Air Force seeks a radical shift in how jets, missiles and satellites are designed
A U.S. Air Force F-16 is refueled over the Atlantic Ocean by a KC-135 tanker. The Air Force wants manufacturers to make greater use of computer design for new aircraft in a move officials say will speed development and lower costs.
By
Aaron Gregg and
Paul Sonne
September 15, 2020 at 3:58 p.m. EDT
When Will Roper, the top acquisition and technology official at the Air Force, first saw how Boeing and Saab came up with the design for the Air Force’s new training jet, he realized the way the military devises new weapons, planes, satellites and missiles needed to change.
When designing the T-7 Red Hawk trainer aircraft, Boeing and Saab relied heavily on computer models to test system designs and iron out inconsistencies, a far less time-consuming approach, Boeing executives said in an interview, than physically piecing together the plane’s advance system. Though the company has long employed various forms of digital modeling, Boeing executives said the T-7 relied more heavily on it than any of the company’s previous aircraft.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/09/15/air-force-digital-design/
