October 30, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security
WASHINGTON — The 16th Air Force and an Air Force cyber software development unit are partnering together on a “low-code, no-code” pilot program that will allow airmen with minimal training to develop software applications they need.
Right now, the DoD is working on developing personnel into expert level coders, but that's not an easily scalable solution, according to Col. William Waynick, director of the Air Force's CyberWorx program, an Air Force office that works with industry and academia to deliver new tools to meet user needs. Hence, the pilot program, called the “Other Airmen,” which aims to get airmen just the basic skills they need to get a job done.
“So we're looking at technology out there that will allow anybody with minimal training to develop applications that they need,” Waynick said at C4ISRNET's CyberCon virtual event. “Now, they probably want to go into the complex applications like they would have software houses. But we do believe that a majority of applications out there that the users need can actually be taken care of by low-code, no-code.”
Waynick said the team currently has 20 people from across the Air Force and Army working with five vendors on the project. The teams are currently working on applications for equipment tracking, and readiness and training trackers. Another team is working on a contracting pilot to make it easier for industry to submit pitches to acquisition professionals.
“They're interested in making an application for pitch decks from industry,” Waynick said. “So industry can, instead of just sending a white paper to an acquisition office, they can actually send the entire pitch. And so that way, they have video, and they can do maybe some Q and A's maybe live, but they're making an application to to provide a capability for industry to provide pitches as well.”
The airmen and soldiers working on the project participate on the side of their normal jobs, including piloting, logistics or finance. In March, Waynick said that the team will brief Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander of the 16th Air Force, on the results of the pilot.
CyberWorx is centered on delivering tool the user can actually us, not focusing on the technology for technology's sake, Waynick said. Airmen have an abundance of tools to choose from, he said, but the tools don't always do what the airmen need them to do.
“The issue that I've seen, and I'm seeing still, is that there are too many tools. And I would just say, you know, each has a specific function,” Waynick said. “But not everything that the user needs so they have to go to another tool. And a lot of the times these tools aren't exactly what the user needs.”
December 7, 2022 | International, Aerospace
A subset of digital engineering, MBSE uses models, computer design, analytics and software to create digital twins of prototypes quickly and efficiently.
February 19, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Avionics Test Center Denmark (ATCD) formed by Terma and Scandinavian Avionics in collaboration with the U.S. will be responsible for repair and maintenance globally of avionics components. Copenhagen, Monday 18 February 2019 - U.S. Department of Defense F-35 Joint Program Office announced Avionics Test Center Denmark to be responsible for maintenance of avionics (16 components) for the F-35 fighter aircraft. During the period of 2021-2025 Avionics Test Center Denmark (ATCD) formed by Terma and Scandinavian Avionics in collaboration with the U.S. will be responsible for repair and maintenance globally of avionics components. “We are very proud to be selected by the F-35 program to play an essential role in the global F-35 sustainment network. It is a great day for both Terma and for Danish industry since the perspectives for Denmark now being part of the F-35 operational setup in decades to come are huge,” said Mr. Lars Hedemann Hilligsøe, Senior Vice President, Terma Support and Services. From 2025 ATCD will be responsible for regional repair and maintenance of avionics components within Europe. ATCD's sustainment work will take place in Denmark. Major General Henrik R. Lundstein, Director of the Fighter Aircraft Program in Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) says: "It is very satisfying that the Danish Defence' close collaboration with the industrial consortium consisting of Scandinavian Avionics and Terma has resulted in Danish industry now being awarded the first major F-35 maintenance contract. This shows that the Danish defense industry is able to compete with the largest companies in the market on competitive terms, i.e. price, time, delivery security, and quality.” In April 2018, the Danish companies Terma and Scandinavian Avionics submitted a joint response, to a so-called Request for Information (RFI), on maintenance of F-35 components. For this purpose, the two companies established Avionics Test Center Denmark, which has now been selected to carry out the task. The RFI that ATCD has won parts of is the second procurement of F-35 components repair to be published. The initial RFI (Tier 1) covers – together with the RFI for Tier 2 – approx. 60% of all the F-35 components published for repair. The remaining approx. 40% will be published among the F-35 Partnership countries later this year and in 2020. Danish Industrial Partnership Within the framework of the Industrial Partnership, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program represented by the Danish Ministry of Defence has been supporting the answers from ATCD. The Industrial Partnership was established as part of Denmark's procurement of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The Partnership consists of The Confederation of Danish Industry, The Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, The Danish Ministry of Defence, and The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark with the purpose of strengthening the opportunity for Danish companies to win orders for production and repair of F-35 and to open doors to further high technology or defense related exports to the USA. https://www.terma.com/press/news-2018/f-35/
August 14, 2019 | International, Land, C4ISR
By: Kelsey D. Atherton Are humans with robots an order of magnitude better than humans without robots? It's the question the Army's Maneuver Center for Excellence is hoping to solve through trial and experimentation. The National Advanced Mobility Consortium posted a request for white papers Aug. 5 about technologies that might have a place in a robotic, artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy technology demonstration at Fort Benning in September 2020. This project is long in the works, with an announcement of intent dating back to March 2019. The premise, as stated in the March announcement, is to “show a path towards an Army capability that will provide a robotically equipped dismounted infantry platoon that is 10 times more effective than the current dismounted infantry platoon.” In order to do this, the Maneuver Center for Excellence, together with Fort Benning's Maneuver Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate's Robotics Requirements Division, is exploring robotic systems for “ground, air, water,” as well as the virtual space — otherwise known as the four platonic elements of terrestrial war. These robots and systems should be able to improve “mobility, protection, situational awareness, endurance, persistence, and depth” as well as, and this is key, lethality. Taken together, the robots should lend an advantage to the platoon's OODA loop — its ability to observe, orient, decide and act — with the goal that a robot-enabled platoon completes OODA-loop cycles 10 times faster than it would without robots. That's a tremendous amount of promise to put in remote systems, especially since the present paradigm of controlled robotic battlefield tools involves a lot of human observers and controllers checking on, managing, and directing the robots. (The process by which humans are actively involved in robot control is “in the loop” or, with more passive robot monitoring termed “on the loop.”) If robots are going to improve soldier situational awareness by an order of magnitude, they will have to be autonomous. And not just autonomous in movement, but autonomous in sensing, data processing, and in providing that information back to the platoon. Part of this vision involves robots themselves producing intelligence products that are both immediate and ephemeral, useful in the tactical moment and then gone before they can become out of date. Another piece is machines autonomously moving through and responding to the environment on their own, as exercises undertaken by DARPA and the Marine Corps have already explored. If that same autonomy will extend to robot lethality, or if weapons will stay in the hands of humans, remains to be determined. In preparation for the September 2020 exercise, Georgia Tech Research Institute is designated to serve as the technology integrator for the assessment and demonstration parts of the task. As the industry proposals are vetted to meet Army needs, some will receive a Request for Prototype Proposal, and will also be evaluated in a simulation exercise to see if they will be part of the 2020 exercise. Interested parties should look to the National Advanced Mobility Consortium's posted request, and to the earlier proposal announcement, for more specific guidance. Interested observers, meanwhile, should keep an eye on September 2020 in Georgia, where the Army will see if the future of war is really 10 times as promising as expected. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/robotics/2019/08/08/can-robots-make-an-army-platoon-10-times-as-effective/