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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
	FY98 Annual Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 1996, in response to SECDEF guidance, The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) began a dialog with the warfighting Commanders-in-Chiefs (CINCs) to improve timely support to their operational requirements. Some new technologies, concepts, and threats pose questions that can best be answered by responsive experiments and assessments. The answers to these questions can immediately help improve current operating capability. During the planning phase for implementing SECDEF guidance, the following became apparent:

1. The Unified Commands, DOT&E, and the Services do not have adequate resources to conduct joint field assessments/experiments.



2. A transformation has occurred since the end of the Cold War that places an emphasis on experiments.



3. Coordinated national-level operational and intelligence support is critical to providing accurate, timely, and focused support when addressing joint interoperability and operational issues.

During FY97, with congressional approval, DOT&E was authorized $3.0 million in support of the warfighting Unified Commands. The FY97 OFA proof-of-concept phase was highly successful, not only in the ability to find solutions to critical CINC operational issues, but also in terms of understanding unique command operational and intelligence requirements. The FY97 OFAs were conducted at four separate Service range facilities, supported by Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine equipment and personnel, both active and reserve. Six Unified Commands participated in and received support from the FY97 OFAs.

The success of the OFA concept was upheld by letters of support and requirements for FY98 OFA support from USACOM, USCENTCOM, USEUCOM, USSOCOM, USTRANSCOM, USSOUTHCOM, USSTRATCOM, USPACOM/USFK, NRO, and DIA. In order to build upon the initial successes of the OFA Program in FY97, Congress appropriated $4.0 million for FY98 OFAs. The FY98 appropriated OFA funds were released in March 1998 and FY98 OFAs are ongoing.

The OFA partners considered fifty FY98 OFA requests from the CINCs. Thirty-one of the 50 were validated as OFA candidates within the mission areas of the OFA Partners. A number of the Unified Commands shared the same or similar operational requirements and information needs. Consequently, some of the CINCs' requests involved issues that were similar enough that they could be combined and would satisfy several CINCs' requirements at once. This was done to yield a prioritized list of OFAs for execution in FY98.

The highest priorities were given to command requirements associated with "FY98 HOT SPOTS;" i.e., the Persian Gulf, Korea, Bosnia, and the Caribbean (Figure 1). This process produced ten OFAs, supporting seven CINCs (USACOM, USCENTCOM, USEUCOM, USSOCOM, USSOUTHCOM, USTRANSCOM and USPACOM/USFK) to be executed with FY98 funds. These OFAs provide the warfighters with new tools to successfully plan and execute operational mission requirements, including the war against drugs.

It is noteworthy that OFAs are a modest but significant initiative in the larger framework of joint experimentation being urged by the Congress and undertaken by USACOM in the execution of its recently assigned mission as Executive Agent for Joint Warfighting Experimentation. The results of OFAs completed thus far indicate a need to continue to conduct operational assessments. Using reprogrammed funding in FY97 and programmed funds in FY98, the OFA Program has performed 23 OFAs answering specific operational requirements submitted by seven CINCs. The OFAs completed to date were done on short notice in response to CINC-identified requirements. They have been successful and were received favorably by the supported Unified Commands. The Service field elements participating in the OFAs have been very responsive and contributed significantly to the success of the assessments. The OFA Program is critical to the warfighting CINCs and helps maintain flexibility and adaptability in the face of real world uncertainties.
 
 

BACKGROUND

The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) received SECDEF guidance to improve support to the warfighter and provide technical support to Advanced Concept and Technology Demonstrations (ACTDs). The Secretary's vision was amplified by the National Defense Panel Report, "Transforming Defense," issued in December 1997 which stated that " . . . it is only through field exercises, primarily joint in nature, that we can adjust and iron out problems before they occur in actual combat" and " . . . the real leverage of future capabilities from experiments is in the joint venue." The OFA Program arose from and was motivated by the pressing need for a quick response to support the CINCs in assessing how best to employ military assets in particular threat environments. The Unified Commands have documented critical operational needs, consisting primarily of tactical issues within their respective Areas of Interest (AOI) for which innovative and adaptive responses are required. The OFA Program is focused on the recognition that CINCs' warfighting requirements and operational considerations are dynamic and rapidly changing.

The CINCs currently have very limited resources to support assessments and the OFA Partners (i.e., DOT&E, DIA, NSA, and NRO), bring special capabilities when supporting the CINCs in an integrated manner. Although the need for resources is modest, the requirement for some additional resources is well recognized. For example, as already indicated, the 1996 DSB Summer Study recognized this need and recommended that appropriate resources be provided.

