MARCH 4, 2025 – U.S. Army Arctic Regions Test Center (ARTC) is the Department of Defense’s lone extreme cold test facility.
Tasked with testing virtually everything in the ground combat arsenal in a natural environment where winter lows drop far below zero, ARTC testers are masters of arctic test and evaluation.
Among other platforms, the test center, located at Fort Greely, Alaska, has conducted rigorous tests of the Stryker combat vehicle and M109A7 Paladin self-propelled howitzer, both of which utilized ARTC’s Mobility Test Complex as part of their testing. Concurrent with this military testing, the vehicle test track accommodates multiple customers from private industry, something it has done since its inception in 2004.
“When we have low military workload, being able to do commercial testing allows us to maintain capabilities and upkeep equipment that is used for these types of test, as well as the expertise for doing those things,” said Jeff Lipscomb, technical director. “That way, when a military test does come, we’re not scrambling to figure out how to support it. To me, the biggest benefit of the commercial automotive workload is that it keeps us on the cutting edge of automotive testing.”
In addition to keeping ARTC’s cold-weather automotive testing knowledge razor sharp, hosting commercial testing means the test center’s mobile snow-making machines and other specialized track grooming equipment not found elsewhere in the Department of Defense keeps moving, which saves maintenance costs in the long run. Further, continuous use means the skill the test center’s equipment operators have gained operating the esoteric machines doesn’t degrade: for instance, in unskilled hands a mobile track dryer could ruin the track’s asphalt while melting snow and ice.
“We have a 3.2 mile paved, two-lane oval track with a big ice pad in the middle of it, as well as a lateral acceleration pad where we can put an ice and snow circle within that course,” said Russel Hollembaek, the test track’s manager. “We also offer double splits of ice to test traction control during braking and acceleration.”
Both military and commercial customers have access to a desirable facility that boasts a 1000 foot by 800 foot lateral acceleration pad, a 200 foot by 1200 foot skid pad, and grades ranging in steepness from 5% to 60%, a dramatic difference from the 6% or less grades an American motorist finds on an interstate highway in the lower 48.
“We have interior cross-country trails within the compound itself as well as outside the compound for longer range testing,” said Hollembaek.
The track can accommodate as many as 35 vehicles simultaneously, though typically there are no more than 20 to 25 at a given time. Though military customers take priority, there has never been a scheduling conflict in more than 20 years of operation. No taxpayer money is used to subsidize commercial testing.
“We make sure we are meeting their requirements without doing something with government money for private industry,” said Lipscomb. “They pay the whole bill for everything they use and do here.”
Virtually every major commercial automotive manufacturer known to the average American motorist has conducted testing at ARTC’s automotive track at some point during its existence, though usually with specialized testing that doesn’t require running laps on the oval. Commercial car companies are eager to maintain trade secrecy with their competitors, and ARTC is happy to accommodate this desire, going so far as to carry an opaque screen alongside personnel if it becomes necessary to walk past another company’s activities. Scheduling time at the track is relatively simple, too.
“One of the reasons commercial automotive companies like to come here is security,” said Hollembaek. “We have our own security team that takes care of things for them that is usually much stricter than what they normally deal with.”
Though summertime maintenance following ARTC’s extreme winters can be rigorous, the track itself was constructed with care to prevent frost heaves, a ruinous road condition caused by thawing permafrost under a road surface causes the ground to soften and sink, ensuring its viability for many years to come.
“The track was built to a standard of far more compaction than a highway,” said Lipscomb. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t get a frost heave. It was dug far down to and re-filled with gravel to ensure there was no permafrost that would affect the track.”
Story by Mark Schauer
U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground