Scalable and adaptive design test system for ground-based to airborne platforms

Abstract

This paper focuses on the scalable and adaptive design of building a test system to support multiple United States Air Force (USAF) systems while preserving the legacy capabilities (requirements) and initial investments (software/hardware) of those systems. From the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Minuteman (MM) III Ground-Based Launch Control Support System (LCSS) such as the Ground Minuteman Automatic Test System (GMATS) to the ICBM MM III telemetry wafer processing effort like the Radio Frequency Test Set (RFTS) to airborne projects such as the F-16 Radar Transmitter Test System (RTTS) to the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) hardware testing for the F-16 Common Configuration Implementation Program (CCIP), each of these systems required a unique test station with specific hardware and, customized Test Executive Interface (TEI) and software programming languages to accomplish its tasks. Due to the rapid obsolescence of hardware and additional requirements from the end customers, the new replacement test system for current systems as GMATS/RFTS/RTTS/CCIP must have the adaptive capability in its hardware design, and agility, along with flexibility in its software design, to satisfy the requirements for the above systems and be architecturally scalable for other systems in the future with minimal impact to the legacy hardware interface adapters and software architecture to be cost effective, manageable and successful over the next 20+ years in a typical Department of Defense (DoD) weapon system.