Air Force Materiel Command has begun to digitally update the system that facilitates the life cycle of technologies used by the service branch.
AFMC wants to establish an enterprise-wide digital ecosystem that provides life cycle data needed for system development, maintenance and testing, the U.S. Air Force said Monday. The effort aims to accelerate USAF's system life cycle including the transition of technologies to warfighters.
“Transitioning to a digital AFMC enterprise is a priority for our command and is foundational to our success in today’s adversarial environment,” said Gen. Arnold Bunch, AFMC commander.
Bunch said AFMC needs to use digital technologies for better interconnection across sustainment, procurement, research and testing in the service branch.
“We need to streamline the design, development, fabrication and testing to get platforms to our warfighters faster," Bunch added.
An example of supply chain digitization is the use of digital twins, virtual representations of a system. System developers may use digital twins to conduct virtual tests and avoid the costs imposed by fully physical testing.