Air Force Moves To Modernize Infrastructure At Weapons Test Ranges.

By Michael Sirak

The Air Force is pursuing a series of initiatives to modernize the aging infrastructure at its test ranges so that it can accurately evaluate new types of sophisticated weapons and share test equipment among ranges, according to senior service officials.

"The equipment is just about worn out at our test ranges," Judy Stokley, deputy program executive officer for Weapons, said last month during her presentation at the 33rd Air Armament Symposium in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.

New weapons, such as extended-range cruise missiles, miniature satellite- guidance-aided bombs and directed-energy devices, present challenges to the test community as they are designed to be much faster and have far greater reach than past systems, Stokley and her colleagues said.

"The safety footprints of these new weapons are pretty huge and we are going to have to figure out ways to keep those safe and on the range." Maj. Gen. David Eidsaune, the Air Force's program executive officer for weapons, told Defense Daily during an interview in October.

Further, the demands for data that weapons systems place on testers to be …