After the achievement of the Air Command and Control System (ACCS) Level of Capability 1 (LOC1) Preliminary Software Acceptance (PSWA) last December, the ACCS LOC1 Programme has successfully completed another significant milestone. The Provisional Site Acceptance (PSA) Protocol for the ACCS LOC1 System Test and Validation Facility in Glons was formally signed on 29 July 2015.
With this significant step, the Agency takes full ownership of the ACCS STVF as well as the Test & Validation tool which allows the Agency not only to provide in-service support but also test and integration services for the ACCS' customers in the NATO Command and NATO Force Structures.
The STVF itself was subject to intensive and complex testing throughout the ACCS System Test phases which was successfully completed during the performance of the complex and extensive tests of ACCS itself, concluding in September 2014 with the testing of the system. This test involved not only the STVF but also multiple ACCS sites in Belgium (ARS), France (ARS), Germany (CAOC) and Italy (ARS).
The STVF is basically composed of two ACCS Test and Validation platforms, providing reference systems for the operational ACCS sites in NATO and National AirC2 units, as well as the provision of the engineering development tool enabling support management, system and software trouble-shooting, system and software maintenance, as well as the building and deployment of ACCS Software. The STVF also provides a simulation component and live interfaces to support the testing process.
The Test Equipment and Engineering strings will continue to be intensively used in the future to support ACCS Replication activities, Core ACCS LOC1 Spiral 2 Tests, ACCS NATO Baseline maintenance and tests, as well as a multiplicity of related test activities between ACCS and other C2 systems. As the ACCS Core Project Manager, Mr Christophe Gallard, stated after the signature: "In essence this milestone allows us to close the book on many stories written during the maturation of ACCS in the Validation phase up to the acceptance of STVF. A new chapter is being produced to relate the transition of ACCS into operational service as part of its contribution to the delivery of the command and control of air operations and the protection of NATO airspace".