A proving ground is an installation or reservation in which technology such as weapons, military tactics and automobile prototypes are experimented with or tested. Proving grounds can be operated by government bodies or civilian industries. They are distinct from military training areas which are run by the military and intended for the routine training and exercising of troops across the terrain.
Contents
Military and government
Australia
Monegeetta Proving Ground, Victoria, Australia (54 km north of Melbourne)
Germany
Peenemünde Army Research Centre, WW2 guided missile and rocket development and testing centre
Portugal
Field Firing Range of Alcochete, Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, an artillery and bombing range facility opened in 1904, under Portuguese Air Force control since 1993, but also used by other military branches and law enforcement agencies for training purposes. With a surface area of 7,539 hectares, it is located roughly 30 km east of Lisbon. This proving ground is planned to close and relocate (possibly to Mértola, Alentejo) owing to the construction of Luís de Camões Airport (planned to open in 2034).
Russia / Former Soviet Union
In Russia, a designated area is usually called a "polygon".
Kapustin Yar, aerial weapons and rocket test range used by the North Caucasus Military District
Pan'kovo test range, missile test range on Novaya Zemlya, best known for tests of 9M730 Burevestnik
State Central Navy Testing Range, missile test range in Arkhangelsk Oblast, best known for the Nyonoksa radiation accident
Totskoye Range, test range in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, best known for the Totskoye nuclear exercise, 1954
Yakutia Challenge, winter test proving ground in Yakutia, Eastern Siberia
South Korea
Anheung Proving Ground, Taean County
Changwon Proving Ground, Changwon City
Darakdae Proving Ground, Pocheon City
Sweden
Bofors Test Center
United States
In the United States, there are several military facilities that have been explicitly designated as proving grounds.
Aberdeen Proving Ground, a United States Army facility in Aberdeen, Maryland. It is the Army's oldest active proving ground, established on 20 October 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, 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 and at one time called the Indian Head Proving Ground
Jefferson Proving Ground, in Madison, Indiana. It 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 (BRAC) process.
Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) and the adjacent Nevada National Security Site (NNSS, formerly known as the Nevada Proving Grounds), both located at the Nellis Air Force Base Complex, in southern Nevada.
Pacific Proving Grounds, 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 nuclear weapons testing. It mainly consists of Bikini Atoll, Enewetak Atoll & the surrounding area, and was deactivated in 1963.
Sandy Hook Proving Ground, in 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.
Automotive
Automotive proving grounds or automotive test tracks serve the automotive industry for road vehicle testing. In the automotive development process, vehicle manufacturers typically test the behaviour of vehicles in various environments and traffic situations. Conventional vehicle testing usually focuses on the dynamic properties of vehicles. Test tracks generally encompass the engineering tasks of vehicle testing and validation.
With the advent of self-driving cars, new proving grounds specially dedicated for them have appeared, and existing conventional proving grounds have been retooled for the testing of highly automated or fully autonomous vehicles.
Automaker-owned
Chrysler Proving Grounds
Ford Proving Grounds
General Motors Proving Grounds
Hyundai Ulsan proving ground
Hyundai Hwaseong proving ground
Hällered Proving Ground (Volvo Cars)
Mazda Proving Grounds
Nissan Proving Grounds
Nardò Ring (Porsche)
Ehra-Lessien test track (Volkswagen)
Independent
Source:
AUREL CZ polygon, Czech Republic
Applus+ IDIADA proving ground, Spain
Arctic Falls Proving Grounds, several facilities and locations both outdoors and indoors in and around Älvsbyn, Sweden
4activeSystems Test Track, Traboch, Austria. An all-in-one test track next to 4activeSystems' headquarters, an testing equipment manufacturer for ADAS and autonomous driving.
AstaZero, claimed to have world's longest indoor track for testing "active" safety systems and autonomous technologies, Sandhult, Sweden
Baudette Proving Ground by Bosch, USA
Boxberg Proving Ground by Bosch, Germany
Bridgestone proving grounds, various locations
Colmis Proving Ground on land and frozen lake, Arjeplog, Sweden
Hwaseong Songsan proving ground, South Korea
Automotive Testing Papenburg, Germany
Bruntingthorpe Airfield & Proving Ground, United Kingdom
Digitrans Automotive Proving Ground, St. Valentin, Austria
Donghai Proving Ground by Bosch, China
Flat Rock Proving Ground by Bosch, USA
HORIBA MIRA, United Kingdom