Original Date: 05/23/1994
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Keyport's Electronic Test Branch handles package level (torpedo receiver and transmitter) functional testing during environmental stress conditions for qualification, pre-production, and periodic testing. Personnel have replaced manual test equipment with automated test equipment (ATE) developed by the weapon system contractor. Automated testing reduces the need for highly trained operators and allows for easier interpretation of test results. Test times have been reduced by as much as three to one in most cases.

A common ATE configuration for test and calibration allows Keyport to correlate test equipment results between contractor and government. This correlation between test equipment results in high confidence in test results and reduces the "cannot duplicate failure" results. Keyport's correlation analysis consists of comparing similar test results between test sites, the government, and contractor personnel. Although no statistical analysis of parametric data is conducted, parametric test data is stored for up to three years for potential review. Independent certification of test procedures at the contractor and government is performed to ensure test execution commonality.

Benefits gained by implementing ATE include reduced test time, more accurate and repeatable test results, and a larger pool of trained operators due to reduced test execution complexity.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.