Courtesy Photo | During testing at U.S. Army Tropic Regions Test Center, 55 German soldiers utilized a...... read more read more
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For Soldiers deployed in a war zone, the natural environment can be as formidable an enemy as their armed human adversaries.
U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), part of the Army Test and Evaluation Center (ATEC), conducts testing in some of the world’s most punishing climates, and tropic testing is gaining additional relevancy.
American military policy has evolved to emphasize the Asia-Pacific region in recent years, and tropical locales are home to more than half of the world’s population, comprising nearly 40% of the planet’s land surface.
The necessity of testing equipment in these conditions is just as clear to the United States’ North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) partners. The Bundeswehr, the armed forces of Germany, has tested a variety of equipment at YPG and its constituent test centers in the past decade, from the PzH 2000 155mm howitzer to the MG 5 machine gun and G29 sniper rifle. This year, the Bundeswehr returned to test both variants of its recently adopted G95 assault rifle in the desert of Yuma, followed by testing at a Panamanian facility frequently utilized by U.S. Army Tropic Regions Test Center (TRTC).
The G95 is based on Heckler and Koch’s HK416A8, chambered for 5.56 NATO ammunition in both a 16.5- inch barrel rifle and 14-inch barrel carbine. The pistol grip, trigger guard, and cheekpiece of the weapons are slightly different from the civilian model.
For the tropical portion of the testing, 55 German soldiers spent two wet and extremely humid weeks on the ground in Panama utilizing a firing range and muddy jungle trail that traversed two creeks flowing beneath a triple canopy of vegetation, bordered with large trees bearing thorny vines and tall grasses. The trail contained pop-up and stationary targets as the soldiers conducted mock patrols as part of their simulated missions that put the weapons under test through their paces.
“The jungle trail and its tactical targets were outstanding,” said Sgt. Maj. Ernest Tretow of the Bundeswehr. “We tested the new night vision goggles inside the jungle trail at night and utilized the trail for live firing in the daylight.”
In addition to piggybacking a night vision goggle test onto their activities at TRTC, the Bundeswehr took the opportunity to conduct tests with their G22A2 sniper rifle, and MG4 and MG5 machines guns.
“The test area was exactly what we were looking for, and the support from the Tropic Regions Test Center team was outstanding,” said Sgt. Maj. Michael Diehl of the Bundeswehr. “We had no problems with the testing of the weapons.”
“We go a lot of times to Almeria in Spain, but it is very hot there for just two or three weeks of the year and you can’t shoot tracer ammunition there,” added Tretow. “Here, everything was possible.”
The Bundeswehr had in years past conducted tropical testing of weapons at American Army facilities in Hawaii, but felt the sub-tropical conditions were not truly representative of an extreme jungle environment. The success of the MG5 testing at Yuma Test Center a decade ago, and YPG’s jurisdiction of test facilities in wide ranging natural environments, made future evaluations comprehensive, rigorous, and efficient.
“The test of the machine gun in 2014 was the first time where we had contact with YPG, and they provided us the possibility to test in every climate area,” said Tretow. “That is unique, to be able to test under one organization like ATEC and Yuma Proving Ground.”
YPG officials expect to conduct additional testing for the Bundeswehr in the future.
“It was an excellent opportunity for security cooperation and support of our NATO partners in testing their equipment in the challenging natural environment of the tropics,” said Col. John Nelson, YPG commander. “They have already tested it in the desert environment in Yuma and plan to test it at our Arctic Regions Test Center in the winter.”
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2024 08:44 |
| Story ID: | 479587 |
| Location: | PA |
| Web Views: | 580 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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