U.S. Army Opens 5 Test Ranges to Private Companies to Speed Weapons Testing and Acquisition.

The U.S. Army is opening five test ranges in the United States and Morocco to private defense companies, giving developers faster access to live testing for missiles, drones and counter-drone weapons. The initiative targets a persistent bottleneck between weapons development and procurement as the Army seeks to move emerging capabilities from industry testing toward operational use on significantly shorter timelines.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said qualified companies will be offered access to a domestic or international range within 30 days of requesting test time, compared with delays that can stretch 12 to 18 months under existing processes. The initial network covers facilities in Michigan, Utah, Arizona and Mississippi, along with a newly established testing range in Morocco. The ranges are intended to support development of drones, counter-drone weapons, missiles and other emerging systems, while allowing companies to test hardware under conditions closer to those encountered in combat. Access will not be limited to companies already holding Army contracts, potentially giving smaller defense firms a faster route to demonstrate capabilities before acquisition decisions are made.

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U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground conducts a test of the GRIZZLY vertical launcher with an AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile as part of a counter-UAS demonstration. Yuma Proving Ground is one of five test ranges being opened to private companies to accelerate weapons testing. (Picture source: US DoD)

The five locations are Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, West Cibola Range at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Mississippi, Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Michigan, and the Multidomain Training Area range complex associated with the Africa Multidomain Training and Experimentation Center in Morocco. The inclusion of the Moroccan site also gives the initiative an international dimension by allowing U.S. companies to conduct certain trials at an installation operated in cooperation with a partner country.

The initiative was detailed on Friday, August 7, 2026, at Camp Grayling in Michigan by U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll during an exchange with journalists. He said the Army intends to allow companies developing missiles, drones, counter-drone systems, and other military equipment to gain access to its test ranges much faster. According to Driscoll, a company able to reach a testing location should be able to obtain access to one of the designated U.S. ranges or a partner facility overseas within 30 days of submitting a request. He contrasted this objective with current waiting periods of 12 to 18 months for a company seeking to test technology intended to improve soldier protection or operational effectiveness.

The decision to expand private-sector access to these ranges primarily addresses speed. The Army considers that traditional development, testing and acquisition procedures are increasingly difficult to reconcile with technologies that can evolve within months as a result of battlefield feedback. Drones, counter-drone systems, electronic warfare capabilities and long-range missiles are among the areas in which the service is seeking to introduce new systems more rapidly. By allowing companies to test prototypes directly on military infrastructure, the Army aims to increase the number of test-and-modification cycles, identify effective systems earlier and shorten the interval between the emergence of a new technology and a possible procurement decision.

The initiative also forms part of broader changes to the U.S. military test and evaluation system. In March 2026, the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, or ATEC, had already announced plans to facilitate access to its national testing infrastructure for private industry, universities and other government organizations. The command said it wanted companies to use these facilities for their own research, development, testing and evaluation activities while also accelerating experimentation involving unmanned systems.

ATEC has argued that the traditional model, in which contractor testing is followed by separate government developmental and operational evaluation phases, can be too slow for some emerging technologies. The command is therefore moving toward an approach based on more continuous evaluation and earlier interaction between developers, test organizations and military users. Drones are one of the main areas affected by this shift. At the AUSA Global Force Symposium in March 2026, ATEC commander Gen. Patrick Gaydon described unmanned systems as one of the technologies reshaping the contemporary battlefield. Dugway Proving Ground, one of the five installations included in the initiative, has nearly 8,000 square miles of restricted airspace that can be used to develop and test unmanned systems under conditions that are difficult to reproduce at civilian facilities.

The issue of access to military ranges had also been raised by Driscoll during Eurosatory 2026 in Paris. The Army secretary said at the time that the service was seeking to broaden access to testing infrastructure and reduce delays that prevent some suppliers from demonstrating their systems quickly. The objective is to enable the Army to identify equipment that meets operational requirements sooner and determine which systems should move toward procurement and larger-scale production. The new framework also includes an effort to simplify the process of booking range access. The Army has established a dedicated platform through which companies can request access to available facilities. Driscoll described the intended model as similar to a concierge service, with each company assigned a point of contact to assist it through the administrative and technical steps required to reach the range and conduct its trials.

One example illustrates the type of process the Army is seeking to establish. Covenant Industries used the Africa Multidomain Training and Experimentation Center site in Morocco to test its Anthem cruise missile. The company reportedly conducted the trial 13 days after the Army arranged access to the range, a timeline shorter than the 30-day objective established under the new framework. Expanded access to these facilities could be particularly relevant for smaller defense companies and newer technology firms. Unlike major contractors with established relationships with Pentagon test organizations, companies developing new drones, sensors, electronic warfare systems or counter-drone technologies can face substantial administrative, logistical and regulatory barriers before being able to evaluate equipment in a representative military environment.

The effort to reduce testing timelines also reflects the pace of technological change observed in recent conflicts. Operations in Ukraine have shown that drones, electronic warfare capabilities and counter-drone systems can evolve within weeks or months as opposing forces introduce new countermeasures. In this context, a process requiring more than a year before a company can even gain access to military testing infrastructure is increasingly difficult to reconcile with the rate of adaptation seen on the battlefield. By providing companies with more direct access to military test infrastructure, the U.S. Army is seeking to bring experimentation, industrial development and acquisition closer together. If the 30-day access target can be maintained, the approach could support more frequent cycles of prototype testing and modification, allow the Army to compare a broader range of competing solutions and reduce the time between the emergence of a promising technology and its possible introduction into operational units.

Written By Erwan Halna du Fretay - Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Erwan Halna du Fretay holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and has experience studying conflicts and global arms transfers. His research interests lie in Security and strategic studies, particularly the dynamics of the defense industry, the evolution of military technologies, and the strategic transformation of armed forces.