Recent CTMA Initiatives Span the Maintenance Focus Areas
The CTMA Program has been extremely busy, and we are proud to share new initiatives that have been executed recently and are underway to enhance warfighter readiness:
The following 3 new project initiatives were approved for funding with MOD P00031 of the CTMA Cooperative Agreement on January 26, 2020.
Improving Readiness by Creating a Rapid Response Capability for System Sustainment and Support Operations
The project will apply structured processes and use cases aimed at developing a rapid response capability for executing the engineering, logistics, procurement, and manufacturing operations needed to improve and sustain a large portfolio of products. This structured approach will also drive discipline and consistency in the internal processes executed on projects. The U.S. Army will be used as a testbed in a phased approach by assessing how sustainment and support operations for mobility and weapons systems are performed at Red River Army Depot (RRAD), one of the Army’s Centers of Industrial and Technical Expertise (CITE) and compare that with industry best practices.
Electronic Component Risk Mitigation for Vehicle Programs – Phase II
As a logical progression and extension of the accomplishments of Phase I, Phase II will provide a qualified Line Replaceable Unit (LRU), deliver a competitive Technical Data Package (TDP suitable) for competition and future acquisition, and provide support for System Level Software Qualification, and Government Test leading to a safety confirmation.
Inspection and Fractographic Analysis to Develop a Digital Twin for B1 Aircraft
This initiative will use the B-1 as a surrogate to industry to provide a model/template that addresses how to create detailed digital twins for legacy aircraft where much of the requisite technical data is missing. The focus is to develop and validate the digital twin of a B1 wing, to support the sustainment and fleet readiness needs of the Air Force. The primary concern for the B1 wing digital twin is to address structural fatigue to support the fleet.
The following new project initiative was approved for funding with MOD P00032 of the CTMA Cooperative Agreement on February 6, 2020.
Enterprise Maintenance and Sustainment Transformation – Phase II
Phase I accomplished building foundational elements. Phase II is required in order to build upon and execute the strategies developed by DON Office of the Chief Management Officer (OCMO) and support the DON in accomplishing additional initiatives needed as well as to meet the objectives defined in the National Defense Strategy.
The following 13 new project initiatives were approved for funding with MOD P00033 of the CTMA Cooperative Agreement on February 28, 2020.
Model Based System Engineering (MDSE) Approach for Total Lifecycle Sustainment
The project will move lifecycle sustainment engineering, planning and operations to an integrated model-based approach through the use of digital environments, processes, methods, tools and artifacts. The integrated model will support planning, requirements development, design, analysis, verification, validation, and operation of the total lifecycle sustainment of a system.
Vehicle Health Management System (VHMS) – Phase II
In Phase I, Abrams condition-based maintenance (CBM) data registration processes were established, and metadata was registered. Hardware to collect Abrams CBM data (the security enhanced MSD) was fielded, and initial data characterization was performed. A disc-based process for delivering data to the Army’s Common CBM Data Warehouse (CCBMDW) was established. For Phase II, a more streamlined network-based approach for delivering data to the CCBMDW will be integrated in preparation for updates to the Army’s logistics network.
Automated Armory: Total Asset Visibility Evaluation and Demonstration (TAVE&D) – Phase II
Phase I of the TAVE&D established evaluation criteria and associated metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of automating armory operations. The objective of Phase II of the TAVE&D project is to evaluate the Level of Effort (LOE) and Return on Investment (ROI) of government-requested modifications to existing armory processes and associated armory automation demonstrated by Asset Information Management Solution (AIMS)-Automated Armory® (AA) at Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC). Phase II will delve into an investigation substantiating the impact those changes would have if implemented and expanded across the Marine Corps Enterprise.
Improving Supply Availability & Organic Industrial Base (OIB) Performance through Management – Phase IV
The approach of the overarching effort is to develop and implement a supply chain strategy, focusing on improving supply availability and organic industrial base performance. Phase IV builds upon the successes of previous phases and will finalize a key set of standard metrics by which the Army Materiel Command (AMC) can see itself. It will understand the impacts on supply availability and readiness, improve forecasting and supply plan methodologies, and generate performance information to support the end-to-end integration and synchronization of AMC’s supply chain.
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Modernization
The effort of this project will be to create the digital model for the “As-Is” repair process of a nuclear aircraft carrier (CVN) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS), implementing the industry partner’s best practices. The goal is to create a digital model at PSNS that could determine and validate future infrastructure expenditures at PSNS against key performance indicators.
Improvements in Ships Maintenance
Commercial enterprises have developed incrementally improved products that can save time and money on the maintenance and sustainment of naval vessels. In order to meet military standards and specifications, the equipment must be customized to meet the requirements. Products and equipment from two separate industry partners will be investigated. Modifications will be made to equipment and tooling to better fit the needs of the shipyard. The equipment will be demonstrated and evaluated in a controlled setting at the shipyard, and any further changes required will be addressed until a satisfactory solution is achieved.
A Technology, Strategy and Integration Approach to Life Cycle Management and Modernization – Phase II
Phase I was successful in documenting current practices and highlighting areas where software systems would provide enhancement in the future. Phase II will develop and demonstrate software solutions to optimize methodologies incorporating a technical analysis of F-35 functional requirements and developing the architecture that will provide visibility of F-35 assets in repair at each Depot location.
Adoption of Emerging Sustainment Technologies – Phase III
In Phase III, the final phase of this project, DOD will assess and demonstrate compact and affordable Peer-to-Peer Integrated Situational Awareness Communication System(s) that with minimal infrastructure requirements, provides global coverage, User Defined Operational Picture (UDOP)/dashboards and a searchable Business Intelligence (BI) database capable of hosting deployed sustainment solutions in a disconnected environment.
Confined Spaces Monitoring for Operations Safety and Efficiency
In this initiative initial development steps will be performed towards a Confined Spaces Monitoring System (CSMS) for shipyard operations that will enable real-time sensing and assessment of maintenance workers and their surrounding environments as they operate in confined spaces and other potentially hazardous areas.
Size, Weight, and Power-Cooling (SWaP-C) Reduction by Consolidation of Electronic Components
This initiative will explore methods to develop a single new Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) that consolidates the functions of three legacy LRUs while leveraging technology that is obsolescence resistant while providing smart growth for future capability functionalities. The new LRU will meet or exceed all functional and performance metrics of the three legacy LRUs and provide SWaP-C improvements reducing storage space for spare units.
High Power Electrical Distribution Equipment for Sustainability and Performance Improvement
Software changes, new cyber threats, and electronics part obsolescence are all becoming major drivers in sustaining these systems throughout their life cycle. The overall goal of this project is to identify an obsolescence and supply chain risk-mitigated common legacy electronic component design across a family of electronic equipment associated vehicles that has improvements for high-power distribution and motion controls that will lead to lower maintenance and sustainment costs.
Infrastructure Analysis and Optimization Plan
The objective of this initiative is to develop and validate a process to conduct Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) and to tailor and assess the value of a best-in-class commercially available Production Engineering Analysis Tool. This tool will automate the identification of beneficial equipment upgrades and any associated facility modifications necessary to support equipment optimization. It will simulate the impacts of the industrial equipment and facility layout variations on key production parameters to provide a Return on Investment (ROI) for each item identified
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Modernization – Phase II
Phase II will build upon the accomplishments of Phase I, by creating the digital model of hundreds of thousands of repair processes at the component level in the proper sequence for the “As-Is” repair process of a nuclear aircraft carrier (CVN) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS). It will implement the best practices that the industry partners learned while gathering data for an SSN availability at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PHNSY).
If you would like further information about any of these initiatives, please visit www.ncms.org