Modernizing, Streamlining Life Cycle Process of Air Force Platforms and Systems
by Marisa Alia-Novobilski, Air Force Materiel Command June 9,
2020
The Air Force Materiel Command has launched a new digital
campaign to modernize and streamline the life cycle process of Air
Force platforms and systems, ensuring warfighters have the
technology required to maintain a competitive advantage over
adversaries.
Air Force Materiel Command is leading a digital campaign to leverage modern digital capabilities to decrease the time it takes to move a weapon system from a concept into the hands of a warfighter, while providing the ability to adapt capabilities at speed to meet the requirements of today’s dynamic warfighting domain. This illustration represents a digital twin--a virtual representation of an instance of a physical object that shares data with its physical twin throughout the system life cycle. (U.S. Air Force illustration by Chris Quinlan and John James)
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“Transitioning to a digital AFMC enterprise is a priority for our
command and is foundational to our success in today’s adversarial
environment,” said Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., AFMC commander. “To
continue to be the critical enabler for our Air Force and deliver
capability at the speed of relevance, we need to leverage digital
technologies to better enable a fully interconnected Air Force
research, acquisition, test and sustainment enterprise.”
With
a vision of, “ One Team…One Digital Lifecycle Enterprise,” the
campaign is an AFMC-led, coordinated effort with the goal to create
an integrated digital ecosystem that provides enterprise access to
the data individuals need to develop, test, field and maintain
complex weapon systems.
The goal is to leverage modern digital capabilities to decrease
the time it takes to move a weapon system from a concept into the
hands of a warfighter, while providing the ability to adapt
capabilities at speed to meet the requirements of today’s dynamic
warfighting domain.
“This is a significant but essential
shift in the way we have operated in the past and will impact every
aspect of our mission—research, engineering, contracting, financial
management, test, and logistics,” said Maj. Gen. William Cooley,
campaign lead. “Our adversaries are moving rapidly to develop and
field capabilities that threaten our military dominance. Digital
tools and processes can improve our time and efficiency in every
acquisition phase, and we need to embrace the adoption of innovative
capability development methods, tools and processes across the
enterprise to deliver warfighter capabilities faster and smarter.”
The campaign is focused on six lines of effort to achieve a
digital ecosystem that supports agility, flexibility and speed in
delivery of Air Force current and future needs. These lines of
effort include integrated information technology infrastructure;
models and tools; standards, data and architectures; lifecycle
strategies and processes; policy and guidance; and workforce and
culture.
By digitizing and integrating the lifecycle
enterprise, the command will be better positioned to deliver
capabilities at the speed of relevance as it executes its mission in
support of the National Defense Strategy.
“A number of
defense and many non-defense industries have made a culture shift to
incorporating digital tools and processes in every part of their
organizations in order to deliver capabilities at ever increasing
speed and efficiency. They do this by designing, sustaining and
modernizing capabilities in an integrated digital ecosystem. The Air
Force needs to embrace 21st century capabilities to be faster, more
efficient and more effective throughout the entire acquisition life
cycle,” Cooley said.
While the quality of Air Force
capabilities is excellent, the time to field complex systems has
continued to increase over the years. For example, in the 1970s, the
F-16 Fighting Falcon averaged six years from concept to field
delivery. In the 1990s, the C-17 Globemaster III saw timelines of
about 12 years. Work on the F-35 Lightning II began in the early
2000s, with final full operational capability estimated to exceed
more than 20 years at this time.
“We need to streamline the
design, development, fabrication and testing to get platforms to our
warfighters faster. This is critical to our support of the National
Defense Strategy and what our Air Force needs to continue to
effectively fly, fight and win today and in the future,” Bunch said.
The effort will leverage the expertise of AFMC Airmen across the
enterprise in collaboration with industry partners, the U.S. Space
Force, Space and Missile Center and the Office of the Assistant
Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and
Logistics.
“This is a team effort, and every functional
domain is crucial to the success of our transformation,” Bunch said.
“We’re building the infrastructure to support the Air Force we need
for the future.”
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