12 juin 2024 | International, Terrestre
Robotic vehicles to fight with enemy forces in Army training event
McQ, Textron Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and Oshkosh Defense will build the light RCV prototypes.
4 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Ben Kassel and Bruce Kaplan
While many Pentagon initiatives face a change of course under new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, its digital engineering strategy deserves a push forward.
The strategy, issued in 2018 by then-Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin, aimed to help military services harness modern sustainment methods like additive manufacturing, digital twin and augmented reality. For the Department of Defense, enterprisewide implementation of these techniques would lower costs, increase weapon systems' mission-capable rates and afford flexibility in fleet modernization.
But digital engineering requires digital, 3D data — and the DoD doesn't have enough.
Modern sustainment practices hinge on the availability of what's known as the model-based definition, 3D models and digitized descriptive information for a system or component. Using computer-aided design programs, engineers can manipulate the data to enable practices like condition-based maintenance, eliminating weapon systems' unnecessary downtime. Digital data can facilitate seamless transit from original equipment manufacturers, or OEM, to procurers and sustainers in the field and at maintenance depots worldwide.
However, the technical data for most weapons systems remains elusive to the services and their program management offices, or PMO, or the datasets are available only in 2D documentation, such as blueprints.
Meanwhile, readiness suffers. Of 46 weapons systems reviewed by the Government Accountability Office, only three achieved annual mission-capable targets at least five times between 2011 and 2019. More than half (24) failed to meet their goal even once, according to GAO's November 2020 report.
The KC-13OJ Super Hercules air refueler and the MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor were among the programs to miss their target all nine years. GAO cited inaccessible technical data as a contributing factor for both programs. Of the Super Hercules, the report says: “The Navy and Marine Corps were unable to obtain the technical data of the aircraft ... the lack of the technical data compromises [their] ability to analyze and resolve sustainment issues.” Similar concerns were raised about the P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft, saying “technical data needed for maintenance has not been readily available to the Navy.” Dozens of systems, including the F-35 fighter jet, face similar obstacles.
Notably, the GAO report referred not to 3D, model-based data but rather legacy incarnations: blueprints and documents that may have been converted “digitally” into PDFs. This is a far cry from the machine-readable formats required to use digital engineering technologies across the enterprise.
The GAO cited the production of 170 “structural repair manuals” as a means of narrowing the Osprey's technical data gaps. The labor-intensive replication of physical documents — the PMO projected five years to deliver all of them — is a piecemeal solution, at best. Troublingly, modern sustainment methods seem beyond the reasonable expectation of not just PMOs but even forward-looking organizations like the GAO.
To foster its DoD-wide implementation, the digital engineering strategy needs reinforcement, which could take the following forms:
Operationalizing the DoD strategy requires work in other areas as well, particularly in removing intra- and inter-organizational stovepipes, and securing the data's transmission and storage. But the first step toward a model-based sustainment enterprise is ensuring the availability of modern technical data. This need will only grow more crucial.
Today's sustainment practices too closely resemble those of 30 years ago, not what they should be 30 years from now. We're already playing catch up. It's time to view sustainment with 3D glasses.
Ben Kassel is a senior consultant at LMI. He previously worked with the U.S. government on defining and exchanging technical data used for naval architecture, marine and mechanical engineering, and manufacturing. Bruce Kaplan is a fellow at LMI. He previously served as technical director of logistics for research and development at the Defense Logistics Agency.
12 juin 2024 | International, Terrestre
McQ, Textron Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and Oshkosh Defense will build the light RCV prototypes.
10 septembre 2023 | International, Aérospatial
BAE Systems’ next-generation vehicle management computer was successfully flight tested on the F-35 Lighting II aircraft.
16 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, announced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an instrument flight rules (IFR) supplemental type certificate (STC) for the Bell 407GXi. The certification is a requirement for the Navy Advanced Helicopter Training System competition, enabling the Bell 407GXi to replace the Bell TH-57 Sea Ranger as the U.S. Navy's training helicopter. Bell's replacement bid offers a unique combination of capability, ease of transition, and low sustainment costs, giving the best value to the Navy. Should the Bell 407GXi be selected for the U.S. Navy Advanced Helicopter Trainer program, the company plans to conduct final assembly of the aircraft in Ozark, Ala. “The team did a great job ensuring the Bell 407GXi achieved the FAA's IFR certification necessary to meet all of the Navy's requirements,” said Mitch Snyder, president and CEO. “Bell is an instrumental part of the Navy's training program and has been for more than 50 years, and we look forward to continuing the tradition for the next generation of naval aviators.” A Bell to Bell transition offers low-risk to the Navy by streamlining instructor pilot and maintainer transition training as well as using common support equipment and infrastructure. The 407 airframe has already proven capabilities as the platform for the MQ-8C Fire Scout for the U.S. Navy. Bell's customer service and support has established capability with cost-efficient and effective helicopter training solutions. Bell proves its mature production and sustainment support capability every day by supporting more than 1,600 Bell 407s globally. These aircraft have nearly 6 million flight hours across the fleet and are actively performing flight training as well as military and para-public missions helicopter mission-set. The 407GXi's Garmin G1000H NXi Flight Deck enhances situational awareness and reduces pilot workload by delivering easy-to-read information at a glance. The Bell 407GXi's new IFR capability will allow all-weather operations while continuing to provide multi-mission capability safely, reliably, and effectively. The Bell 407GXi offers the lowest direct operating costs of any IFR-capable helicopter produced today. Combined with its proven performance, reliability, and ease of transition, the Bell 407GXi is the best value aircraft for U.S. Navy helicopter training. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/bell-407gxi-earns-instrument-flight-rules-certification/