and nondevelopmental items is that these items have already undergone previous testing and are generally accepted in the commercial marketplace or in another military application.
As a general rule, testing is needed only when existing data are insufficient. For example, de- velopment testing is conducted only to obtain specific information that cannot be satisfied by existing data.The IPT should obtain assistance from the developmental testing experts at an early point. Early participation by the military service's independent operational test agency is equally important.Together, these testers can verify existing test data and plan for additional
tests if required.
Most testing of commercial items is operational testing-testing to ensure that the system will operate as intended in the military environment. A comprehensive assessment of the total operation and support effectiveness is particularly significant when considering commercial products not designed for the defense environment. However, the IPT should not assume that the defense environment is more demanding than the commercial environment without inves- tigating the commercial uses of an item. Commercial products developed for an industrial or other harsh environment requiring high reliability may meet defense needs even though the general consumer products do not.
Operational testing also is important when the end item comprises multiple commercial items; the interaction of multiple commercial items can have unintended and unexpected oper- ational effects on overall performance. In addition, commercial product upgrades may revise or eliminate certain product features and may negatively affect system performance.To satisfy end users, additional operational testing may be required.This process may have to be repeated throughout the system life cycle as commercial items are upgraded and replaced.
Once the existing data on the performance and other aspects of the commercial or nonde- velopmental items have been assessed, the remaining test and evaluation requirements need to be documented in the test and evaluation plan.The plan should also summarize the testing, in-
cluding results, done by the supplier or other parties. Developers, users, and independent opera- tional testers should work together to tailor the test requirements and execution strategy. Specific tests required will vary with each individual acquisition.
To ensure that the planned testing is appropriate, it is essential that requirements documents clearly and unambiguously state required capabilities, operating environments, and interfaces.To this end, the test and evaluation team should review draft requirements documents; this review should result in a significant reduction in the amount of unnecessary or redundant testing. In addition, redundant testing can be avoided, and the acquisition expedited, if the military test
and evaluation community understands the test practices and standards used by industry and is
open to accepting the results in lieu of DoD testing.
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