Customized Engineering & Depot Support (CEDS) Capability Overview
Raytheon Technical Services Company's
(RTSC) Customized Engineering and
Depot Support (CEDS) business area is
a unique Mission Support center made up
of highly skilled, solution-oriented, diverse
engineers who represent a wide variety
of capabilities and services not typically
bundled together. Headquartered in
Indianapolis, Ind., its platform-agnostic
approach of "No Platform Left Behind" is a
fitting tagline for the focus of the business:
ensuring that every system supported maintains
its combat effectiveness and relevance.
This includes long-term engineering and
depot support for legacy and newer systems
such as the EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft and
the V-22 Osprey. It means engineering innovative
smart-display solutions for the A-10,
B-52 and CH-53, alongside depot services
for ground radar systems like Firefinder and
airborne radars such as those on the F-15.
CEDS boasts manufacturing capabilities that
include airborne pod systems like the
Shared Reconnaissance Pod. Its reach
stretches across North America — from
Indianapolis to Norfolk, Va.; Houston;
El Segundo and Chula Vista, Calif.; and
Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Capabilities, Products, Services
Raytheon's engineering staff approaches the
problem of current system relevance by
defining the capability gap in a current system,
then delivering timely and cost-effective
solutions. These solutions can be
applied internally or externally. For example,
the delivery of situational awareness (SA) to
older aircraft is provided internally by replacing
an older display with a "smart" one
with SA integrated into the display. Another
innovation to keep a system relevant is to
provide an airborne tactical reconnaissance
capability using a pod with an external fuel
tank form factor.
One capability gap identified was the lack
of timely delivery of sensitive, accurate and
relevant information to operators in a contextual
manner. The goal was to define an approach to provide processing, visualization
and network connectivity on as many
platforms as possible at an affordable cost,
while minimizing the impact on the
existing platforms.
The solution developed by Raytheon to
address these capability gaps for different
platforms was instantiated on two different
pieces of hardware, displayed in Figures 1
and 2.
Figure 1 depicts a pilot using an Electronic
Data Manager (EDM). The lightweight
EDM provides situational awareness of the
operating theater in the form of moving
maps with global positioning system location,
checklists, landing zone diagrams,
manuals, demonstrations and future
capability development.
Figure 2 shows the instantiation of the
Smart Display product line on the Air National Guard A-10A+. The smart display
approach provides upgrades to avionics systems
by replacing existing display systems
with form-fit replacements enabling enhanced
situational awareness. This approach
has been proven effective with the
Air National Guard A-10A+ upgrade.
Designed as a form-fit replacement for the
Maverick black-and-white cathode ray tube
display, the smart display provides pilots
with additional situational awareness and
improved control by providing:
Digital moving map
Battlefield networking using situational
awareness data link and cursor on target,
which provide Blue Force SA capability,
imagery and digital targeting information
Display of sensor imagery
Integration with hands on throttle and
stick controls
Three capabilities allow Raytheon to provide
a rapid solution for the customer:
Our capability center, where we can work
with the customer to define or analyze
solutions
Our Raytheon Accelerated Product
Innovation & Development Shop
(RAPIDS), for rapid prototyping
Our product-line architecture approach
Capability Center
Getting the word out to customers and
enabling interactive discussions is important
to long-term success. The newly opened Indianapolis Capabilities Center is a high tech
multimedia facility used for demonstrations
and future capability development.
The facility is a fully networked laboratory
with capabilities to support Mission Systems
Integration (MSI) modeling and simulation,
CONOPS development, command and control
simulations, and integrated net-centric
test activities.
Designed to leverage capabilities across
Raytheon, this center integrates existing labs
at Indianapolis (see Figure 3) through the
Indianapolis Network Linking Lab (NLL)
backbone. The center and its systems have
connectivity to all of Raytheon. In addition,
the NLL provides a combination of real and
simulated aircraft systems, data links, tactical
networks, and voice communications.
Full connectivity to the Enterprise Modeling
and Simulation system and Raytheon
Distributed Experiments is planned for later
in 2009. With this infrastructure, the center
is a force multiplier for MSI capability
integration activities.
Smart Display Product Line Architecture (PLA)
The Smart Display product line is in part the
genesis for an ongoing effort to leverage
common functionality developed on many
different platforms. Creating a PLA, in concert
with the RAPIDS lab, is another enabler
for future business, permitting rapid, cost effective
solutions through common reuse
of software and hardware components.
RAPIDS Prototyping Services/Process
In order to meet stringent schedule demands
of customers, CEDS has developed
RAPIDS, which follows a standardized,
tailored Capability Maturity Model®
Integration process. RAPIDS provides the
ability to build prototype units for visualization
and fit-checks in 24 hours. These quick
prototypes are critical to reducing costs
and detecting manufacturing issues before
producing expensive tooling for advanced
prototypes. This process also increases
customer confidence in proposed
Raytheon solutions.
One successful implementation of RAPIDS
is the spiral development approach for the
EDM. EDM Spiral I went from contract award
to field installation in theater in only six
months. Success of this Spiral I effort led to
development and manufacture of more
than 3,000 advanced Spiral EDMs. Future
Smart Display systems will utilize the PLA and
RAPIDS to enhance winning solutions.
Summary
Raytheon's combination of services, engineering,
products and manufacturing is
positioning the company for greater growth
in the Mission Support arena. As can be
seen by the CEDS example, Raytheon is
structured and well positioned to meet
warfighter needs through rapid, innovative
techniques. Combined with its longstanding
Mission Support capabilities, it is a one-stop
shop for customers seeking to maintain
their combat edge with equipment they
bring to the fight. The examples provided
are a small representation of how Raytheon
will continue to excel in this strategic
business area.
Todd Lovell
Contributors: Joan M. Mahoney, Michael A. Huff
The solution developed by Raytheon to
address these capability gaps for different
platforms was instantiated on two different
pieces of hardware, displayed in Figures 1
and 2.
