Moving advanced defense aerosystems quickly from design to operation

To successfully execute their mission of protecting the United States homeland and its allies, U.S. military forces must quickly respond to constantly changing global threats. The Department of Defense depends on the defense industry to provide its warfighters with the rapidly evolving technology needed to complete this mission. But the development of complex systems can be a lengthy process, delaying their delivery to forces in the field.

According to the House Armed Services Committee, it takes on average 11 years for major defense acquisition programs to deliver new capabilities. This process is too slow to support the modern military’s needs in a rapidly changing threat environment, and committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) wants to make the process more agile, with swifter prototyping to deliver “faster and better capabilities for the warfighter.”

Spirit AeroSystems, one of the largest tier-one aircraft structures supplier in the world, is providing that speed and agility now. It integrates advanced design, development and production capabilities to speed the delivery of operational systems and reduce the risk of major defense acquisition programs.

This integration, refined over nine decades of experience in both defense and the rapidly moving commercial aircraft industry, allows the company to design components with production and mission in mind, closing the gap between design and production stages.

Spirit’s knowledge and flexibility to use a variety of materials also helps to speed up production timelines. With expertise in both traditional metal fabrication and advanced composites, Spirit designs solutions that provide the right balance of strength and light weight needed to meet the requirements of high-performance platforms operating under the harshest conditions.

To ensure affordability, Spirit weighs not only the costs and benefits of metal and composite materials, but also the manufacturing requirements for components made from a variety of materials. Tooling can be a time-consuming process, and Spirit’s experience with commercial production techniques significantly reduced the time needed to design, produce and put into use the tools needed for production.

Partnering for success

Spirit partners with the defense industry to help deliver advanced platforms and systems to support the next generation of defense programs and aircraft. One example is the Bell V-280 Valor vertical lift aircraft.

Spirit is the fuselage design/build partner for Bell Helicopter for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) program, which eventually will replace up to 4,000 utility and attack helicopters. The V-280 is Bell’s JMR-TD offering, and Spirit is one of 11 leading aerospace companies on Bell’s Team Valor. The V-280 is an advanced technology tilt-rotor aircraft that would provide significant increases in speed, range and payload to support U.S. ground forces.

The fuselage, which was completed and shipped to Bell’s Texas facility in 2015, was designed and assembled in Spirit’s rapid prototyping facility in Wichita, Kansas, in just 22 months. This speed was a product of the company’s unique design, build and manufacture capabilities for rapidly producing innovative products of the highest quality.

Success was the result of a close working partnership with prime contractor Bell. Program requirements—which can change over the life of a project—were delivered on time by Bell, and Spirit’s integrated production team worked closely with Bell to update requirements and to quickly resolve issues onsite when they arose. Although the company has extensive in-house design and production capabilities, Spirit also leveraged its extensive supply base, taking advantage of outside suppliers when necessary to speed the process.

Experience and innovation

The modern defense aviation space is a challenging environment, demanding innovation, performance and speed-to-operation without sacrificing economy. Spirit supports its partners and customers in the defense industry in meeting these challenges. Spirit’s expertise in advanced aerostructures helps to close the gap between design and production, bringing down costs and lead times for major defense programs.