{{Short description|U.S. Army facility in Maryland}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} The '''Churchville Test Area''' is a United States Army facility of the Aberdeen Proving Ground, located northeast of Bel Air, Maryland (in Harford County, Maryland, U.S.).
The Churchville Test Area () is a hilly set of cross-country road test tracks providing a variety of steep natural grades and tight turns designed to stress engines, drivetrains and suspension systems for Army vehicles, such as the M1 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley fighting vehicle and the Humvee.
The Test Area consists of {{convert|11|mi|km}} of interconnected roads and test courses located on {{convert|250|acre|km2}}, with both {{convert|3|and|4|mi|km|adj=on}} closed loop courses, mud, dust and gravel surfaces, and grades ranging from 7% to 29%.
On March 21, 2007, the Army celebrated the designation of a {{convert|163.5|acre|km2|adj=on}} buffer-zone alongside the Churchville Test Area, in conjunction with the Harford County Government, the Harford Land Trust, and the Hopkins family. Part of the US Army's ''Compatible Use Buffer'' program, under the Pentagon's environmental protection initiative, this land-use purchase was $1.4M (US).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://test.denverpost.com/news/ci_5471953 |title= Army protects farmland buffer |date= 2007-03-21 |publisher= Associated Press |accessdate= 2007-03-24 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120717124950/http://test.denverpost.com/news/ci_5471953 |archive-date= 2012-07-17 |url-status= dead }}</ref>
==See also== * US Army Ordnance Museum * Aberdeen, Maryland
==Notes and references== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070202060421/http://www.atc.army.mil/fac_guide/facilities/churchville.html Aberdeen Test Center] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20041014225512/http://www.apg.army.mil/ APG Official site] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070624203557/http://www.apg.army.mil/apghome/sites/about/history.asp APG History]
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Category:Research installations of the United States Army Category:Buildings and structures in Harford County, Maryland Category:Military installations established in 1942