September 9, 2020 | International, Additive manufacturing

New policy addresses 3D parts for Army aircraft

By Courtesy

As the Army explores the potential of some advanced manufacturing methods and 3D-printed parts to maintain and sustain its aviation fleet, recently published guidance aims to strike a balance between safety, improvements to readiness and escalating costs.

Advanced manufacturing refers to new ways of making existing products and the production of new products using advances in technology. Advanced manufacturing includes additive manufacturing, a process of joining materials to make parts from 3D-model data. Additive manufacturing differs from the traditional subtractive process that cuts away material to shape and produce parts.

The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command recently published a policy memorandum addressing advanced manufacturing for Army aircraft parts, components and support products.

“Evolving technologies create a unique challenge as we determine the airworthiness of parts when the data is immature, incomplete or even non-existent,” said AMCOM Commander Maj. Gen. Todd Royar, who serves as the Army's airworthiness authority, responsible for ensuring the safety of the service's aircraft components.

As enduring aircraft, like the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, continue in service, the supply system with face challenges with obsolescence, meaning parts that are difficult to acquire or receive no bids from potential vendors to manufacture. As the Army keeps pace with technology, advanced manufacturing creates opportunities to optimize long-term sustainment efforts.

The Army established a partnership recently with Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) to create a “digital twin” of an aging Black Hawk model.

“One of the primary tasks in this effort is to convert all legacy 2D drawings of this aircraft into modern 3D parametric models,” said John Tomblin, senior Vice-President for Industry and Defense Programs and Executive Director of NIAR at Wichita State University. “This will allow the Army to source parts that are out of production as well as use advanced techniques, such as additive manufacturing, to produce parts.” The digital twin opens a door to the 3D modeling and more opportunities to use parts made through additive manufacturing.

The NIAR project is not the Army's only effort. Army Aviation is already using advanced manufacturing methods and 3D-printed parts to solve specific challenges. When several CH-47 helicopters experienced structural cracks at a certain portion of the frame assembly, an initial solution was to replace the entire frame assembly.

“Replacing the entire assembly is a time-consuming task that also poses logistical challenges because replacements are difficult to obtain,” said AMCOM's Aviation Branch Maintenance Officer, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Michael Cavaco.

Instead, engineers designed a solution to restore the cracked frames to their original strength by creating repair fittings using Computer-Aided Design models.

“After five iterations of 3D-printing prototypes, test fit and model adjustments, a final design solution was achieved,” Cavaco said. Additionally, 3D printers have created several tools and shop aids that have benefitted the field. Many of these stand-alone items that support maintenance operations are authorized within Army technical manuals, depot maintenance work requirements or similar publications.

While too early to predict overall cost and time savings, the advantages of advanced manufacturing are significant. The use of advanced manufactured parts will eliminate wait time on back-ordered parts that, ultimately, delay repairs.

A key focus of AMCOM's AM policy is on inserting evolving technologies into enduring designs that have relied on traditional manufacturing processes throughout their acquisition lifecycle. However, future Aviation are benefiting as well from advanced manufacturing.

The Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) includes a number of advanced manufacturing elements.

“ITEP benefits from advanced manufacturing include reduced cost, reduced weight, increased durability, and enhanced performance when compared to traditional manufacturing methods,” said Col. Roger Kuykendall, the project manager for Aviation Turbine Engines. “The benefits of AM stem from the unique capability to produce more complex hardware shapes while simultaneously reducing part count.”

The fine details of airworthiness expectations asserted in this policy were crafted by a team of engineers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation and Missile Center, led by Chris Hodges, the current acting associate director for Airworthiness-Technology.

Hodges said the new policy was drafted after his team collaborated with stakeholders from across the aviation enterprise, reaching across Army organizations and out to sister services and the Federal Aviation Administration.

“We considered a lot of input and ultimately organized expectations and requirements by category, spanning from tools and shop aids to critical safety items,” Hodges said. “The resulting policy sets a solid foundation with room to grow and fill in details as the story evolves.”

For Army aviation applications, advanced-manufactured parts and components will be managed under six categories that range from articles that support maintenance operations to those aviation critical safety items, whose failure would result in unacceptable risk. The designated categories prescribe for engineers and manufacturers the allowed materials and appropriate testing methodology for each particular part.

The new guidance is not intended as a replacement for other existing policies that address advanced manufacturing.

“We intend to be in concert with Army policies and directives that pertain to readiness, maintenance and sustainment,” Royar said. “Our policy provides a deliberate approach to ensure airworthiness and safety while determining where research and efforts may best supplement the supply chain and improve performance while balancing cost.”

