INNOVATION AT MACH 5
As part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Conventional Prompt Strike effort, the services are partnering to execute hypersonics through the use of a common glide body, missile design similarities and joint test opportunities.
In parallel to all of the hardware work in the labs were the design activities. Tere were no standardized hypersonic design processes or tools across the government, which resulted in numerous challenges to overcome. For example, each organi- zation had different software tools. Yet, in a surprisingly quick decision, the team settled on one product life cycle manage- ment tool to manage all the needs for real-time information sharing, classifica- tion, data visualization, and collaboration across multidisciplinary, geographically separated teams. Tis move to a common platform was a significant investment both in dollars and time. As anyone who has been involved in bringing a new major software system online across an enter- prise knows, it’s not always a smooth transition. However, this initiative has provided significant benefits, such as being able to transfer the integrated design from one organization to another while retain- ing the structure and documentation links necessary to capture the design, provide a common access point for review approvals and provide the ability to create and share the current approved, “as built” configu- ration lists, on demand.
SUCCESS DURING A PANDEMIC Just as the team was starting to feel confident, with various training sessions completed, integrated product teams
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collaborating and new contracts and support agreements executing, along came COVID-19. Te initial reaction to COVID-19 was confusion, uncertainty and disarray; but not for long. How did the team keep everything on track? First, it started with the people. Across the board, whether military, government civilians or members of the industry team, everyone was committed to the mission, as well as utmost importance of personnel safety.
As soon as things shut down across the country, the team started making use of teleconferencing and video conferencing tools available to them. With the various firewalls in place at the different organiza- tions and on the virtual private networks, no single tool initially worked for every- one. Te industry partners were amazingly quick to open up access to their knowledge base and technology for their govern- ment peers, and the same was true on the government side for our industry partners.
Physical work in the labs was another issue altogether. The Sandia medical team worked with the program to develop risk-mitigating methods for working in close quarters. Tese measures included procuring personal protective equip- ment, rearranging lab space, opening additional lab space, adding clear barri- ers and installing a closed circuit video system. Te video system allows for a
limited number of people in the labs, while others can remotely “look over their shoulders” at the work being performed. To date, despite the close quarters and a few self-quarantines because of poten- tial secondary exposure, as of this writing there has not been a single case of COVID-19 among the combined team at Sandia.
A GREAT TEAM STORY Te hypersonics team was given a criti- cal mission that would have been tough enough without having to deal with a pandemic. Trough it all, a team of dedi- cated professionals demonstrated what government and industry can do when working together. By and large, issues inherent to establishing a new organiza- tion out of disparate, previously existing teams were set aside. While there is still plenty of work to be done, the joint team is on track to field this new hypersonic prototype battery capability before Octo- ber 2023.
For more information, go to the RCCTO website at: https://
rapidcapabilitiesoffice.army.mil/.
RAYMOND D. WESLEY is the deputy program manager for the glide body production. He joined the Army Hypersonics Project Office in March 2019, bringing with him more than 20 years of manufacturing and program management experience from industry and government service. He has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Central Florida, is Level III certified in engineering, in program management and in production, quality and manufacturing, and is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps.
Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2021
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