Proving ground
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A proving ground is the US name for a military installation or reservation where weapons or other military technology are experimented or tested, or where military tactics are tested. The usual British term is training area.
While these types of facilities are generally referred to as military or government establishments, there are examples of civilian industry that have their own proving grounds to test their prototypes and new technologies.
Military and Government
Canada
- CFB Suffield (2690 km²)
United States
In the United States, there are several military facilities that are designated as Proving Grounds.
- 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.
- 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
- 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 (BRAC) process.
- 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.
- 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 30 miles (48 km) north-east of the city of Yuma. The proving ground is used for testing military equipment and encompasses 1,307.8 square miles (3,387.2 km²) in the Sonoran Desert.
Europe
- Salisbury Plain, United Kingdom (380 km²)
- Bergen-Hohne, Germany, (284 km²), NATO facility
- Hammelburg, Germany, (40 km²) Hammelburg features a complete artificial village for training purposes of the German Army
- Hohenfels, Germany, (160km²) Hohenfels Training Area
- Grafenwöhr, Germany, (229 km²) a US facility
- Finland - The Artillery Brigade in Niinisalo, currently houses the Finnish ordnance R&D center (established 1921).
- United Kingdom - Stanford Battle Area, County Norfolk (120 km²)
- Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland (340 km²) belongs to Polish Army and Air Force (since 1946), since 1996 also used by NATO. This facility is internationally known as DPTA - Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area. It is also an important site of archeological excavations.
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 1954
- YakutiaChallenge - winter test proving ground in Yakutia, Eastern Siberia
Australia
Civilian Facilities
Automakers
- Ford Motor Company- See Ford Proving Grounds
- Mazda Motors Corporation- See Mazda Proving Grounds
- General Motors Corporation- See General Motors Proving Grounds
- Chrysler Corporation- See Chrysler Proving Grounds