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Interoperability Is the Watchword for Foreign AWACS/AEW&C Program December 2005
"This job has a technical content that's fascinating, and it's got enormous political content as well. You have to be part engineer, part military thinker, and part politician." Though spoken by MITRE's Bill Brooks, those words could just as easily have come from the mouths of any employee working on the company's foreign AWACS/AEW&C programs in Seattle. As part of the Air Force's AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) Joint Test Force, MITRE is helping NATO with its Mid-Term AWACS modernization program and simultaneously providing guidance to two foreign governments for the acquisition of specially developed Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft. Unlike MITRE employees who work at sites around the globe, the Seattle contingent gets to immerse itself in foreign cultures with only occasional trips away from home. Because they deal with different languages, different customs—even different ways of interacting with contractors—these staff members use a touch of diplomacy on a daily basis, right here in the United States. And they bring their knowledge to one another's programs, in a crossover process that benefits everyone, something that's especially important thanks to the U.S. Department of Defense's mandate that interoperability must be addressed for all foreign AWACS and AEW&C sales. The Australian Wedgetail Program MITRE has been involved in the development and upgrade of AWACS since the system debuted more than 30 years ago, serving as part of the AWACS Joint Test Force, which is overseen by the Electronic Systems Center (ESC) at Hanscom Air Force Base. Our role has included assisting countries such as France, Japan, and Saudi Arabia to acquire the aircraft through foreign military sales agreements. The Australian AEW&C program—known as Project Wedgetail—stands out because the Wedgetail is a Boeing 737 designed as a low-cost successor to AWACS, explains Brooks, MITRE's task leader for the program. Besides the differences in the platform and some of the radar and communications technology, what's really different is that Boeing is marketing the design exclusively to foreign governments. In large part because the U.S. has no current plans to acquire this particular design, the MITRE team works hard to ensure the AEW&C systems are interoperable with U.S. and NATO versions of AWACS. "This isn't a typical foreign military sales program," he adds. "We've never before had a program where the requirements of the foreign military sales case didn't guide the program but just focused on providing assistance. This is also the first time our Seattle site—which has always been dedicated to AWACS—has undertaken a project of this type, although it still falls under the Joint Test Force and ESC." MITRE, at the request of the U.S. Air Force, gives technical guidance and acts as a mediator between the prime contractor and the Australian government. So far, the multi-billion-dollar program is on schedule, with the first of six planes expected to be ready for delivery in a little over a year. Brooks has been with the Wedgetail program since its inception about five years ago. A veteran of other foreign AWACS acquisitions while at the Seattle site for the last 11 years, he finds working with the Australians to be "a wonderful experience." The MITRE-Seattle team works closely with the Australian contingent, which includes nearly 50 personnel, both military and civilian. The Australians even supplement MITRE's site offices by providing space for the MITRE staff in their own suites. "Being here with the Australian contingent, I have a lot more engagement with the sponsor than a task leader would typically have," he says. "My deputy task leader, Pat Stolte, is at Hanscom, and we have a U.S. government employee assigned to work with us. We really share the load with the government, but we try to shoulder the technical burden on the MITRE side. It requires a lot of symbiosis among the members of the team." Brooks, who has visited Australia four times as part of the program, says there's no "typical" day on the project. "Our day isn't driven by meetings so much as by managing issues," he says. "We're in the post-concept design review, pre-test stage, so design issues come up and are dealt with regularly. When issues arise, we put things in a technical context for the Australians. Both sides—the Australians and the contractor—have their points of view. We try to be the voice of the arbiter." Brooks notes that the Australians have repeatedly requested that MITRE expand its advisory role. "We're constantly getting requests to dive into greater detail in one area or another," he says. "For instance, we're starting a study on distributed mission operations for the ground system. I'm very pleased the Australian government has seen the value of our assistance." The Turkish Peace Eagle Program Senior multi-discipline systems engineer Trevor Clark supports the Turkish military's Peace Eagle program, which involves the purchase of four planes, with the option for two more. Clark notes that while this AEW&C acquisition is similar technically to Wedgetail, there are differences in the day-to-day execution of the contract. "My main role is to support Carl Sworobowicz, the task leader, who is based in Hanscom," he says. "Like Wedgetail, this is a contract directly between Boeing and the Turkish government, so one of our top priorities is to ensure U.S. interoperability of the platform. We [the ESC Peace Eagle team] also manage a small foreign military sales case for government-furnished equipment, such as radios and cryptological gear. I'm a bridge between the different groups—the Program Office, Boeing, and the nine-person, on-site Turkish team. Because this is one of the first major defense acquisitions the Turkish military has run itself, they're really taking pride of ownership, Clark notes. The Turkish team at first mainly asked MITRE for technical assistance and insight into interoperability issues, but over time they've authorized MITRE to address more extensive technical concerns. For instance, when the contractor submits engineering change proposals to the Turks, MITRE reviews the proposed changes and provides input on any potential operational impact. Clark's work on the NATO Mid-Term program has enabled him to have a unique hands-on role with the Turkish Peace Eagle acquisition. "Many of the requirements the Turks have on their platforms are linked to the NATO Mid-Term AWACS Modernization Program, so I've been able to facilitate Boeing's interaction between the programs," he says. NATO Mid-Term As Seattle site leader and main on-site contact for the NATO Mid-Term AWACS modernization program, Dean Dubofsky also knows what it's like to interact with different cultures on the job. In his case, that often means several different cultures at a time. When Dubofsky began working on NATO Mid-Term about five years ago, the NATO onsite team included 10 to 15 members from a variety of countries, including Belgium, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and Italy. Because MITRE's Danny Holtzman—the NATO AWACS task leader—is based at Hanscom, Dubofsky became the "inside man" for the team. He focuses on software and usage issues, as well as overall system engineering—anything outside of the hardware realm that might improve the program. "I like to say my role in NATO Mid-Term is to find problems and solve them," Dubofsky says. "MITRE's role for this project is very similar to our role with ESC—we are the engineering arm for the procurement effort." As the project has matured, the current European contingent has been reduced to two on site, with other NATO personnel flying in as needed. Dubofsky misses the interactions with the former, larger group and says the experiences have broadened his outlook on life. "It's nice to talk to people with a different point of view—it's like visiting a different country. I saw diverse perspectives on how life should be lived. Working on this program definitely made me want to travel to Europe." Fortunately, Dubofsky's work has let him visit Europe several times. This is due in part to NATO AWACS's unusual funding situation, where member countries provide pieces of the overall program budget (with the U.S. being the major contributor). "Although Boeing is the prime contractor, there are subcontractors throughout the NATO countries because the organization is very conscious of industrial participation by the budget contributors. So I don't just meet people from the government side; I also meet staff from the contractors, both here and in their home countries." It's apparent at the Seattle site that "interoperability" doesn't apply only to aircraft, electronics, or software—it applies to people, too. Like Trevor Clark and Bill Brooks, Dubofsky uses his technical expertise to aid a second program, in this case, the U.S. modernization program, AWACS 40/45. "The U.S. program's lifecycle is behind NATO Mid-Term by several years, so one of my roles here is to transfer lessons learned from NATO AWACS to U.S. AWACS," he says. "This isn't uncommon at a site like Seattle—there's a lot of cross-fertilization of effort. I have helped the [Turkish and Australian] AEW&C projects on software issues, and Trevor and Bill have helped this program on other issues, such as radios. We only have four engineers here, so it's important for us to be familiar with each other's programs so we can offer as broad coverage as possible." —by Alison Stern-Dunyak Related Information Articles and News |
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