Twice a year, iRedstone Test Center, or RTC, conducts aircraft survivability testing on various military fixed and rotary wing aircrafts. The mission of these tests is to improve aircraft survivability against the threats soldiers face in the operational environments of today. This collaborative joint test effort supports multiple US Army organizations as well as many other US military service branches.
Simply described, aircraft survivability testing addresses the aircraft’s capability of detecting inbound threats and countermeasure responses to protect an aircraft and its passengers. Although this description may be simple, the job and its importance to the warfighter is far from it.
While there are a wide array of threats to the aircraft, RTC’s tests focus on addressing the most common threats US soldiers see while flying. RTC syas it is is fortunate to have the capability of firing both live and simulated munitions to test the capability of these aircraft systems. As technology improves, protecting the warfighter from these ever-changing threats requires frequent re-testing to stay ahead of the curve and keep soldiers safe.
