Earlier this spring, senior leaders and decision-makers in charge of aviation and aircraft for the U.S. Army joined with defense and aerospace industry partners to discuss the future of Army Aviation at the annual Army Aviation Association of America’s Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit, also known as AAAA or Quad A. This summit is one of the most notable Army Aviation events of the year, where key stakeholders meet to discuss the major aviation programs that will determine air domain superiority today and into the future.
And this year’s conference couldn’t have come at a more interesting time for the Army. In the months leading up to the summit, the Army has been simultaneously making important decisions about its enduring and future fleet while also working to modernize its systems to meet the demands of the joint, multi-domain operations that will be necessary to combat emerging, near-peer threats.
One of the organizations that is working hand-in-hand with the Army as it works to modernize its systems and platforms and embrace the open systems of tomorrow is Collins Aerospace. Sean Eubanks, Director of Army Aviation Business Development, and Chadwick Ford, Associate Director of U.S. Army Connected Battlespace Implementation at Collins Aerospace, were both in attendance at this year’s summit. They recently sat down with The Modern Battlespace to discuss the event, its themes, and ongoing Army Aviation modernization initiatives.
The Modern Battlespace (TMB): What is the focus of this year’s summit, and who normally attends this event? Is this just for Army Aviation, or do other military branches attend?
Sean Eubanks: AAAA focuses on the U.S. Army Aviation’s strategic imperatives and identifying emerging industry technologies to help address weapon systems capabilities across the next generation, including current fleet aircraft.
The summit is primarily focused on U.S. Army Aviation. However, multiple services across the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and several foreign Ministry of Defence (MoD) groups are usually in attendance.
TMB: Were there any trends or overarching themes for the summit this year? Were there any particular new or merging threats that the military was concerned about? Any new technology priorities that were shared?
Sean Eubanks: There were a few trends at this year’s AAAA Summit. But two of the largest included the Army’s embrace of open systems and open architectures and the steps that the Army is taking to modernize and improve its enduring fleet as new aircraft are added.
The Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) was raised more than once by the Program Executive Office for Aviation (PEO Aviation). It’s clear that PEO Aviation views open systems as a key capability to rapidly integrate new technologies that keep pace with advances in adversary threat systems, reduce costs, and break vendor lock.
The Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA), Gen. McConville, specifically addressed the challenges of maintaining and improving the current fleet as Future Vertical Lift (FVL) aircraft are delivered. One of these challenges included funding the modernization of the enduring fleet of aircraft while developing and fielding FVL.
“Today’s adversaries are deploying new threats at a breakneck pace, and by the time FLRAA is in production, entirely new waveforms and connectivity solutions will likely be required to defeat them.” – Sean Eubanks
However, the Army believes this modernization will be affordable. But the key to success in modernizing Army Aviation fleets will be a collaboration between the government and industry.
As these fleets are being improved, the Army must be ready to deploy its weapons systems and aircraft with exceptionally well-trained soldiers. Additionally, Army Aviation highlighted the importance of extended range capabilities for sensing, command and control, rapid maneuver, and forward logistics to effective battlefield operations in all Combatant Commands.
The summit also showcased a lot of aviation technologies and aircraft. This included showcasing the current fleet of the UH-60 Black Hawk, CH-47 Chinook, and AH-64 Apache. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) had two dominant displays that featured the world’s most advanced Rotary Wing capabilities.
TMB: Were there any demonstrations of new technologies at this year’s summit? What new solutions or capabilities did Collins Aerospace have on display?
Sean Eubanks: Collins Aerospace displayed several evolving technologies, including its Helmet Mounted Display and Digital Night Vision solution. Collins Aerospace hosted multiple demonstrations and received very positive feedback on the capability and its benefits to the future warfighter.
TMB: MOSA was a main point of discussion at last year’s summit. How has progress and adoption of open standards advanced – if at all – in the past year? Are the military and its industry partners making progress on embracing open systems?
