GRAYLING, Mich. – Defense industry leaders gathered with Michigan military members and dignitaries at Camp Grayling on Friday to announce a new partnership aiming to improve innovation in the defense space.
“On average sometimes, it can take 12-18 months for a company that wants to go test a thing that can make a soldier’s life better, that can increase their lethality and can keep them safer,” said U.S. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll. “That is not sufficient.”
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The new online platform will provide private defense companies with “concierge access” to four U.S. Army test ranges — including Camp Grayling — in hopes of streamlining the development cycle for new military products and bringing them to market faster.
The other three domestic military sites named include Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Hattiesburg, Miss., the Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, Ariz., and the Dugway Proving Ground in Salt Lake City, Utah — though Driscoll said the overall goal of the program is to extend the defense industry’s access to all U.S. test ranges.
“Our goal and what we will publicly hold ourselves accountable to is, within 30 days of a request, a company that is capable of getting to a range will get access to either one of our domestic ranges, or one of our international ranges abroad,” Driscoll said.
Through the online portal, testrange.army.mil, eligible companies will be paired with a live representative who can assist with the necessary paperwork to test products at a participating range site and help determine which site is ideal.
In addition to the four domestic test ranges announced on Friday, Sec. Driscoll says the Army is partnering with the Africa Multidomain Training and Experimentation Center in Tan-Tan, Morocco, which hosted its first successful product test with U.S. defense contractor Covenant Industries Inc. last month.
“What we the Army are trying to do is break down every single barrier that we have put up over the last 20 or 30 years,” Driscoll said. “We are inviting the industry to get in the mud with our soldiers to innovate, to invest behind them; and then our commitment as an Army is, we will purchase the things that will make our soldiers more lethal, more safe and will keep our country safer.”
At a press briefing on Friday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the state is ready “to work with anyone, and compete with everyone” to build on the progress Michigan has made in the military technology space, calling it “a big day for Michigan.”
“We’re excited for this designation, and we are absolutely committed to being a great partner moving forward on this and any other opportunities and needs that the DOW has,” she said.
The news was shared amid one of the Department of War’s largest reserve component readiness exercises, Northern Strike (NS) 26-2, which kicked off Aug. 3 and runs through Aug. 14 at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center.
The multi-domain training exercise brings more than 9,000 military personnel from 36 states and territories to the National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) at Camp Grayling.
“The character of warfare continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, and our training must evolve with it,” said Col. Todd Fitzpatrick, land exercise director for Northern Strike. “...Every training event is designed to strengthen interoperability, accelerate innovation and ensure our forces are prepared for the missions they’ll face tomorrow.”