Testing, Testing

The Pentagon's top weapons tester wants to reduce the influence of non-testers during the operational evaluation of new programs to bolster the independence of the testing process and improve verdicts of how reliable a system will be in combat, InsideDefense.com reported yesterday. Further:

In an Oct. 5 memo, Michael Gilmore -- the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation -- wrote that he has recently "observed" practices that do not comport with the conduct of independent assessments. Gilmore's memo does not specify which programs prompted this concern.

A new weapon system's reliability assessment plays a central role in determinations of whether the system will be deemed operationally suitable, one of two key criteria Gilmore's office is required by law to judge before a program moves into production.

"Reliability is the chief enabler of operational suitability, and failure to achieve reliability requirements typically results in a system being assessed 'not suitable'; consequently, its independent evaluation is pivotal to OT&E," Gilmore wrote.

"I have observed that, in some instances, operational test authorities" permit "externally developed" scoring criteria for a weapon system's reliability to be deemed a "mandatory" factor, Gilmore wrote. In addition, the top weapons tester says "external personnel" -- including those with allegiance to the office developing the weapon being tested -- are being permitted to "vote on the scoring of reliability failures" during operational tests and evaluations.

"These practices are inconsistent with the proper conduct of independent OT&E," Gilmore wrote.

We now have the memo available.

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