Yuma Proving Ground

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The proving ground conducts tests on nearly every weapon system in the ground combat arsenal. Munitions and artillery systems are tested here in an area almost completely removed from urban encroachment and noise concerns. Restricted airspace controlled by the test center amounts to over convert|2000|sqmi|km2|-3.

In a typical year, over 500,000 artillery, mortar and missile rounds are fired, 36,000 parachute drops take place, 200,000 grueling road miles are driven on military vehicles, and over 4000 air sorties are flown from the proving ground’s Laguna Army Airfield.

Yuma Proving Ground features the longest overland artillery range (40 miles) in the nation, the most highly instrumented helicopter armament test range in the Department of Defense, over convert|200|mi|km|-2 of improved road courses for testing tracked and wheeled military vehicles, over convert|600|mi|km|-2 of fiber-optic cable linking test locations, and the most modern mine and demolitions test facility in the western hemisphere.

The proving ground’s sparkling clean air, low humidity, skimpy rainfall—only about three inches per year—and annual average of 350 sunny days, add up to almost perfect testing and training conditions. Urban encroachment and noise concerns are non-existent problems, unlike at many other military installations.

Of the four extreme natural environments recognized as critical in the testing of military equipment, three fall under the management authority of Yuma Proving Ground. Realistic natural environment testing ensures that American military equipment performs as advertised, wherever deployed around the world.

Yuma Proving Ground is fast becoming the Department of Defense’s premiere test and evaluation site for improvised explosive devices, commonly known as IEDs, the number one killer of American service men and women in Iraq. Hundreds of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles fly at the proving ground each year, as do helicopters and fixed wing aircraft conducting personnel and cargo parachute drops. Nearly all the long range artillery testing for U.S. ground forces takes place at Yuma Proving Ground. Many friendly foreign nations also visit the proving ground to conduct test programs, including Germany, Japan, Canada, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Britain, France, and others.

Capabilities include:

* Ground weapons systems from small arms to long range artillery
* Helicopter armament and target acquisition systems
* Artillery and tank munitions
* Cargo and personnel parachutes, including guided systems technologies
* Land mines and mine-removal systems
* Tracked and wheeled vehicles in a desert environment
* Vibration and interference-free tests of smart weapon systems
* Laguna Army Airfield complex, featuring two runways – 6,000 feet and 5,150 feet.
* 12 drop zones and multiple airstrips for Unmanned Aerial Systems
* A convert|55|mi|km|0|sing=on overland artillery range, the longest in the nation
* Over convert|200|mi|km|-2 of improved road courses for tracked and wheeled vehicles
* State-of-the-art fiber optics systems to acquire, reduce and transmit data in real time

Current and recent tests include:

* Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon, the most advanced piece of the Army’s Future Combat Systems program
* M777, a 155 mm lightweight howitzer
* Dragon Fire heavy automated mortar for USMC
* XM982 Excalibur 155 mm precision-guided artillery projectile
* Advanced Tactical Parachute System
* Army and Navy Unmanned Aerial Systems - over 1000 flights per year
* AH-64D Longbow Apache Helicopter
* M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank
* Bradley Fighting Vehicle
* Stryker Combat Vehicle
* Extended Range Artillery and Tank Munitions
* Mine and Countermine Systems
* Electronic Counter Measure Devices
* AGM-114 Hellfire, AIM-92 Stinger, AGM-65 Maverick and Brimstone missiles fired from helicopters

References

* [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-PANEL_ID=p_dt_geo_map&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CHECK_SEARCH_RESULTS=N&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-errMsg=&-transpose=N&-redoLog=true&-all_geo_types=N&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=100$10000US040120206009000&-geo_id=100$10000US040120206009001&-geo_id=100$10000US040120206009002&-geo_id=100$10000US040120206009003&-geo_id=100$10000US040120206009004&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105001014&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009000&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009001&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009002&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009003&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009004&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009005&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009007&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009008&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009009&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009012&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009013&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009014&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009015&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009016&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009017&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009018&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009019&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009021&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009022&-geo_id=100$10000US040270105009024&-geo_id=NBSP&-format=&-_lang=en&-search_map_config=|b=50|l=en|t=4001|zf=0.0|ms=sel_00dec|dw=0.007998535667255037|dh=0.0050551613624548325|dt=gov.census.aff.domain.map.EnglishMapExtent|if=gif|cx=-113.68404498617427|cy=32.93911668941063|zl=1|pz=1|bo=318:317:316:314:313:319|bl=393:358:357:356:355:354|ft=338:335:332:331|fl=372:204:369:368|g=100$10000US040120206009000&-show_geoid=Y Yuma Proving Ground census blocks, Census Tract 206, La Paz County and Census Tract 105, Yuma County, Arizona] United States Census Bureau
* [http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=38 Yuma Proving Ground's Desert Breeze Travel Camp information.]