AMCOM Command Sgt. Major Mike Dove acknowledged the methodology must continue to mature in multiple areas before confidence grows in the ability to measure airworthiness qualification requirements for advanced-manufactured parts.

“We fully support the maturation requirements for advanced-manufacturing technology, but not at the expense of flight safety,” Dove said.

As Army aviation continues to pursue and include advanced-manufacturing methods, Royar noted the potential impact as the technology evolves.

“Advanced manufacturing touches units, depots and the broader supply chain,” Royar said. “As we sustain our enduring aircraft and look to future systems, it is important that we keep pace with this and other emerging technologies for the sake of the warfighter.”

https://www.army.mil/article/238868/new_policy_addresses_3d_parts_for_army_aircraft

On the same subject

April 2, 2020

Panel wants to double federal spending on AI
Aaron Mehta A congressionally mandated panel of technology experts has issued its first set of recommendations for the government, including doubling the amount of money spent on artificial intelligence outside the defense department and elevating a key Pentagon office to report directly to the Secretary of Defense. Created by the National Defense Authorization Act in 2018, the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence is tasked with reviewing “advances in artificial intelligence, related machine learning developments, and associated technologies,” for the express purpose of addressing “the national and economic security needs of the United States, including economic risk, and any other associated issues.” The commission issued an initial report in November, at the time pledging to slowly roll out its actual policy recommendations over the course of the next year. Today's report represents the first of those conclusions — 43 of them in fact, tied to legislative language that can easily be inserted by Congress during the fiscal year 2021 budget process. Bob Work, the former deputy secretary of defense who is the vice-chairman of the commission, said the report is tied into a broader effort to move DoD away from a focus on large platforms. “What you're seeing is a transformation to a digital enterprise, where everyone is intent on making the DoD more like a software company. Because in the future, algorithmic warfare, relying on AI and AI enabled autonomy, is the thing that will provide us with the greatest military competitive advantage,” he said during a Wednesday call with reporters. Among the key recommendations: The government should “immediately double non-defense AI R&D funding” to $2 billion for FY21, a quick cash infusion which should work to strengthen academic center and national labs working on AI issues. The funding should “increase agency topline levels, not repurpose funds from within existing agency budgets, and be used by agencies to fund new research and initiatives, not to support re-labeled existing efforts.” Work noted that he recommends this R&D to double again in FY22. The commission leaves open the possibility of recommendations for increasing DoD's AI investments as well, but said it wants to study the issue more before making such a request. In FY21, the department requested roughly $800 million in AI developmental funding and another $1.7 billion in AI enabled autonomy, which Work said is the right ratio going forward. “We're really focused on non-defense R&D in this first quarter, because that's where we felt we were falling further behind,” he said. “We expect DoD AI R&D spending also to increase” going forward. The Director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) should report directly to the Secretary of Defense, and should continue to be led by a three-star officer or someone with “significant operational experience.” The first head of the JAIC, Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, is retiring this summer; currently the JAIC falls under the office of the Chief Information Officer, who in turn reporters to the secretary. Work said the commission views the move as necessary in order to make sure leadership in the department is “driving" investment in AI, given all the competing budgetary requirements. The DoD and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) should establish a steering committee on emerging technology, tri-chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Principal Deputy Director of ODNI, in order to “drive action on emerging technologies that otherwise may not be prioritized” across the national security sphere. Government microelectronics programs related to AI should be expanded in order to “develop novel and resilient sources for producing, integrating, assembling, and testing AI-enabling microelectronics.” In addition, the commission calls for articulating a “national for microelectronics and associated infrastructure.” Funding for DARPA's microelectronics program should be increased to $500 million. The commission also recommends the establishment of a $20 million pilot microelectronics program to be run by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), focused on AI hardware. The establishment of a new office, tentatively called the National Security Point of Contact for AI, and encourage allied government to do the same in order to strengthen coordination at an international level. The first goal for that office would be to develop an assessment of allied AI research and applications, starting with the Five Eyes nations and then expanding to NATO. One issue identified early by the commission is the question of ethical AI. The commission recommends mandatory training on the limits of artificial intelligence in the AI workforce, which should include discussions around ethical issues. The group also calls for the Secretary of Homeland Security and the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to “share their ethical and responsible AI training programs with state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement officials,” and track which jurisdictions take advantage of those programs over a five year period. Missing from the report: any mention of the Pentagon's Directive 3000.09, a 2012 order laying out the rules about how AI can be used on the battlefield. Last year C4ISRNet revealed that there was an ongoing debate among AI leaders, including Work, on whether that directive was still relevant. While not reflected in the recommendations, Eric Schmidt, the former Google executive who chairs the commission, noted that his team is starting to look at how AI can help with the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, saying "“We're in an extraordinary time... we're all looking forward to working hard to help anyway that we can.” The full report can be read here. https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2020/04/01/panel-wants-to-double-federal-spending-on-ai/
July 22, 2020

