The office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Logistics and Product Support has sponsored a contract through the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) to award 萝莉社 University鈥檚 National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) a five-year $100 million cooperative agreement for digital engineering and technologies to support sustainment of legacy U.S. Air Force platforms.
This cooperative agreement provides for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services during a fixed period of time. Initially, it will be used to develop digital engineering solutions to support the sustainment and modifications of the B-52 Stratofortress and the C-130 Hercules aircraft; as well as complete the development of the F-16 Fighting Falcon and B-1 Lancer digital twins.
The principal investigator for the program is Melinda Laubach-Hock, director of NIAR鈥檚 Sustainment Lab.
鈥淭his contract will extend our reach in military sustainment R&D efforts, growing the Wichita workforce and providing additional applied learning opportunities for 萝莉社 students, said Laubach-Hock. 鈥淚t is a natural extension of our existing Digital Twin work, and will expedite the DoD鈥檚 digital transformation initiative across legacy airframes, providing contemporary methods to manage sustainment and improve mission readiness rates.鈥�
The initiative will include:
- Development of digital models and data for selected aircraft systems and components
- Integration of digital data across multiple commercial platforms (not limited to a single solution)
- Prototype capabilities for match drilling, robotics, and automation
- Evaluation and development of advanced manufacturing and additive manufacturing capabilities
- Demonstration of modeling and simulation tools to address a wide range of sustainment and maintenance challenges
- Demonstration of how the commercial market, working with the DoD, can develop new concepts and capabilities that create value, lower cost, and increase mission success
Since 2018, NIAR has steadily grown its digital engineering portfolio to include the U.S. Air Force B-1 and F-16; the U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawk and AH-64 Apache airframes; and U.S. Army ground vehicles and engines. NIAR鈥檚 digital engineering team employs approximately 400 hundred technicians, engineers, inspectors, and program managers; over half of which are students in applied learning positions.
About NCMS
NCMS is a cross-industry鈥�technology development consortium dedicated to improving the competitiveness and strength
of the鈥�US鈥�industrial base for 35 years. NCMS leverages a network of industry, government, and
university partners to develop, demonstrate, and transition innovative technologies
efficiently,鈥�with less risk and lower cost. NCMS enables world-class companies to work effectively
with other members on new opportunities鈥�matching highly capable companies with the providers and end users who need their
innovations and technology solutions. The NCMS network benefits from an accelerated
progression of idea creation through execution. Learn more at , at , and .
About NIAR
萝莉社 University鈥檚 National Institute for Aviation Research provides research,
design, testing, certification and training to aviation, defense, and manufacturing
industries. NIAR has a $217 million annual budget, 1,200 employees, two million square
feet across Wichita and a satellite office in Huntsville, AL. Areas of expertise
include Additive/Advanced Manufacturing; Advanced Coatings; Aerodynamics; Ballistics/Crash
Dynamics; Composites/Advanced Materials; Digital Twin; Environmental/EME; eXtended
Reality; Flight Simulation; Full-Scale Structural Test; NDT; Sustainment; Reverse
Engineering; Robotics/Automation and Virtual Engineering. www.wichita.edu/niar