Proving ground
A proving ground, training area or training centre is an installation or reservation where vehicles, weapons or other civilian or military technology are experimented with or are tested, or where military tactics are tested. Proving ground is an area where the performance of such vehicles and objects is being tested.
Proving grounds often encompass large and remote areas.
Types of Proving Grounds
There are several different types of proving grounds, depending on the type of vehicle or objects being tested. We can classify them as:- Aeronautical Applications
- Military Applications
- Vehicle Testing
- Marine Performance Testing
- Aerospace Applications
Vehicle Testing and Development{{Cite web|title=List Of Automotive Proving Grounds Updated 2020 Dewesoft|url=https://dewesoft.com/daq/list-of-automotive-proving-grounds|access-date=2020-07-31|website=dewesoft.com|language=en}}
Proving ground facilities are used to expose industry prototypes to the conditions that the final product will experience either in extremes or during its whole life-time. This is achieved by accelerating damage accumulation rates, so failures are detectable in a short period of time.
Typical applications for vehicle proving grounds are:
- Durability testing
- Corrosion testing
- Functional performance
- Brake testing
- Ride and handling
- NVH - Noise, Vibration, and Harness
- Powertrain testing
Military and Government
Asia
Republic of Korea
- Anheung Proving Ground, Taean County.
Australasia
Australia
- Shoalwater Bay, Queensland
Europe
Austria
- Allentsteig, Lower Austria, largest training area in Austria
- Bruckneudorf, Lower Austria
- Glainach, Carinthia
- Großmittel, Lower Austria
- Hochfilzen, Tyrol
- Marwiesen, Carinthia
- Lizum-Walchen, Tyrol
- Pöls, Styria.
- Seetaler Alpen, Styria
Czech Republic
Denmark
- Borris Skydeterræn
Finland
- Rovajärvi proving ground near Rovaniemi in Lapland is the largest proving ground in Northern Europe.
- The Artillery Brigade in Niinisalo, currently houses the Finnish ordnance R&D center.
Germany
- Bergen-Hohne Training Area, Lower Saxony, NATO facility, largest training area in Germany.
- Grafenwöhr, Bavaria a US facility
- Hammelburg, Bavaria. Hammelburg features a complete artificial village for training purposes of the German Army
- Hohenfels, Bavaria
- Heuberg Training Area, Baden-Württemberg.
- Munster Training Area, Lower Saxony.
- Sennelager Training Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, managed by the British Army.
Ireland
- Glen of Imaal, an Irish Army artillery, live fire and tactical training area.
Italy
- Salto di Quirra, an Italian interforce proving ground located on Sardinia.
Poland
- Drawsko Pomorskie belongs to the Polish Army and Air Force, and has also been used by NATO since 1996. This facility is internationally known as DPTA - Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area. It is also an important site of archeological excavations.
- Ośrodek Szkolenia Poligonowego Wojsk Lądowych Żagań in Żagań County and Bolesławiec County; belongs to Polish Land Forces also used by NATO
Portugal
- Alcochete - artillery and air bombing range. Established in 1904, it was managed by the Portuguese Army until 1993 and since then is managed by the Portuguese Air Force. It is the largest closed military facility in Europe. In 2008, it was chosen to be the site of the future New Lisbon International Airport.
Spain
- Chinchilla, Albacete. 232 km2
- San Gregorio, Zaragoza. 340 km2
United Kingdom
- Salisbury Plain Training Area, United Kingdom
- Stanford Training Area - established 1942, includes an "Afghan" village
- Otterburn Training Area, Northumberland, United Kingdom
Russia/former Soviet Union
- Kapustin Yar - aerial weapons/rocket test range, North Caucasus Military District
- Totskoye range nuclear tests - test range in the Urals where nuclear tests were carried out in 1954
- YakutiaChallenge - winter test proving ground in Yakutia, Eastern Siberia
North America
Canada
- CFB Suffield, Alberta - training base for Canadian Forces and British Army
- Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, Alberta - home to Land Force Western Area Training Centre and the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre
- CFB Shilo, Manitoba - Home Station of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery
- Land Force Central Area Training Centre Meaford, Ontario - Training center for the 4th Canadian Division
- Garrison Petawawa, Ontario - home to 2 CMBG and 4th CDSG
- CFB Valcartier, Quebec - home to 5 CMBG
- CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick - Primary Eastern Canada training area
- Land Force Atlantic Area Training Centre Aldershot, Nova Scotia
United States
- Aberdeen Proving Ground is a United States Army facility located at Aberdeen, Maryland, and is the Army's oldest active proving ground, established on October 20, 1917, six months after the United States entered World War I. It was created so that design and testing of ordnance materiel could be carried out in proximity to the nation's industrial and shipping centers at the time.
- Dugway Proving Ground in an active facility operated by the United States Army Test and Evaluation Command in the Great Salt Lake Desert of Utah. Dugway's mission is to test U.S. and Allied biological and chemical weapon defense systems.
- Fort Belvoir Proving ground, in Fairfax County, Virginia.
- Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center located in Indian Head, Maryland, at one time called the Indian Head Proving Ground.
- Jefferson Proving Ground located in Madison, Indiana, was principally a munitions testing facility of Test and Evaluation Command of the United States Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command. The facility was ordered closed in 1989 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process.
- Pacific Proving Ground is an inactive U.S. Department of Energy area in the Marshall Islands that were established by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1946 for detonation of nuclear devices for testing weapon design and effects. It mainly consists of Bikini Atoll, Enewetak Atoll & the surrounding area. Deactivated in 1963.
- Sandy Hook Proving Ground, at Sandy Hook, New Jersey was the nation's first such facility. It was created in 1874 and was used as a proving ground until 1919.
- Scituate Proving Ground, a former proving ground in Scituate, Massachusetts, operational from 1918 to 1921.
- Yuma Proving Ground is a United States Army facility situated in southwestern La Paz County and western Yuma County in southwestern Arizona, U.S., approximately north-east of the city of Yuma. The proving ground is used for testing military equipment and encompasses 1,307.8 square miles in the Sonoran Desert.
Automotive proving grounds
By the advent of autonomous cars, new proving grounds specially dedicated for self-driving cars appear as well as traditional test fields are transformed for highly automated or autonomous vehicle tests.
Automakers
- Chrysler Corporation - See Chrysler Proving Grounds
- Ford Motor Company - See Ford Proving Grounds
- General Motors Corporation - See General Motors Proving Grounds
- Mazda Motors Corporation - See Mazda Proving Grounds
- Nissan Motors - See Nissan Proving Grounds
- Porsche Engineering - Nardò Ring
- VW Group - Ehra-Lessien test track
Independent automotive proving grounds
- ZalaZone Automotive Proving Ground, Hungary
- :fr:UTAC CERAM, France
- Applus IDIADA, Spain
- :de:Automotive Testing Papenburg, Germany
- HORIBA MIRA, United Kingdom
- Bruntingthorpe Airfield & Proving Ground, United Kingdom
- Millbrook Proving Ground, United Kingdom
- TRIWO Automotive Testing Center, vehicle testing proving grounds close to Frankfurt and Saarbruecken, Germany
Footnotes