US, UK launch military-space competition for startups
By: Andrew Chuter LONDON – The U.K. and U.S. governments have turned to startups and inventors in a competition to adapt commercial technology solutions to answer pressing challenges in the military space sector. The two countries have jointly put up £1 million, or $1.3 million, to tap into potential new ideas in six technology areas from small companies, innovators and others around the world. The finalists will face a beauty parade in front of senior British, American and NATO military officials at a space conference scheduled to take place in London in November. Up to 15 proposals will be selected to go forward with further work on what is being called International Space Pitch Day. Launching the scheme, the U.K.'s first-ever, recently appointed director for space matters, Air Vice-Marshal Harv Smyth, said the initiative is “all about fast-tracking innovation and cutting-edge technology to the front line quicker than ever before, and fresh ways of working with industry to make sure we stay ahead of our shared adversaries and the threats they pose.” Smyth will be one of the judges at the conference, which will be held virtually if the live event is cancelled. The format will be the first international collaboration of its kind between two allies, the Ministry of Defence said. Organizations who make it through to the space conference final will be in contention to secure a $66,000 contract from the judges to speed up development of what is expected to be mainly commercial innovations and technology. The effort, run by Britain's Defence and Security Accelerator organization, is funded by the U.K. Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the Royal Air Force and the US Air Force. The aim is to find, fund and fast track innovations by tech startups and other experts in order to accelerate the development of commercial space technology s to solve problems in the defense space sector. This year's competition is seeking solutions to six challenges set by the U.K. and U.S. space teams: Visualization of key events and information for combined space operations with allies and commercial partners. Understanding current satellite systems relevant to the operations of a particular commander. Understanding the present and potential impact of space weather on users across all domains. Provision of training against realistic threats and opportunities, incorporating live data, and integrating space across multiple domains. Enabling common and user-defined operational pictures to support multinational space domain awareness and command and control. A verification and comparison tool for space domain awareness, which can take orbital observation data from a variety of sources and in a variety of formats and produce a single, reliable operational picture. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/07/22/us-uk-launch-military-space-competition-for-startups
July 10, 2020

Additive Technologies For Future UK Air Power Advance
Tony Osborne July 10, 2020 Bidders pushing for a role to build a technology demonstrator for the UK's Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) are waiting to see if their design proposals will be approved for the next phase of the initiative. Three industry teams were selected last summer (AW&ST July 29-Aug. 18, 2019, p. 18) to take forward development of the LANCA air system, an unmanned air vehicle that could act as additive capability accompanying future combat aircraft into operations. LANCA would perform a range of tasks, including serving as a loyal wingman, gathering intelligence or acting as a weapons carrier. The Royal Air Force envisions a platform costing 1/10th of current combat aircraft and developed in one-fifth of the time. The idea is like that of the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie for the U.S. Air Force's Skyborg program, Australia's Boeing-led Airpower Teaming System and remote carriers for the French, German and Spanish Future Combat Air System. Since then, the industry teams—which include Boeing Phantom Works International, working with Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group and Cranfield University; consortium Team Black Dawn, Callen-Lenz and Bombardier Belfast; and Northrop Grumman UK with Team Avenger, led by Blue Bear Systems Research and yet to be disclosed partners—submitted their proposals for the £4.8 million ($6 million) Phase 1. The LANCA program is being led by the UK Defense Science and Technology Laboratories in conjunction with the Royal Air Force's Rapid Capability Office. The UK Defense Ministry is evaluating proposals in readiness for the second phase of the project, called Mosquito, which is worth £30-50 million. Mosquito would see one, possibly two of the candidates being matured into a full-size flightworthy demonstrator potentially undertaking a flight-test program. Aviation Week has been told there was stiff competition for the LANCA program: Some 45 bidders entered Phase 1 and were subsequently scaled down to nine. Around eight bids were then tendered, of which three were chosen. Few details have emerged about the proposals, although Boeing Australia confirmed through social media that it had secured a “first-of-type permit” from the Australian government to share design material for its Airpower Teaming System with the UK, suggesting the Boeing proposal may borrow heavily from that platform. Progress is also occurring on a drone swarm system announced by former Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson in February 2019: Demonstrations in March using five unmanned air vehicles proved a collaborative capability between the platforms, people close to the program told Aviation Week. https://aviationweek.com/ad-week/additive-technologies-future-uk-air-power-advance

All news