Following the landmark achievement of fusion ignition in December 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has now repeated ignition multiple times, reaching record yields and fusion gains. To further advance fusion research into new experimental regimes, NIF is currently planning the Enhanced Yield Capability (EYC) upgrade, raising laser energy to 2.6 MJ by fully utilizing the laser amplification potential of its design. Simulations predict EYC yields exceeding 30 MJ, enabling transformative opportunities for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and High-Energy-Density (HED) sciences. This paper focuses on the dual challenge of implementing EYC while sustaining aging control systems nearly two decades old. While the data-driven NIF control system architecture requires only modest modifications for higher laser energy, these still demand coordination with the sustainment of the pulse shaping, amplification, and optical damage mitigation subsystems. Upgrades must remain compatible with legacy interfaces and hybrid legacy-modern components while delivering enhanced performance for higher energies. We detail the technical approaches and operational strategies for integrating capability enhancement and component renewal in a facility with ongoing experiments, highlighting how well-planned design synergies minimize conflicts between major upgrades and sustainment efforts.

This paper describes the Automated Shot Tester (AST), a test automation framework designed to comprehensively test experiments performed using the Nation Ignition Facility’s (NIF) Integrated Computer Control System (ICCS). The AST enables the automatic testing of diverse experiment configurations on an emulated test system instead of real hardware and eliminates the need for human intervention. While the actual control system is operated by a team of 12, AST acting on their behalf represents significant effort savings while assuring testing fidelity. The AST considerably enhances testing efficiency and expands the range of test configurations compared to the manual method. The AST is a complete end-to-end framework that manages and monitors the state and condition of ICCS software throughout an experiment. This approach is made possible by leveraging ICCS’s distributed architecture and middleware, which enables the AST to receive state updates via the ICCS pub-sub system and trigger commands based on a user-specified configuration file. This file creates modularity and expandability, allowing the AST to exercise a library of test case scenarios, and facilitates the creation of new experiments to be added to integration tests. This testing, along with unit, component, and manual tests, ensure software quality at the NIF. This paper will focus on the design of the AST, the benefits gained from automation and conclude with proposed future enhancements.