October 24, 2024 | International, Aerospace
July 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Air Force Expands AI-Based Predictive Maintenance
By THERESA HITCHENSon July 09, 2020 at 4:23 PM
WASHINGTON: The Air Force plans to expand its “predictive maintenance” using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to another 12 weapon systems, says Lt. Gen. Warren Berry, deputy chief of staff for logistics, engineering and force protection.
“I continue to believe that predictive maintenance is a real game changer for us as an Air Force,” he told the Mitchell Institute today. “There's a lot of power in moving unscheduled maintenance into scheduled maintenance, and we're firmly convinced that it will improve our readiness and improve our combat capabilities by doing so.”
“We have long been a fly-to-fail force,” he explained, simply waiting for aircraft to quit working and then trying to fix them by moving parts to wherever the planes were grounded. But today's unpredictable and relatively slow approach to getting fighters and bombers back in the air simply won't be possible in future conflicts, as Russian and China seek to degrade US communications including via cyber attacks and attacks on US bases.
The service has made “logistics under attack” one of its key priorities as it shifts focus to deal with globalized peer conflict, asking for $3 billion in 2021 to fund various efforts.
Berry noted that the Air Force is “talking to” the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) about best practices and lessons learned as it pushes ahead with its two key predictive maintenance initiatives: “condition-based maintenance plus (CBM+) and “enhanced reliability centered maintenance (ERCM).
The service has been using CBM+, which involves monitoring platforms on three aircraft: the C-5, the KC-135 and the B-1. “They've been doing it for about 18 to 24 months now, and we're starting to get some real return on what it is that the CBM+ is offering us,” he said.
ERCM, he explained, “is really laying that artificial intelligence and machine learning on top of the information systems that we have, the maintenance information system data, that we have today, and understanding failure rates and understanding mission characteristics of the aircraft and how they fail,” he said. While he said he didn't have the list at his fingertips, Berry said the dozen weapon systems being integrated would come under the ERCM effort by the end of the year.
Berry said that there are a number of other changes to how the Air Force does logistics that will require future focus, especially the question of how best to preposition supplies in the European and Pacific theaters. He noted that the Pacific region presents particular problems because of the wide geographic dispersement of allies there.
“I think we need to fundamentally change how we think about prepositioning our assets,” he said. “And that really does require partners and allies, in not just prepositioning the material and equipment, but prepositioning capacity and capability — whether that's through operational contracting support or whether that's through things that are actually on the installation that we can take advantage of.”
“We're not going to be able to bring what we could bring in the past,” he added, “and so much of what we are going to use is probably going to have to be there.”
This is going to require new ways to partner with allies and friendly nations in those regions, he said, noting that the European Deterrence Initiative and the Pacific Deterrence Initiative might help. “But, we're gonna have to make those a little bit more foundational moving forward,” he said.
Finally, Berry stressed that improved command and control is going to be the base of all of the Air Force's efforts to establish “adaptive operations and agile combat employment” — concepts for operating in a distributed manner from a large number of small operating locations in a peer conflicts. As a 2019 study on “distributed operations” by RAND explains, “this type of distributed air operations in a contested environment represents a significant shift in the way the Air Force has operated since the end of the Cold War.”
Berry said that “Log C2” is related to Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2), another top Air Force priority as Breaking D readers are well aware.
“JADC2 is about having the decision advantage in multi- domain operations, and so in the log enterprise sustainment we want to have that same decision advantage in order to support multi-domain operations because sustainment and logistics follows operators,” he said. “And so we've got to be able to have the sense orient and respond posture ... to be able to support multi-domain operations in the way that the operators plan to employ.”
This involves moving to replace old IT systems with modern capabilities, including cloud storage and data fusion from multiple sensors — whether those be onboard an aircraft such as the F-35 or from a machine doing specific maintenance.