An OFA is a quick response, low-cost field exercise conducted by the Unified Command, the Services, and the OFA Partners to support warfighting CINC operational requirements. It is conducted in a realistic field environment focused on CINC concerns regarding joint operational concepts against diverse threat estimates within a given area of interest. OFAs rely on a dynamic process providing coordinated operational and intelligence support to the warfighting CINCs by the OFA Partners within their mission and functional areas of responsibility. With coordinated support, the OFA is an effective tool for rapidly answering specific operational questions. While the assessments are focused to meet a critical CINC need, they also serve to enhance the realistic portrayal of the threat during operational tests and provide the added benefit of clarifying and coordinating intelligence questions. The answers to these questions enable a sharper focus of follow-on resource expenditures in the collection and evaluation of new or more comprehensive intelligence gathering. The focus of intelligence support is also enhanced as a result of increased understanding of CINC operational needs and capabilities.

OFA follows a proven process substantiated by the National Defense Panel Report of December 1997, which states the following:

• The advantage of the experiment is that there are some things that can only be revealed in the field.
• Practical experimenting allows us to experience what may only be theorized at the discussion table.
• It is only through field experiments, primarily joint in nature, that problems can be adjusted and ironed out before they occur in actual combat.

• Each Service may conduct experiments to examine its own role in the future.

FY98 OFA OVERVIEW

A listing of the relationships of the hot spots and the command requirements is shown in Table 1.
 

The prioritized list of validated and potentially executable assessments was then reviewed to separate acquisition-associated assessments from those assessments that were truly "operational." This process yielded nine operational projects composed of 13 separate OFAs to be conducted in FY98. Figure 2. Illustrates the Unified Commands supported by FY98 and FY99 OFAs.

FY98 OFA PROJECTS

The following FY98 Projects and Operational Field Assessments are underway or have been completed. All OFAs are planned to be completed prior to May 31, 1999:

• C130 / Helicopter Manportable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS): USSOCOM aircraft and helicopters face significant challenges when required to operate in an environment where potential adversaries are equipped with first, second, and/or third generation infrared-homing MANPADS. The primary purpose of this project is to determine the capabilities and vulnerabilities of specific aircraft and helicopters operated by SOCOM in such an environment. The project consists of two assessments, Aircraft-MANPADS and MH60-MANPADS. Specific objectives of the assessments include: (1) determining the best altitude for aircraft egress/ingress and gunship orbits in a MANPAD environment; (2) determining flare and jammer effectiveness against MANPADS; and (3) determining aircraft vulnerability in darkness when MANPAD gunners employ Night Vision Devices (NVDs). This will be the first time aircraft and helicopters have flown against the recently acquired NVDs. Assessment results will provide a measure of aircraft survivability in such a MANPADS environment. Preliminary aircraft vulnerability and countermeasure effectiveness can be assessed with the planned mission profiles. Maximum lock-on altitudes for each of the tested seekers, and flare and jammer effectiveness for the three aircraft will be determined. MANPAD threat systems will be used with NVDs to assess night performance. The MH-60-MANPADS assessment was completed in August 1998 and the C-130-MANPADS assessment is scheduled for completion in February 1999.
• Surface to Air Missile (SAM) / Mobile Missile Launcher (MML): The Combatant Commands have significant concerns about potentially hostile air defense capabilities against U.S. and coalition air operations. Specifically, many countries have employed a variety of new air defense operational concepts involving SAM system modifications to enhance their effectiveness and survivability. A number of joint operational issues have arisen concerning the operational performance and effectiveness of such modified air defense assets and the tactics, techniques, and procedures being employed by potentially hostile air defense systems. In response to these concerns, this project will consist of four assessments: a USCENTCOM SAM Assessment, a USEUCOM SAM Assessment, a USPACOM/USFK SAM Assessment, and a USCENTCOM MML Assessment. The consolidated list of Unified Command concerns focus on the operational performance of foreign SAMs-to include traditional, non-traditional, and hybrid SAM system operations-against U.S. and coalition aircraft. Unified Command SAM assessment requests are broad and comprehensive; therefore, the planning represents a nested approach to optimize resources by reconfiguring threat system assets to address issues of concern to specific Unified Commands. Assessment objectives focus on evaluating the effectiveness and vulnerabilities of the tactics, techniques and procedures employed by various air defense assets against a variety of U.S. and coalition air operational requirements. The USCENTCOM MML assessment has been incorporated into this project to evaluate CENTCOM's desire to assess MML attack operations in an environment where the MML is a priority asset defended by a SAM threat. The focus of these efforts will be to improve the capability to locate, identify and eliminate high value; short dwell-time targets and assesses damage within tactically meaningful timelines. Where possible, national and theater collection systems, unattended ground sensors, and data fusion cells will be included in the assessment scenarios. There is significant synergistic value between these OFAs and the Collection Integration assessment discussed later. Detailed planning is ongoing with operational events scheduled to begin February 1, 1999. These assessments will be completed by mid-calendar year 1999.



• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Target Surveillance Counter Terrorism: Special Operations units have been tasked with very challenging counterterrorism (CT) and counterproliferation (CP) missions, and USSOCOM requested an evaluation of the ability of existing UAV systems to support the planning and execution of cush missions. UAVs were designed for other missions, but USSOCOM thinks the UAVs could provide significant support to the CT and CP missions as well, with little or no modification. This OFA addresses that request. The Special Operations units that execute these types of missions, and the UAVs that would support the missions, already exist. What will be evaluated is the use of the UAVs by these units for these particular missions. Specifically, this OFA will assess the effectiveness of the UAV systems for CT and CP mission planning purposes (i.e., to identify the best infiltration and exfiltration routes and to specify the location and status of targets). The A subset of this evaluation will be to determine if the UAV support systems-control and information systems-are effective when used by and for USSOCOM's units. Additionally, if the evaluation proves to be effective, the combat user intends to develop tactics, techniques, and procedures for future UAV support in real world CT and CP scenarios. This could be a significant value-added resource for USSOCOM's-and other Combatant Commands'-CT and CP capabilities. Initial planning for this effort is complete, and the assessment will be completed by mid-calendar year 1999.



• Relocatable Over the Horizon Radar (ROTHR): This FY98 OFA was designed to explore the capability of ROTHR to monitor airborne traffic at ranges greater that 2000 NM. Because ROTHR performance is variable and performance beyond 1800 NM is known to be a rare occurrence, the day-to-day operations of the radar had been restricted to within 1800 NM. Accordingly, operator confidence in the proposed extension was low. The OFA was an attempt to quantify the utility of the radar to overall counter-drug operations within the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. During the OFA, statistically uniform data were gathered on an operationally non-interfering basis over a period of 12 months at ranges of 2000 to 2400 NM from the Virginia radar site. Analysis of the acquired data confirmed the rarity of the long-range performance at about ten percent of the available time, making the radar not operationally suitable for around-the-clock tactical operations. However, at those times when radar performance was adequate to reach beyond the nominal range, the information it provided was of great utility from an intelligence point of view. Data acquired during the OFA revealed that undocumented air traffic deep within Columbia at night is much more common than previously believed. Furthermore, those data clearly showed geographic points of origin and destinations not previously known through available intelligence sources. The gathering of statistical routing, traffic density, and timing information deep inside Colombia at little cost or effort represents a new avenue for intelligence gathering within the counter-drug operational community. This new source of operational intelligence, derived from the OFA effort, is now being exploited for incorporation into future counter-drug operations.

• Air Intercept Capability Using Podded Radar and Aviator's Night Vision Imaging System (ANVIST): During 1998, this OFA was used to conduct extensive simulations of the operational effectiveness of the ROTH/APS-144/ANVIS combination. Such simulations are essential since the ROTHR-derived positional and velocity accuracy are poor, thus making traditional operational concepts unworkable. A new operational concept had to be developed and its nominal operational performance assessed.

• Semi-Automated Imagery Program (SAIP): This OFA is in support of USACOM. The SAIP is a set of integrated exploitation tools which could greatly increase the ability of operational planners to exploit large amounts of data generated by sensors on the High Altitude Endurance (HAE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and the U-2 with its Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System-2 (ASARS-2) and upgrades to ASARS-2. The assessment was focused towards and addressed the high payoff, high value targets, terrain implications, and force structure associated with worldwide CINC requirements. The SAIP system is based on "template technologies," process delimitation, and high capability processors used to focus exploitation requirements to imagery analysts and operational planners while mitigating false alarms. The targets provided for templating were made available for a knowledge base of twenty targets templated. OFA support also provided the opportunity to assess SAIP military utility in a diverse temperate environment of coastal, mountain, and forested environment. The equipment was deployed and operated to replicate a realistic battlefield environment as defined by USACOM. Previous assessment venues had been of a desert environment and thus a realistic assessment of a broader worldwide application was required. OFA support, with its flexibility, was well suited to support SAIP assessment where previous efforts to leverage SAIP assessments with more structured joint tests/exercises had not been successful. This illustrates the value of and the need for the Operational Field Assessment Program. The OFA SAM and MML assessments will also be used as opportunities to assess SAIP utility against the realistic deployments of operational and threat equipment.



