DevSecOps + Digital Engineering = Aegis of Tomorrow

The Aegis Weapon System is built on 50 years of constant evolution and innovation. Its flexible architecture enables it to fulfill missions never envisioned at the start of the program. Aegis’ Chief Architect, Rear Admiral Wayne Meyer, instilled an engineering discipline that still guides the program to this day. His mantra, “build a little, test a little, learn a lot,” still holds true in our development processes – a testament to why it’s the most trusted combat system deployed around the world.

Present demands of the Aegis fleet have never been greater. Regular updates to Aegis software are needed to stay ahead of evolving threats and take advantage of advances in technology. As missile threats become more dangerous and prevalent, our citizens are counting on Aegis to continue to take on new missions, like hypersonic and homeland defense. Working with the U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin has embarked on a digital transformation of Aegis – using DevSecOps, Model Based System Engineering and Virtualization, and third party partnerships – to ensure that the Aegis Weapon System meets customer needs today and tomorrow.

Lockheed Martin’s enterprise expansion of DevSecOps aligns with the Department of Defense and their Software Factory initiatives. Our expansion of DevSecOps is taking Rear Admiral Meyers’ engineering approach to Aegis and accelerating it to meet new threats. Connecting design models from development through testing, we’re able to automate more tests and rapidly confirm that software updates meet their intended mission and requirements. In Baseline 10, the most comprehensive evolution of an Aegis baseline to date, we’ve not only integrated new sensors and weapons but also introduced over 20,000 automated tests. The result? The team is delivering capabilities on or ahead of planned program milestones.

“Our partnerships with leaders in academia and industry are propelling Aegis development even further into the future,” said Brendan Scanlon, Aegis Digital Transformation Program Director. We have partnered with SOLUTE, an industry leader in DevSecOps services, to establish Aegis software running on their suite of software development tools. Using this toolset, Lockheed Martin’s engineering teams incorporate cybersecurity from the ground up, collecting continuous feedback from users, and safely and reliably delivering new mission capabilities to warfighters. While maintaining a rigorous system engineering discipline, this process enables automated builds, increased quality assurance testing earlier in the process, and improved collaboration among developers. Build and test processes can now be completed overnight.

 

Our warfighters need capabilities that will face their immediate threats. We’ve partnered with Innovative Defense Technologies (IDT) to develop an Aegis Enterprise Platform as a Service (PaaS) to ensure Aegis software updates can be delivered to the U.S. Navy where and when it’s most needed. Combined with digital engineering capabilities, the Aegis Enterprise PaaS will enable our team to rapidly and securely deploy software changes to virtualized Aegis at test sites, like the Advanced Radar Development Evaluation Laboratory (ARDEL) in Hawaii, the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico or directly to ships.

The delivery pipeline also enables us to fully utilize cloud computing as part of the Aegis program’s digital transformation. We’re leveraging cloud technologies to improve multiple aspects of combat system engineering, including modeling and simulation, data analytics, and edge computing. While our loosely coupled, modular framework enables us to be cloud-provider agnostic, we have collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to deploy Aegis cloud solutions that address these opportunities. Together, we are collaborating with the U.S. Department of Defense to establish a classified, cloud-based ecosystem that blazes a trail toward remote operations and hosts the Aegis Weapon System in a cloud environment.

We’re applying new technologies to the process of combat system design, on-ship equipment installation and integration, and providing lifecycle support. 

Each Navy ship is distinct – even those of the same class of ships – based on the changes and updates that are authorized over time by the Navy. Using 3-D laser scanners, we’re taking real-time, 3-D measurements of Aegis ships to understand the variation and configuration unique to each vessel. These electronic measurements are then converted into a computer-aided design (CAD) model that can be used during model based systems engineering. Not only does this save precious time for the Navy and industry during ship installation planning, but the data allows us to provide accurate plans for changes to combat system spaces. This will ensure tactical equipment, cables and support infrastructure seamlessly fit into shipboard spaces.
 

These 3-D models can be superimposed into the spaces on an actual ship with augmented reality using Microsoft Hololens technology. Using the Hololens, our teams can assess proposed changes, conduct preventative and corrective maintenance, and align the combat system faster than ever. Technical manual information and planned maintenance documents can be superimposed on top of actual equipment with augmented reality eyewear. This gives Navy technicians access to reference information in their field of view, including video tutorials, while conducting maintenance to ensure they are restored correctly.

The continuous evolution of the Aegis Weapon System enables our Navy and U.S. Missile Defense Agency to answer the call when needed. Our warfighters need unmatched technology solutions to own the fight and maintain mission advantage.  Lockheed Martin is leveraging digital transformation to exponentially increase the speed and effectiveness of Aegis to stay ahead of rapidly evolving threats worldwide.