“That data really is the key to our awareness of what's happening in the environment, and what's happening in the broader enterprise, to include at home and the depots and the broader supply system,” he said.
https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/air-force-expands-ai-based-predictive-maintenance/
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December 19, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
UK: Modernising Defence Programme - Update
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has provided a final update on the Modernising Defence Programme to the House of Commons. In July, I made a statement setting out headline conclusions from six months of work on the Modernising Defence Programme (MDP). Since then, work has continued apace. Firstly, I would like to welcome the extra £1.8 billion of funding for Defence, including the additional £1 billion that was in last month's Budget. Today, I want to provide an update on the MDP, and set out the work that will be ongoing. I have placed a full report on the MDP in the library of the House. First, I should put the MDP into context. The 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review was the right plan for Defence at that time. The Government put the Defence budget on a firmer footing, increasing throughout the life of the Parliament. Defence is much stronger as a result of that. NATO is growing in strength and the UK is a leader. More allies are meeting the 2 per cent spending guideline, or have developed plans to do so. We are the second largest defence spender in NATO, one of only a small number of allies to spend 2 per cent of our GDP on defence, and invest 20 per cent of that in upgrading equipment. We can be proud of what we have achieved since 2015. But we have to also be vigilant. National security challenges have become more complex, intertwined and dangerous since 2015 and these threats are moving much faster than anticipated. Persistent, aggressive state competition now characterises the international security context. In response to the growing threats the MDP was launched in January. And, in the last year, our Armed Forces have demonstrated their growing capability, engaged globally, and supported the prosperity of the UK. The Royal Navy has increased its mass and points of presence around the world. We have taken steps to forward base the Army, enhancing our global posture. The Royal Air Force has continued to innovate, and has celebrated a proud past its RAF100 years since its creation. Progress has also made in cyber and space, as the changing character of warfare makes both domains increasingly important. We have reinforced the UK's position as a leading voice in NATO and on European security. And, our Armed Forces have led the way for Global Britain, tackling our adversaries abroad to protect our security at home and nurturing enduring relationships with our allies and partners. Through the work over the past year the MDP has identified three broad priorities, supported by the additional £1.8 billion invested in Defence. Firstly, we will mobilise, making more of what we already have to make our current force more lethal and better able to protect our security. The UK already has a world-leading array of capabilities. We will make the most effective use of them. We will improve the readiness and availability of a range of key Defence platforms: major warships, attack submarines, helicopters and a range of ISTAR platforms. We are adjusting our overseas training and deployments to increase our global points of presence, better to support allies and influence adversaries. To improve the combat effectiveness of our Force, we will re-prioritise the current Defence programme to increase weapon stockpiles. And we are accelerating work to assure the resilience of our Defence systems and capabilities. We can mobilise a full spectrum of military, economic and soft power capabilities. And, where necessary and appropriate we will make sure we are able to act independently. We will also enhance efforts with our allies and partners, aligning our plans more closely with them, acting as part of combined formations, developing combined capabilities, and burden-sharing. And we continue to invest in, and grow, our global network of Defence personnel and the education and training we offer in the UK and overseas. Secondly, we will modernise, embracing new technologies to assure our competitive edge Our adversaries and competitors are accelerating the development of new capabilities and strategies. We must keep pace, and conceive of our joint force as consisting of five domains, air, land, sea, cyber and space, rather than the traditional three. We must modernise, targeting priority areas. A major new step will involve improved Joint Forces Command that will be in a better position so that defence can play a major role in preventing conflict in the future and improve our cyber operations and capabilities across the armed forces but also across government as well. This year Defence's Innovation Fund put £20 million towards projects in areas including unmanned air systems, virtual reality training, and enhanced digital communications for the Future Commando Force. The fund will grow to £50 million next financial year, increasing the scope, ambition and value of the projects it can support. We will launch new ‘Spearhead' innovation programmes that will apply cutting-edge technologies to areas including sub-surface threats to our submarines, our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability, and command and control in the Land Environment as well. And to drive innovation and change through the Department I am launching a Transformation Fund. Next year, I will ring-fence £160 million of MOD's budget to create this fund available for innovative new military capabilities. I will look to make a further £340 million available as part of the Spending Review. This fund will be available for new innovative military capabilities which allows us to stay one step ahead of our adversaries. Together these and other steps will enable the acceleration of our modernisation plans. Thirdly, we will transform, radically changing the way we do business in Defence. We need to improve markedly the way we run Defence. To sustain strategic advantage in a fast-changing world, we must be able and capable of continuous and timely adaptation. We will embrace modern business practices and establish a culture that nurtures transformation and innovation. We also need to create financial headroom for modernisation. Based on our work to date, we expect to achieve