Sean Eubanks: MOSA continues to be a driving force behind several efforts and programs within PEO Aviation and FVL Cross-Functional Team (CFT). There is evidence of incremental improvement in how the Army will implement MOSA, but it’s still a long way before standards are adopted across all of the military’s industry partners. However, MOSA is impacting programs across the platform program offices within PEO Aviation.
TMB: We’ve seen a number of announcements regarding the military’s FLRAA platform. Was FLRAA a topic of discussion at the event? How has the selection of a next-generation long-range assault aircraft impacted the Army?
Sean Eubanks: The summit celebrated the recent selection of the Bell V-280 Valor for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) that will replace some of the UH-60 Black Hawk aircraft. It was a huge strategic win for Army Aviation as it’s the first clean-sheet aircraft program in over 60 years.
“Beyond Army connectivity, Joint Service and coalition interoperability are also paramount. The ATDL waveform is an example of how the United States Navy and Air Force fulfill interoperability that can fill vital long-range CONOP needs for the Army as well.” – Chadwick Ford
The MOSA architecture is critical to ensure Future Vertical Lift’s long-term viability and utility. Today’s adversaries are deploying new threats at a breakneck pace, and by the time FLRAA is in production, entirely new waveforms and connectivity solutions will likely be required to defeat them.
As the Army gradually develops the C4ISR/Electronic Warfare Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) Mounted Form Factor (CMFF), it would behoove the Army to instantiate a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) version on the initial engineering and manufacturing development phase aircraft. That MVP version can house minimal capabilities to start but contain space slots for future capability add-ons.
This approach ensures that MOSA is enforced as more than a Talk Track and allows rapid addition of future resilient capabilities to the platforms.
TMB: As new Valor goes into production, what does that mean for the Army’s enduring fleet of Blackhawk and other helicopters? Will the new aircraft be able to communicate with the older ones? Have the communication systems been updated to meet MOSA guidelines?
Chadwick Ford: Future Vertical Lift (FVL) aircraft need advanced capabilities that bridge the gap between current and future communication technologies in order to connect disparate networks that make up the data fabric as part of the connected battlespace. The Army will need solutions that enable interoperability with existing Army Aviation, ground platforms, Joint Service, and coalition partners. Additionally, the Army needs a MOSA architecture to enable new connectivity solutions to be added over time as they continually evolve against emerging threats.
“It’s clear that PEO Aviation views open systems as a key capability to rapidly integrate new technologies that keep pace with advances in adversary threat systems, reduce costs, and break vendor lock.” – Sean Eubanks
The Army’s Air Ground Networking Radio (AGNR) program is a prime example of enabling interoperability with existing aviation and ground platforms. Originally procured for ground vehicular and dismount operation, Collins Aerospace’s PRC-162 has proven its merit for aviation platforms by providing higher performance and ruggedization than ever seen in a ground radio. This technology is further enhanced through Collins’ Open Systems Communications Radio FLEXLINK for future platforms.
It provides more than ten different waveforms in use across the Army and connects FLRAA with existing aviation assets, such as the UH-60 fleet as well as ground maneuver assets across the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN).
TMB: Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) is a huge priority for the military. What is necessary to ensure that these new FLRAA aircraft have the communications and connectivity required to be able to interoperate with other platforms?
Chadwick Ford: Beyond Army connectivity, Joint Service and coalition interoperability are also paramount. The Advanced Tactical Data Link (ATDL) waveform is an example of how the United States Navy and Air Force fulfill interoperability that can fill vital long-range Concept of Operations (CONOP) needs for the Army as well.
Collins Aerospace has demonstrated this utility at events such as EDGE, Project Convergence, and INDOPACOM’s Resolute Dragon. Collins has shown the ability to interoperate with existing Joint Service platforms and continues to demonstrate technologies across the services to provide operational relevance to technologies that address the joint C-JADC2 gaps.
Bandwidth Efficient Common Data Link (BE CDL) is another waveform standard utilized across the Tri-Services and international partners. Collins Aerospace currently provides this capability as well as advanced waveforms as part of the Air Launched Effects (ALE) Small Mission System with a small form factor SCISR radio, which will connect to FLRAA and Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) as the Launched Effects are deployed across the fleet.
