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Capability Development Group

Things that go bang!

The Directorate of Trials (DTRIALS) provides trial and project management expertise to make sense of the whizzes and bangs of modern Defence equipment as it clears the test, validation and verification hurdles on the way to the user's hands. Lieutenant Commander Peter Ellis reports.

Photograph, caption follows

High-speed photograph of Explosive Lane Clearing Charge system test, Greytown, Victoria, March 2006.
Photo provided by Capability Development Group

There's something about blowing things up that gets people excited, and DTRIALS tends to explode some interesting items. DTRIALS also arranges for aircraft to whiz around in interesting places, for seized foreign fishing vessels to be sailed around the Torres Strait, and for rockets to be launched.

Formerly part of Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), DTRIALS was transferred, in July 2004, to the newly formed Capability Development Group (CDG) so that the process of equipment test and evaluation could be brought to bear on acquisition decisions. DTRIALS is a small part of CDG and, to ensure the independence of its work, reports directly to Lieutenant General David Hurley.

The current Director was recently asked to explain DTRIALS' place in CDG. Captain Andy Gough, Royal Australian Navy (RAN), said, 'I'd like to think that the more prolific use of trials will enhance capability development decision-making by providing substantive evidence on a particular issue, where previously we have been constrained to trading opinions'.

Current trials

The Operations Cell is the pointy end of DTRIALS. Currently, six Trial Managers are project-managing a constantly shifting number of trials in sites across Australia:

  • HyShot—Two rockets fired from Woomera lofted scramjet hypersonic engines for the University of Queensland.
  • 5 Tonne Hazard (2006)—A series of explosive masses was trialled at Woomera during April 2006.
  • LPA Watercraft—The new Army watercraft are based at Townsville and operate with the RAN's ships Kanimbla and Manoora.
  • Jindalee Operational Radar Network—The high-frequency radar system covers the air and maritime approaches to Australia's north.
  • High-frequency Surface Wave Radar—A system has been installed in the Torres Strait and tested over an extended period to inform the acquisition process.
  • Personnel Explosive Lane Clearing Charge—Army is seeking a man-portable system of clearing anti-personnel mines and obstructions. Two candidate systems have been tested in recent months.
  • UK MoD trial—The British Army recently tested a new General Service Respirator, an item of soldiers' personal equipment, in environmental conditions not found in the United Kingdom.
  • Glide Target System—A free-flying, disposable, aerial target system is being tested prior to the acquisition decision.
Recent trials

Other recent trials have included:

  • Ninox—Unattended Ground Sensors, and Ground Surveillance Radar
  • Direct-fire Guided Weapon (Javelin)
  • Ground-based Air Defence Recognised Air Picture Enhancement
  • 5 Tonne Hazard (2004)
  • Leopard Tank Thermal Sight
  • Submarine-launched Practice Mine.
Why do a trial?

In essence, the usual reason to do a trial is to understand how, or how well, a system works. Capability requirement questions often hinge on this, hence DTRIALS' move into CDG.

Trials do not necessarily prove that a particular piece of equipment or a system works well: a 'failure' is as informative. Trial results can be useful in developing the system or operational concepts for using it.

DTRIALS is likely to become involved in a trial when coordination across services and government agencies is required—for example, if Coastwatch or other government agencies are involved.

Formerly, the majority of DTRIAL activities were in support of DSTO. DTRIALS conducted Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E ) trials once equipment was in service. The RAN Test, Evaluation & Analysis Authority (RANTEAA) and the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Aerospace Operational Support Group (AOSG) conduct single-service T&E. The Defence Materiel Organisation's (DMO) Land Evaluation Agency also does some levels of trials.

From DI(G) OPS 43-1 Defence Test and Evaluation Policy: 'The purpose of . T&E in Defence is to obtain information to support the objective assessment of a capability system with known confidence'. The fundamental purpose of T&E —whether exercised at the concept, design, acquisition, in-service or disposal phase of a system's life cycle—is to evaluate system effectiveness and suitability by providing objective evidence for making informed decisions. Defence tests and evaluates new or upgraded capability concepts, systems and equipment as an integral element of capability systems life cycle management. T&E is a valid and disciplined scientific process that enables knowledge to be gained about a capability to support the decision-making process. T&E is a risk mitigation technique.

Photograph, caption follows

A GT-400 glide target that is due for trial in mid 2006.
Photo provided by Capability Development Group

Who pays?

DTRIALS is not funded to conduct trial activities; therefore the sponsor is required to arrange to meet the full costs of the trial, based on agreed estimates. However, DTRIALS is separately funded for oversight and supervision visits to the trial activities.

Sponsors increasingly lay claim to Project Definition Funds for simulation, modelling or trials to assure the Government that the right technology can be harnessed to Defence's needs. Alternatively, DMO brings some funding to ensure that equipment meets the operational performance standards.

Life as a trial manager

A trial manager will typically have two trials actively on the go at a time, either in preparation (liaison with the many organisations that are required to support a trial), during the test phase when the item under test is put through its paces, or in the write-up phase when the data is reduced to the pages of a report.

DTRIALS tries not to have a trial manager with two trials in test or write-up concurrently, but sometimes a schedule slips, causing life to become hectic. Trial managers are provided with what is effectively a mobile office: their own laptop, mobile phone and pocket PC. They can, and do, work from some unusual places. However, the significant travel takes time, which can be a major consideration in trial planning.

Recent trial sites have included Greytown, Victoria; Thursday Island and Cowley Beach, northern Queensland; Broome, Western Australia; RAAF Tindal, Northern Territory; Mt Bundey, Northern Territory; Cultana and Port Wakefield, South Australia; and of course Woomera, South Australia. Then there are the visits to arrange the equipment and meet with the trial participants and others involved, in places such as Adelaide, Nowra, Darwin, Townsville, Newcastle, or deep in the desert of South Australia.

Policy and advice

DTRIALS also has a policy and advisory function, in a separate section, which:

  • coordinates T&E policy for Defence;
  • advises on the development of Test Concept Documents for new equipment proposals; and
  • advises projects on their T&E obligations and requirements across the capability life cycle.

This effort is supported by embedded DMO staff and links T&E into the acquisition phase of projects, compiles test programs and formulates a schedule of testing.

DTRIALS is, therefore, a model of CDG's involvement with DMO, and represents a curious mix of the practical and the theoretical sides of Defence capability acquisition.

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