DIGITAL ENGINEERING FOR ALL
with a major shift in developing and deliv- ering a transformative network across formations today and tomorrow.
Bailey: Who uses digital engineering practices? Is this just for system engineers implementing modeling and simulation or computer-aided design software?
Young: No, not at all. If we only target digital engineering at the technical level, we limit who benefits from this critical process. While modeling and simulation and traditional engineering tools are a big part of digital engineering, digital engi- neering should facilitate communications beyond technical across all disciplines by automating business practices, configura- tion management and capturing financial information relevant to the system.
PEO C3T uses a tiered approach to help develop a digital engineering road map.
Te tiers start with functionality that provides value across the entire acquisition community and progresses to high-end, high-fidelity, purpose-built engineering tools designed to answer very specific tech- nical questions.
Bailey: How does modeling and simula- tion aid digital engineering?
Young: Digital engineering, supported by modeling, provides a digital picture of how the information flows through- out that system, allowing us to identify issues or challenges early on and subse- quently identify solutions—even before it reaches a lab for testing. With many of today’s systems integrated into a system- of-systems design, often using commercial components, developers should use digi- tal engineering to anticipate changes to the future environment. For example, if we introduce a different interface into a
modeling and simulation program, we will find out how that new interface will impact the overall architecture. We may also ask how a certain capability will affect the network, and of course we must know how our decision will ultimately affect the warfighter.
Bailey:How can digital engineering help the development and test community if, despite all of the preliminary modeling and testing, Soldiers still have an issue with a system?
Young: Should we discover an issue down the road, we use the digital engineering tools to select that portion of the system and its interfaces to assess the problem. Te tools allow us to isolate on the affected systems and to replicate the issue in a controlled environment. Tis enables the engineers to more rapidly define the root cause of the issue and define the solution.
Bailey: Could you elaborate on how digital engineering is used at the general user level?
Young: An example is using digital engi- neering to capture specifications that can be used to put into the contract for indus- try solicitation. Te contract specialist then has the capability to trace equip- ment purchases throughout the contract life cycle. We can also use digital engi- neering in financial projections to quickly determine how much it will cost to supply an entire brigade with a system, which is a critical data point senior leaders require.
Bailey: How have you used digital engi- neering to save the Army time or money?
MODEL-ANALYZE-BUILD
PEO C3T Mission Command uses digital engineering to mitigate issues early in the development cycle, using a model-analyze-build methodology to provide data needed for decision-making across disciplines to support life cycle activities of the system. (Photo by Sam Brooks, PEO C3T)
Young: We used digital engineering to help us determine how many Variable Height Antennas (VHAs) to procure as part of the Integrated Tactical Network’s first unit equipped fielding to the 82nd
60 Army AL&T Magazine Fall 2023
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