Yuma Proving Ground

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The U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground is one of the largest military installations in the world. Situated in southwestern La Paz County and western Yuma County in southwestern Arizona, USA, approximately 24 miles north 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. A resident population of 782 persons lived on its territory as of the 2000 census.

The proving ground conducts tests on nearly every weapon system in the ground combat arsenal. Munitions and artillery systems are tested here in an area almost completely removed from urban encroachment and noise concerns. Restricted airspace controlled by the test center amounts to over 2000 square miles.

In the typical year, over 500,000 artillery, mortar and missile rounds are fired, 36,000 parachute drops take place, 200,000 grueling road miles are driven on military vehicles, and over 4000 air sorties are flown from the proving ground’s Laguna Army Airfield.

Yuma Proving Ground features the longest overland artillery range (40 miles) in the nation, the most highly instrumented helicopter armament test range in the Department of Defense, over 200 miles of improved road courses for testing tracked and wheeled military vehicles, over 600 miles of fiber-optic cable linking test locations, and the most modern mine and demolitions test facility in the western hemisphere.

The proving ground’s sparkling clean air, low humidity, skimpy rainfall—only about three inches per year—and annual average of 350 sunny days, add up to almost perfect testing and training conditions. Urban encroachment and noise concerns are non-existent problems, unlike many other military installations.

Of the four extreme natural environments recognized as critical in the testing of military equipment, three fall under the management authority of Yuma Proving Ground. . Realistic natural environment testing ensures that American military equipment performs as advertised, wherever deployed around the world.

Yuma Proving Ground is fast becoming the Department of Defense’s premiere test and evaluation site for improvised explosive devices, commonly known as IEDs, the number one killer of American service men and women in Iraq. Hundreds of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles fly at the proving ground each year, as do helicopters and fixed wing aircraft conducting personnel and cargo parachute drops. Nearly all the long range artillery testing for U.S. ground forces takes place at Yuma Proving Ground. Many friendly foreign nations also visit the proving ground to conduct test programs, including Germany, Japan, Canada, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Britain, France, and others.

Capabilities include:

Ground weapons systems from small arms to long range artillery
Helicopter armament and target acquisition systems
Artillery and tank munitions
Cargo and personnel parachutes, including guided systems technologies
Mines and mine-removal systems
Tracked and wheeled vehicles in a desert environment
Vibration and interference-free tests of smart weapon systems
Laguna Army Airfield complex, featuring two runways – 6,000 feet and 5,150 feet.
12 drop zones and multiple airstrips for Unmanned Aerial Systems
A 55-mile overland artillery range, the longest in the nation
Over 200 miles of improved road courses for tracked and wheeled vehicles
State-of-the-art fiber optics systems to acquire, reduce and transmit data in real time

Current and recent tests include:

Non-line of Sight cannon, the most advanced piece of the Army’s Future Combat Systems program
M777, a 155mm lightweight howitzer
Dragon Fire heavy automated mortar for USMC
XM982 Excalibur 155mm precision-guided artillery projectile
Advanced Tactical Parachute System
Army and Navy Unmanned Aerial Systems - over 1000 flights per year
AH-64D Longbow Apache Helicopter
M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank
Bradley Fighting Vehicle
Stryker Combat Vehicle
Extended Range Artillery and Tank Munitions
Mine and Countermine Systems
Electronic Counter Measure Devices
Hellfire, Stinger, Maverick and Brimstone missiles fired from helicopters