Report of the Panel on
Reducing Risk In Ballistic Missile Defense Flight Test Programs
27 February 1998

Specific Program Reviews

This section contains selected information from specific program reviews.

The study group received extensive reports on these programs from government and contractor program managers. This section focuses on the experience and lessons learned that are the basis for the key judgments and findings in the previous sections.

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Peacekeeper ICBM Program
High Pressure, Careful Planning, Deliberate Execution

  • National program national priority
  • Strong user demand for an early IOC. Still 6 years from start to first flight
  • Strong requirements focus both operational and test requirements

  • Phased approach to reduce flight test risk
  • Full qualification of individual components
  • Ground tests to demonstrate subsystem performance
  • Three phases
    • Phase 1: Does Peacekeeper work? Address technical risk areas early
    • Phase 2: How well does Peacekeeper work as a weapon system? Define final configuration and operational procedures
    • Phase 3: Is Peacekeeper ready for IOC?

The Peacekeeper ICBM program exemplifies a complex, high- priority program in which a highly successful flight test program was planned and executed in an environment of intense pressures for an early IOC.

The starting point was a strong and uncompromising requirements focus both for operational capabilities and test planning.

The test program was comprehensive, incremental, and sequential and provided time between tests to analyze, fix, and prepare for the next test. Partial failures did occur, however, in each case, the cause was confidently determined to have been aided by uncompromised instrumentation.

The program to control flight test risk followed the successful historic test paradigm: full qualification of components and subsystems, comprehensive ground tests, and disciplined sequential testing with time to fix deficiencies before the next test.

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Peacekeeper ICBM Program
System Test Program

  • Based on a full Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP) and an Integrated
  • Test Plan (ITP)
  • The Peacekeeper ITP was the basis for all test planning analysis (TPA)
    • Defined 319 major ground tests and 20 flight tests for the development test, and evaluation (DThE) and the initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) phase
    • All test facilities, instrumentation, and test-unique accommodations on the operational system were based on the ITP and the detailed TPA
    • Instrumentation and test-unique accommodations were among the most needs
  • The TEMP also required the program office to establish and chair test planning working groups in which project officers, project engineers, contractors, the customer, and the indcpcudent test organization participated fully -- including the resolution of anomalies

The system test program received intense attention, starting with a detailed TEMP and ITP that included detailed ground and flight test requirements.

All test activities, planning, execution, and review emanated from the TEMP and the ITP.

Test planning working groups were key players in flight test decisions.

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