USAF Goes Commercial for Project-Management App
Summary
Borrowing another page from industry’s digital playbook, the U.S. Air Force will use a commercial app to manage its various programs, from creating new weapons to buying fighter jets to ordering parts. “Threat uncertainty imposed by peer competitors like China — driven by accelerating commercial technologies and, more generally, democratization of innovation on a global scale — creates unquestioned imperative for acquisition speed and agility,” Roper wrote. “Siemens’ Teamcenter’s adoption of open standards enables data portability and integration with other [product lifecycle management] solutions already in use by programs and our industry teams,” Bailey said. It’s also in the early stages of being used by Air Force officials overseeing high-profile weapons projects, including the F-15EX fighter, Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, and Combat Rescue Helicopter, Roper said in the memo. Air Force leaders have been touting digital engineering as being key in Boeing designing and building the T-7 Red Hawk pilot training jet in just 36 months.