Sweet 16

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Not if you're talking about the C-17 program.

Working in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force and suppliers worldwide, Boeing has continued to design improvements to the C-17, making it even more capable and reliable. Boeing marked the debut of its latest set of upgrades to the C-17 Globemaster III with the Aug. 9 delivery of the Air Force's 138th C-17. The aircraft will be based at March Air Reserve Base, Calif.

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We need to know

How do you foster collaboration and integration among the more than 2,500 Modeling, Simulation & Analysis (MS&A) practitioners throughout the company? For the Boeing Analysis, Modeling and Simulation (AMS) organization, the answer was clear: Build a portal community with a Knowledge Management tool to serve as a repository of Boeing's MS&A tools and data.

With its rollout in July, that portal community is now a reality. Known as the MS&A Collaborative Environment, this resource fulfills one of the most urgent needs cited by Boeing MS&A professionals. Steve Cameron, the AMS organization's manager of Modeling & Simulation Infrastructure, said "the simple yet urgent need for the 'left hand to know what the right hand was doing' in the field of MS&A" ranked among the top five of a list of specific needs spelled out at conferences attended by MS&A community members.

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A great fix

A group from Boeing went to look at the parts. They crawled around the fuselage, examined the wings and looked through small pieces—all hints of the F-15E Strike Eagle (tail number 96-0203) that once had graced the skies. Meanwhile, U.S. Air Force officials waited.

"This is going to be a lot of work," Mike Militello, Boeing F-15 training project manager for Mesa, Ariz., thought initially. And then just as quickly, he thought: "But we can do it."

The Air Force had already determined the aircraft, which in 2000 had suffered a landing mishap at the Royal Air Force Lakenheath air base in the United Kingdom, would never fly again. However, Boeing's Training Systems & Services group, part of Integrated Defense Systems, confirmed their hunch the aircraft could be salvaged to fulfill another mission: training. Earlier this summer, Boeing returned the aircraft, now an armament load trainer, to the Air Force.

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Apache's plugged in

"A network-centric force has a dramatically improved situational awareness and quality of information, which, in turn, leads to dramatic improvements in military effectiveness across the board."

When U.S. Army Secretary Francis Harvey spoke those words at his official welcoming ceremony last December, he was talking about a prime goal of Army transformation.

While Harvey said that fully network-centric operations were a "long-term" goal, the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow is already giving warfighters networked capabilities in the field today. And about once a year, Apache again proves its interoperability and demonstrates the latest advancements in its network-centric operation functions during testing at Fort Hood, Texas.

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Talent for Talon

A U.S. Air Force contract to modify 10 C-130 aircraft into the MC-130H Combat Talon II configuration demonstrates Boeing's commitment to using the best of industry to meet the customer's needs.

Earlier this year the Air Force awarded Boeing a $134 million contract to begin the first phase of this modification program, known as the Combat Talon II Plus Ten. To transform these C-130s, Boeing is partnering with Lockheed Martin and L-3 Communications Integrated Systems. This trio combines Boeing's expertise in Special Operations Forces aircraft support and the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program with Lockheed Martin and L-3 Integrated Systems' knowledge of C-130 aircraft.

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