Description
Organization: DRPM Strategic Systems Programs
Team Name: START Compliant Telemetry Acquisition Team
Related Acquisition Topic(s): Commercial Practices, Commercial and Non Developmental Items (CANDI), Cycle Time Reduction (CTR), Financial Management, Integrated Product Teams (IPT), Open Systems
Description:
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which Entered Into Force (EIF) in 1994, drove SSP to an expensive change in flight test practices. Instead of recording TRIDENT missile Telemetry data only during meaningful periods of flight, as had been the practice, the treaty required recording data during all intervals of flight, even though data from some intervals were of no use in the post flight analysis. An interim solution was immediately available, but it required an additional un-programmed annual expense of $4M to $7M (depending upon the flight test schedule). An interdisciplinary Government/Contractor/Research Center IPT was convened to evaluate other alternatives. The team conceived and implemented a solution involving development of a system based almost entirely of COTS and NDI sub-systems and which, since becoming operational in 1996, has been saving the Navy $3.5 to $6.5M per year. This system was fully implemented and brought to fruition in 1999. In addition to avoiding higher costs, it provides better data than before and allows greater flexibility in designing TRIDENT missile live fire flight tests. The annual savings paid for the non-recurring development cost in the first year and a half.
PROGRAM ACQUISITION INNOVATION HIGHLIGHTS:
The only immediate, START compliant solution to collecting all telemetry data was to use special aircraft, already in use by other agencies for similar purposes. This solution, however, required unprogrammed expenditures of approximately $400K per aircraft, and based upon the TRIDENT flight test operational tempo, the additional cost to the program to use aircraft would be $3.6M to $7.2M per year.
Under pressure to quickly replace the use of aircraft with a low cost alternative, an integrated Government/Contractor IPT was convened to consider credible and affordable options. They worked together and developed a concept that transcended the capabilities of any individual member operating independently. The team surveyed commercial literature, technical and scientific literature, and contacted personnel from various commercial firms, University Affiliated Research Centers, and technical labs. Three credible alternatives were conceived. As a testimony to the synergy of this team, it took only 3 months to define the alternatives, all in enough detail and with enough hard facts to make knowledgeable commitments of time and money.
The selected alternative employed the use of all COTS electronics in an NDI shelter, open architecture design, and an innovative antenna design based upon research and prototypes developed by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space. The antenna is not a solid surface, but a collection of many separate, small, anodized aluminum elements, mounted on an open, rectangular grid of metal tubes. The result is a lightweight, open surface with low wind resistance, a necessity due to the need for location in tropical regions (trade winds) and transportability. Furthermore, because the team was so thorough, they discovered commercially available, transportable antenna mount systems, which are mounted on, and fold into, the bed of an 18-wheeler trailer. These COTS trailer systems were developed to serve television remote-broadcast crews. The 22’ X 22’ antenna was cleverly designed to mate to the COTS mount, and fold into a rectangular shape above the trailer base. For delivery to a site, the entire assembly is driven as a whole unit into a single C-141. The initial delivery, from Moffet Field in California to Puerto Rico, did not require any additional expense, as the delivery was coordinated with an Air National Guard training mission. The system is completely autonomous, requiring only a plot of land for the trailer, the single equipment shelter, and generator. A GPS device provides location information for antenna orientation. The antenna can track up to 5 separate reentry objects, vice only one or two tracked objects per aircraft.
Not only is this system transportable, and not only does it provide better data than the airplane systems, but it also saves the Navy money. The entire system was designed, developed, and deployed in a period of 20 months, at a price to the Government of $7.8M. The system paid for itself within the first 18 months after delivery. Annual operating expenses (approximately $100K, or 25% of the cost of deploying one aircraft for mission support) are small enough to be covered within the existing contractor engineering support contract and do not require any increase in funding. The transportability and autonomy of the system allows the Navy the flexibility to plan a wide range of flight test trajectories, exercising a wide region of the missile performance envelope, while collecting START telemetry data at a fraction of the cost of deploying aircraft.
