Written by: Taii Murakami Amaterasu, Chui Pierre Ruike 1st Rikugun Test and Evaluation Battalion
The 1st Rikugun Test and Evaluation Battalion is tasked with acquiring and testing/evaluating products that might be of interest to the Star Army Rikugun. This guide is a quick primer to their processes.
At the highest level, they use the Test and Evaluation Loop to guide our processes. The process is referred to as a loop because at any stage, a product might be moved back to a previous Process Phase. Additionally, the1st RTE Bn retains partial responsibility for the solution up to the end of its first 5-year re-evaluation cycle.
It is easy to make the mistake of simply comparing the on paper statistics of two systems (weight, firepower, armor, etc) and choosing the “best.” While this logic might work in video games, it rarely holds true in real life. The Test and Evaluations Process is much more complex and requires both strong analytical skills and creativity. Easily quantifiable factors such as fuel consumption, unit price, hard factors, are an important starting place, but only tell part of the story. To truly understand a product or system, the 1st RTE Bn trains its evaluators to analyze soft factors. Soft factors are less tangible or less easily quantified factors related to a system’s evaluation. These are often end user experience, human factors considerations, or maintenance and logistical burdens. Hard and soft factors are not completely separate. In fact, certain soft factors contribute to hard factors and visa versa. When comparing hard and soft factors, there is no formula or perfect balance that can be achieved.
The subsequent list of hard and soft factors is non-exhaustive. Evaluators are encouraged to use these factors to expand their analytical imagination.
Hard factors tend to be easily calculated. Some examples are as follows:
Soft factors can be a somewhat nebulous term. A good Test and Evaluation Officer learns methods of operationalizes and quantifying more nebulous concepts. Some soft factors verge on hard factors but are still not the sort of considerations listed on an average specification sheet. Because soft factors are not always self explanatory, this section will involve more commentary.
There isn’t a weapon system that can’t malfunction, nor is there impenetrable armor. A failure during testing doesn’t always constitute a mark against a product as much as helps us outline the product's uses and capabilities.
The Lesson of the Liger tank
Right system for the Us. Not the best system period. How is this system intended to be used? Ideal conditions? Less than ideal conditions? What is the level of skill of the average operator? How many of this system do we need? Will the maintenance requirements for this system require us to shift our doctrine in ways we do not intend to?
No piece of equipment exists alone on the battlefield. How does it fit into the larger picture? A fighter could be the most maneuverable craft and able to out dogfight anything else on the market, but what good is that if it can’t talk to other crafts or reliably find and identify targets? The most protective power armor bristling with aether cannons is completely useless if spare parts can’t be sourced or maintenance requirements keep them grounded more often than not.
Simply put, while end user experience is important, that user exists as part of a network as opposed to at the end of a chain. A vehicle operator might be the end user for an armored vehicle, but their positive experience with the system has to be weighed against logistical and maintenance burden as well as the cost of operation. Additionally, a decision maker must consider how well the armored vehicle operates along side infantry. Often times, a system is beloved by one aspect of this web but hated by the others. Decision makers must way the pros and cons and determine if the benefits out way the drawbacks.
Good kit with bad doctrine is bad kit.
Locked 0ut created this article on 2022/11/14 07:08.
🚧 This article is a work-in-progress. Is it not currently approved.