aircraft, satellites, unmanned underwater vehicles, space exploration and now commercial airplanes have benefited from Phantom Works employees urged to push creative limits. “We have an opportunity every day to create the future. We look into our crystal ball and discern where we should go,” explained Darryl Davis, Phantom Works president. “It is our job to develop and nurture the technology that will make our solutions real. It puts us so far ahead of our customers and competition.” Phantom Works has created an environment for employees where risk-taking is encouraged, say senior leaders and engineers. “We aren’t limited to ideas here,” Davis said, “but ideas across the enterprise. One plus one equals 11, and when we work across the Boeing enterprise, we can make that happen.” With a name that suggests something covert or supernatural— it was derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom fighter, produced during Cold War times—Phantom Works carries a public mystique that conjures up mystery and intrigue. However, Phantom Works employees say they operate in privacy, rather than secrecy, and for ample reason. They do this at the customers’ request. They do this to maintain a competitive edge. And they do this to keep people safe and adversaries continually guessing. “The bottom line is to protect the country and its allies,” said Amy Williams, a Virtual Warfare Center operations analyst. “There’s a strong sense of doing the job right. To know the work we do can affect people’s lives gives us a different way of looking at it.” While the tan, corrugated buildings in St. Louis that house the cutting-edge activity are unmarked on the outside, this is no hidden operation. Street signs readily point to the main Phantom Works site. There’s also been a concentrated effort to brand and showcase newer Phantom Works products in an obvious manner—Phantom Ray, Phantom Eye, Phantom Badger, Phantom Swift and Phantom Phoenix. “We are a fast-paced cadre of innovators with a high tolerance for risk, hellbent on bending the laws of physics,” said Gary Fitzmire, vice president, Advanced Boeing Military Aircraft. “We view ‘it can’t be done’ as a challenge. The warfighter relies on our innovation, and we want to give them every advantage possible.” Phantom Works likewise has made a big push to share its discoveries and technologies, encouraging collaborations with other company Photos: (Left) Engineers Jon Gettinger, left, and Tom Rice work on Dominator, a Phantom Works unmanned aircraft system that will be used for surveillance, in St. Charles, Mo. (Above) Phantom Eye, a hydrogen-powered unmanned aircraft system, was created by Phantom Works for surveillance and intelligence-gathering missions. Bob Ferguson | Boeing Sbeeempt r 2015 25
Frontiers September 2015 Issue
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