over the next decade the very demanding efficiency targets we were set in 2015, including through investment in a programme of digital transformation. We will develop a comprehensive strategy to improve recruitment and retention of talent, better reflecting the expectations of the modern workforce. We will access more effectively the talents of our ‘Whole Force' across all three Services, Regulars, Reserves, Civil Service and industrial partners. Looking ahead, dealing effectively with persistent conflict and competition will increasingly hinge on smarter, better informed long-range strategy. To help achieve these goals we will establish a permanent Net Assessment Unit, as well as a Defence Policy Board of external experts, to bring challenge to Defence policy and to Defence strategy. Our achievements under the MDP have made Defence stronger. The capability investments and policy approaches set out, with the £1.8 billion worth of Defence funding, will help us keep on track to deliver the right UK Defence for the challenging decade ahead. Without a shadow of a doubt, there is more work to be done as we move towards next year's Spending Review. We must sustain this momentum if we are to realise our long-term goals of increasing the lethality, reach and mass of our Armed Forces. I will do everything within my power to make sure that the UK remains a Tier-One military power in the decade ahead, and that we continue to deliver the strong defence and security that has been the hallmark of the government. I commend this statement to the House. The Modernising Defence Programme https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/modernising-defence-programme-update
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October 2, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Britain unveils new operating concept for a ‘fundamental transformation in the military’
Andrew Chuter LONDON — The British military and government must “fundamentally change” the way they counter the political and military ambitions of authoritarian rivals, or risk being overwhelmed, warned the country's top soldier. Gen. Nick Carter's speech at the Policy Exchange think tank Sept. 30 coincided with the publication of Britain's new “Integrated Operating Concept.” The chief of the Defence Staff said key changes backed by the concept include improved integration of effort across government and with allies, equipment modernization, and constant competition with adversaries below the threshold of war. The concept says the strategy rethink “represents the most significant change in UK military thought in several generations. It will lead to a fundamental transformation in the military instrument and the way it is used.” Carter said one of the “big ideas” in the operational concept was that it makes a distinction between “operating” and “war fighting." “In an era of persistent competition, our deterrent posture needs to be more dynamically managed and modulated. This concept therefore introduces a fifth 'C' — that of competition — to the traditional deterrence model of comprehension, credibility, capability and communication,” he said. “This recognizes the need to compete below the threshold of war in order to deter war, and to prevent one's adversaries from achieving their objectives in fait accompli strategies, as we have seen in the Crimea, Ukraine, Libya and further afield. “Competing involves a campaign posture that includes continuous operating on our terms and in places of our choosing. Carter also identified the nature of the growing threat driving Britain to rethink its strategy. “Our authoritarian rivals see the strategic context as a continuous struggle in which nonmilitary and military instruments are used unconstrained by any distinction between peace and war. These regimes believe that they are already engaged in an intense form of conflict that is predominantly political rather than kinetic,” he said. “Their way of warfare is strategic, it is synchronized and systematic, and our response must be too.” The new concept comes ahead of the government's Integrated Defence Review, expected in the second half of November. The review is planned to bring together British policy thinking across defense, security, foreign policy and overseas development spending. Government ministers and advisers previously signaled the review would see the military effort pivot away from conventional military capabilities and move toward a greater focus on space, cyberspace and artificial intelligence. Carter's speech and the new strategy document are the best evidence to date of where the government's plan for change is heading. “We must chart a direction of travel from an industrial age of platforms to an information age of systems,” Carter said. “Some industrial-age capabilities will increasingly have to meet their sunset to create the space for capabilities needed for sunrise. The trick is how you find a path through the night. We know this will require us to embrace combinations of information-centric technologies. But predicting these combinations will be challenging." The concept identified some capabilities it expects will be in demand in the future, including smaller and faster capabilities to avoid detection; trading reduced physical protection for increased mobility; an increasing dependence on electronic warfare; stealth technology; and evermore sophisticated networks of systems. Carter made no mention of how the cash-strapped country will find the resources for a strategy rethink that requires substantial spending in sectors like space and cyberspace. Analysts here reckon the early disuse of conventional capabilities, like much of the main battle tank force, may be one way of balancing the books. Last week, the Ministry of Defence confirmed it is considering cutting an order to buy five Boeing Wedgetail command-and-control aircraft to three platforms as part of its cost-cutting effort. Completion of the new aircraft expected around 2030. The new operating concept document said it's impossible to immediately abandon the current force structure and create a bespoke one from scratch, noting that important operations must continue and that legacy programs and platforms should retain utility. Carter reinforced that message, saying it is “important to emphasize that the willingness to commit decisively hard capability with the credibility to war fight is an essential part of the ability to operate and therefore of deterrence.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/09/30/britain-unveils-new-operating-concept-for-a-fundamental-transformation-in-the-military/