5th Test and Evaluation Community Days Conference

Wartime experience: Speeding up innovation uptake: Building on lessons from the Ukraine conflict, this topic focuses on how T&E can accelerate the adoption of innovation, creating synergies with ongoing EU initiatives such as BRAVETECH EU. Discussions will address T&E challenges and required adaptations under wartime conditions. 

Test and Evaluation resources in Europe: In the past two years, the workload of European test centres has increased significantly. As the Defence Test and Evaluation Base IT Platform maps all Member States’ test centres, it is essential to understand their capacities and remaining challenges across the Land, Maritime, Air, Space, and Cyber and Information domains. Any EU initiative supporting industrial production should consider the need to reinforce T&E infrastructures and processes to prevent bottlenecks and ensure timely delivery of capabilities.  

Autonomous Systems: Testing autonomous systems remains challenging due to the lack of harmonised procedures. This topic leverages ongoing work under EUPAS1 and aims to encourage stakeholders to share their experience in ensuring system reliability and safety from a T&E perspective.  

Artificial Intelligence: AI and machine learning can support T&E by improving the harmonisation of testing requirements, methods, and procedures. However, it is equally important to address how AI itself should be tested, validated, and verified. Discussions will focus on Defence applications, benefits and risks, and how T&E can contribute to ensuring the trustworthiness of AI and ML in military systems.  

Test and Evaluation Experts: Engaging the next generation: T&E is a combination of facilities, equipment, procedures, and personnel. While the first three are regularly discussed, the availability and training of qualified experts now require focused attention. This topic invites participants to share experiences in attracting, retaining, and educating the next generation of T&E and certification professionals.  

Test and Evaluation as a key enabler for certification of military products: T&E activities form an integral part of the certification and qualification processes. This topic will allow stakeholders to discuss practical experiences related to the certification and qualification of ammunition, weapon systems, and other military products, with reference to frameworks such as the Joint Ammunition Qualification (JAQ) initiative.