scope:

PURPOSE.

Interface Testing and Evaluation (IT&E) is an evaluation of the safety, compatibility and suitability of cutter boat resources embarked on ships in accordance with References (a) through (g). The IT&E is carried out by subject matter experts in order to evaluate the interface between a ship, and launch/recovery system on board the ship, and a cutter boat, in inport and underway conditions. Interface compatibility is a technical measure of the interface between a cutter boat and a ship. Interface suitability is a technical measure of maintainability, reliability, and performance of the cutter boat and the ship working as a system, and includes a shipboard employment evaluation. This evaluation covers training, logistical, and procedural requirements. The IT&E process is designed to identify risks and mitigating factors that will improve the safety and effectiveness of interface between the cutter boat and the ship. The IT&E process formally communicates observations and recommendations to individual program offices, and serves as a cross-directorate validation of the interface. An IT&E is required each time there is a major change to an existing interface between a cutter boat and a ship, or the introduction of a new interface involving a cutter boat and a ship.