler, Jeffrey S., Biega, Michael J., Brewer, James J., Fromm, Kris A., Horn, Robert D., McGrath, Jamie P., Vance, Larry D., "International Cooperative Testing (ICT) in Support of the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR) Acquisition," Proceedings of the 1999 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 1999, pp. 615-619.
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