By Maj. Matthew Truax, Test Officer, Intelligence Electronic Warfare Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command
FORT HUACHUCA, Arizona — Airborne Soldiers from Fort Campbell, Kentucky tested two new GPS navigation systems here that could allow the Army to better shoot, move and communicate in a GPS degraded environment.
Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment and 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division assessed the GPS solutions, called Dismounted Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing System (DAPS).
They conducted reconnaissance and fire missions in a variety of threat scenarios to understand the DAPS’ performance in a realistic operational environment.
“The Soldiers played a significant role in helping the Army develop a replacement for the legacy Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR),” said Col. Dylan Randazzo, director of the Intelligence Electronic Warfare Test Directorate.
After several days of logging numerous miles during night operations across rough and varied terrain of the Huachuca Mountains, Randazzo said Soldiers provided critical feedback regarding the system’s operational effectiveness and suitability.
Scenarios involved night vision goggles, nuclear, biological and chemical masks, Stryker infantry carrier vehicles, different rucksack configurations and inclement weather.
“In addition to highlighting system strengths and weaknesses,” Randazzo said, “the Soldiers identified different techniques for better employment and suggestions for improvement.”
DAPS is designed to support command and control by providing positioning, navigation, and timing to Nett Warrior and other networked command and control solutions.
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About the Intelligence Electronic Warfare Test Directorate:
IEWTD executes independent operational testing of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); EW; biometrics (BM); and intelligence analysis systems to inform acquisition and fielding decisions for Army and select multiservice warfighting systems. Additionally, IEWTD provides threat and ISR simulation and instrumentation support for internal and external test events.
About the U.S. Army Operational Test Command:
As the Army’s only independent operational tester, enlists the “Total Army” (Active, National Guard, and Reserve) when testing Army, joint, and multi-service warfighting systems in realistic operational environments, using typical Soldiers to determine whether the systems are effective, suitable, and survivable. OTC is required by public law to test major systems before they are fielded to its ultimate customer — the American Soldier.
