Guided weapons test station upgrade - A cooperative effort with Taiwan

The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWC-WD) in cooperation with the Taiwan Chang Shun Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) has undertaken a product improvement project to upgrade the first generation common munitions tester the Guided Weapons Test Station (GWTS). The GWTS is mostly commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment As such it is subject to component obsolescence. The (PI)-I-3 project replaces obsolete COTS, including the system controller with more supportable hems The project goes further by replacing Compaq/DEC Alpha UNIX with Windows NT/2000. This shift requires an en masse re-host of the GWTS software suite. Re-host is a challenging process, not without risk, but will more closely align the GWTS design with industry standards. Resources expended now will be more than offset by future savings. The GWTS project is not being conducted in a vacuum. Navy project leaders ensure that CSIST management is continually aware of technical and schedule status, and CSIST engineers will join the team. Raytheon, who is exploring options for new common munitions ATE, monitors upgrade progress, and they have invited NAWC-WD participation in trade studies for a future Standard Missile test station. The GWTS upgrade team and Raytheon have mutually benefited from this cooperation.