The US Army is opening its testing infrastructure to defense companies more rapidly in an effort to accelerate weapons development and reduce the time required to field new capabilities. Under a new online marketplace, firms working on missiles, unmanned systems, and other weapons will be able to seek access to US and allied test ranges, with the Army aiming to provide access within 30 days of a request, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said, as reported by the Boston Herald. According to Driscoll, the initiative could significantly cut testing cycles that traditionally take between 12 and 18 months. The Army is seeking to remove long-standing acquisition and testing obstacles while responding to lessons from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where rapidly deployable and adaptable weapons have become increasingly important. Smaller defense firms and nontraditional suppliers are expected to benefit as the Pentagon works to broaden industry participation and encourage the production of lower-cost weapons at greater speed. The Army has confirmed that an early user of the new system successfully tested a cruise missile at a US Army missile test facility in Morocco. Available infrastructure includes Dugway Proving Ground, with more than 800,000 acres and long-range fires testing capabilities; Yuma Proving Ground, which is opening the West Cibola Range for industry-focused activities; Camp Grayling, featuring restricted airspace and around 200,000 acres of diverse terrain; and Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, which provides more than 134,000 acres of multidomain training and testing infrastructure.
