Seeing possibilities

Analysis, Modeling and Simulation group looks into the future

BY RICHARD ESPOSITO

Analyzing problems and evaluating possible solutions. Modeling and simulating the behaviors of future system-of-systems environments before they're built. Saving time and money. Demonstrating the benefits of alternative network-centric solutions.

These are just a few of the benefits afforded by the modeling, simulation and analysis disciplines, and one new Integrated Defense Systems organization has set out to do all that and much more.

The Analysis, Modeling and Simulation organization was created late last year to integrate and strengthen the modeling, simulation and analysis capabilities that have been developed throughout the company over the past 35 years. The team is charged with providing the environment, resources and the facilitation for seamless collaboration among the more than 2,500 people in programs and laboratories across Boeing involved in various aspects of modeling, simulation and analysis. In creating AMS, Boeing is taking better advantage of existing capabilities within the company, without having to invest in new facilities or staff.

AMS goals are to provide analysis, insight, tools and expertise "that will help customers inside and outside the company see the future, assess alternatives and make better, more well-informed decisions," said AMS Vice President Guy Higgins.

"If you think of 'Forever New Frontiers' [the tagline in Boeing advertisements], then we're here to help Boeing peer into the future and visualize some of those possible frontiers," Higgins said. "We do this by collaborating with our customers—working, testing, experimenting and learning with them—and then taking what we learn back to the programs to help them build better products."

Where the future takes place

Much of AMS' focus on the future takes place within the three main AMS modeling and simulation laboratories. The Boeing Integration Centers in Anaheim, Calif., and Crystal City, Va., are two of the company's most powerful tools for visualizing and demonstrating the possibilities of network-centric operations. The Virtual Warfare Center in St. Louis is Boeing's home for large scale, real-time operator-in-the-loop theater simulation. All three are connected to Boeing's other network nodes by LabNet, Boeing's nationwide network infrastructure that facilitates integration of geographically distributed simulation labs.

The Virtual Warfare Center this year will move into a new home that expands its ability to simulate large-scale military operations involving numerous elements—potentially hundreds of assets and people in the air, in space, on the ground and at sea. At about the same time, four new portals to Boeing's networked simulation environment will open in Boeing field office sites in Hampton and Norfolk, Va., Boston, and Colorado Springs, Colo. Known as the Boeing Integration Centers Distributed Environment, these four sites will bring Boeing's network-centric operations vision even closer to its customers, since each site is located near major military commands or bases.

Along with these key laboratories, the skills offered by AMS are also of particular value to the company's growing emphasis on providing network-centric, system-of-systems solutions.

"The Boeing strategy is to move further into network-centric operations and systems-of-systems, but no one business unit handles those across the board," said Ron Fuchs, AMS Seattle-based director of Modeling and Simulation. "We use modeling, simulation and analysis to address systems-of-systems and network-centric operations, and assess future technologies and scenarios that have multiple programs and business units involved in them."

In order to better understand the customer's environment and needs, AMS develops future concepts of operations (CONOPS) for multiple systems and systems-of-systems at both the tactical and operational levels. A CONOPS is a document that explores selected scenarios for military action, detailing force structure and likely military activity and outcomes. The resulting CONOPS often drive the analysis performed and ultimately provide a basis for models and simulations of systems-of-systems and network-centric environments.

And then there is the "analysis" part of the AMS organization's name, which points to yet another broad set of benefits the AMS team will provide. Analysis adds value to all phases of program lifecycle, from initial concept development through design, deployment, upgrades and eventually platform retirement. The data produced helps establish performance parameters and evaluate potential impacts of new customer requirements, program upgrades, design changes or new technology insertion.

'How can we help them?'

AMS also has a team that keeps track of planned customer, network-centric, system-of-systems and joint service war games, exercises, experiments and demonstrations. Puget Sound–based Chip McNees, who manages that team, said Boeing derives a lot of valuable data and experience from taking part in these customer events.

"But to get involved you have to be very forward-leaning and aggressive," McNees said. "And whether we participate in war games with some of our technical concepts or simply as observers, afterward we can come back to our scientists and engineers and say, 'This is the concept our customer is looking at. How can we help them achieve the future capabilities they need?'"

Visualizing the future and helping Boeing and its customers get there—that captures what Higgins wants his new team to do. And in that future, AMS will make it possible for any Boeing program to access an integrated system-of-systems simulation environment, via portals that are tailored to that business' customer, be it the Army, Navy, Air Force, NASA or the intelligence community.

"That way, if a program has a system or capability they want to assess, they can 'plug in' their specific models and do testing, experimentation and demonstration," Higgins said. "This environment would support multiple scenarios and multiple viewing perspectives and already have embedded models of other platforms and entities within it that can interact in a system-of-systems environment.

richard.esposito@boeing.com