• Rural Airfield Infrared Model: U.S. and coalition aircraft frequently operate in unstable political and military environments all around the world. MANPADS pose potentially significant threats to airlift aircraft conducting these operations, particularly during approaches, landing, and takeoff. Ground commanders have a continuing force protection concern regarding operations in such an environment. Specific force protection issues have included the development of airlift defensive systems, anti-MANPADS tactics, and an associated aircrew anti-MANPADS training program. This OFA is aimed at developing a model that will allow USTRANSCOM to determine the most lethal locations in and around select airports where potential threat systems (primarily MANPADS) could be deployed. Such a model will enable USTRANSCOM planners and commanders to reduce the vulnerability of U.S. forces and aircraft flying in and out of these airports. The model will include: (1) integration of MANPADS tactics, employment doctrine, and assessed capabilities; (2) aircraft operational tactics and signature characteristics; and (3) local area topographical and weather data.

• Foliage Penetration Radar: Combatant Commanders have always faced challenges detecting, identifying, and geolocating completely obscured targets under foliage cover during day or night and in poor visibility conditions. This OFA combines the FY97 Foliage Penetration Radar assessment evaluation results (conducted for USFK) and planned FY98 initiatives (for USSOUTHCOM and USFK) to assess a significant new military capability to overcome many of these "obscured target" challenges. Targets include military equipment, personnel/units, vehicles, boats, structures, communications equipment, mobile power generators, and other targets that give off detectable emissions. USFK has developed an assessment plan, to be executed jointly with USSOUTHCOM, that utilizes upgraded SILENT VISION equipment and technology. The OFA will assess the effectiveness of the system during deployment in South America under actual operational conditions in the unique tropical jungle environment of the region. The assessment will employ an integrated approach involving DIA, NSA, NRO, and CMO capabilities and assets provide by USSOUTHCOM, DEA, and DIA. Success in this region will provide the basis for expansion of the capability to other theaters such as Europe and Korea, as well as the migration of successful sensors to a number of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms. System modifications and equipment integration was completed in November 1998. Flight tests to demonstrate the low altitude visual capabilities are scheduled for February 1999. This assessment will provide "baseline" data for future evaluations. Baseline results will be made available to the requesting CINCs (USFK, USCENTCOM, USEUCOM and USSOCOM). Future efforts on radar sensors are dependent on funding availability.



• Collection Integration: Theater Combatant Commanders face challenges integrating intelligence data obtained from external national intelligence assets into theater operations and intelligence architectures. High-value, high-capacity systems such as national collectors, Joint STARS and the Predator UAV provide invaluable support to operational commanders, but the daily operations of such systems and the large volumes of information they collect must quickly be integrated into existing theater architectures if their full value is to be realized. This OFA examines how best to accomplish this integration. Initial planning for this assessment has been completed and an initial exercise was completed in November 1998. Observations from the November 1998 exercise are being used to modify follow on assessments. Baseline assessment of collection integration, to include a model-assess-model approach, will be conducted by leveraging the SAM and MML OFAs. The results will be further assessed in a March 1999 exercise for refinement and evaluation. Following completion, a report on the results will be provided to the requesting CINCs (USFK, USCENTCOM and USEUCOM).



• Automatic Identification Technology (AIT) Integrated Proof of Concept (IPC): Force tracking (location of deploying units) and in-transit visibility (location of requisitions, supplies, equipment, and people) have long been a challenge to the military. There are many instances of these problems. For example, in Desert Shield, some 25-40 percent of the containers sent to Saudi ports had to be opened to determine their contents and destinations.

The OFA Program was established by the DOT&E, DIA, NSA, and NRO to provide coordinated OSD-level support within the mission areas of the four organizations, and satisfy CINC requirements for urgent, joint operational assessments. The program's prime objective is to support the CINCs in exploring integrated operational and intelligence concepts while addressing critical near-term operational issues in a quick response mode. To date, the OFAs undertaken have been accomplished on short notice in response to urgent CINC-identified requirements. They have been successful and were received favorably by the supported operational assessments in support of the Unified Commanders.

OFA has served a vital purpose in demonstrating the importance, feasibility, and utility of a field assessment program. It is also noteworthy that OFAs are a modest but significant initiative in the larger framework of joint experimentation being urged by the Congress and undertaken by USACOM in the execution of its recently assigned mission as Executive Agent for Joint Warfighting Experimentation.