A Random Walk in the Aerospace Community Greg Zacharias, 67
COOL STUFF IN MY JOB
Air Today s Manned B2 Tomorrow s Unmanned Specialty Platforms (?)
Space: Launchers Recoverable Boosters at SpaceX Aircraft Launches at StratoLaunch
Space: Satellites Latest GPS Navstar Satellite CubeSats or Nanosats
Cyber
Connections NASA HQ Oxford s Turf Tavern Woomera with Aussies
Other Benes My own parking space A cool three-star seal, but And MilAir sometimes
HOW THIS JOB FOUND ME
Early Days 57: beep, beep, beep 62: My first drone 64: Penultimate MIT nerds
Early Days 67: The Summer of Love, with George Harrison 69: Draft Board Invitation
Early Days 69: Apollo 11
Working for NASA 70: Newly minted 2 nd Lt in USAF 70-75: Shuttle Re-entry Flight Control System
Back to MIT 75-77: MIT Man-Vehicle Lab Researching human-machine interaction with computational models
Finally, Steady Work 77-83: Bolt, Beranek, and Newman 83-98: Charles River Analytics NASA Ames Research Center, Vertical Motion Simulator Andrey Gorbunov, Stereoscopic augmented reality in visual interface for flight control, Aerospace Science and Technology, vol 38, 2014
A Good Run, and a New Start 2012: Charles River ESOP 2015: Charles River Retirement
AF: HISTORY AND FUTURE
AF History of Systems Innovation Powered flight Supersonic flow Communications Global positioning Computer simulations Long-endurance ISR Gas turbine engine Night attack Precision strike Unmanned systems High-power lasers ICBMs Aerial refueling High-speed flight Space launch Cyber operations Hypersonics Space ISR Rocket flight Long-range radar 5th-gen fighters Stealth / LO Blended wing-body Directed energy
Innovative S&T Driven by AF/ST Horizons Studies Toward New Horizons (1945) Project Forecast (1964) New World Vistas (1995) Tech Horizons (2010) Global Horizons (2013) High-impact studies Woods Hole Summer Study (1958) New Horizons II (1975) Low-impact studies Project Forecast II (1986) 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010 2020 AHI & II
Previous Offset Strategies* 1 st Offset President Eisenhower s New Look Included tactical nuclear weapons 2 nd Offset SecDef Harold Brown s Offset Strategy Included stealth aircraft Davy Crockett Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk *Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Toward a New Offset Strategy: Exploiting U.S. Long-Term Advantages to Restore U.S. Global Power Projection Capability, 2014
A Third Offset in the Works Problem Reemergence of Great Power Rivalry Diminished relative technological advantage Unsustainable acquisition cost growth Existing incremental approach to next-generation systems simply not viable for the future SecDef Carter (and presumably Mattis) approaches to address problem* Update and refine warfighting strategies, operational concepts, and tactics Drive smart and essential technological innovation Build force of the future and reform DoD enterprise *SecDef Carter s Written Statement -- Senate Appropriations Committee-Defense (FY 2017 Budget Request)
Third Offset: Framework-to-Solution Space A combination of technology, operational concepts, and organizational constructs to maintain our ability to project combat power into any area, at a time and place of our own choosing. * Org & Culture -Wargame -Model -Simulate -Prototype -Experiment -Analyze Solutions Iterative Evaluation Explore Discover Innovate *Speech by Defense Deputy Secretary Robert Work at the European Policy Center, 29 April 2016
Game-Changing Technologies Hypersonics Survivable, fast-flying Defeat deep layered A2/AD strategies Directed Energy Lasers with air & ground selectable effects & reduced collateral damage High Power Microwave alternative to kinetic weapons Nanotechnology Revolutionary materials and systems Improve performance, reliability, and functionality Unmanned Systems Moving beyond traditional ISR and strike roles More on-board processing for increased autonomy Distributed and cooperative multi-platform ops Autonomy Facilitates decisions at speed of computing Self awareness & troubleshooting intelligence to aid mission performance
Today s Platform-Centric View sensor platforms C2 platforms shooter platforms support platforms
Tomorrow s Information-Centric View C2 Process/Platform sensors data fusion situation assessment planning & scheduling execution management shooters/supporters the world An agile information-centric organization with exquisitely effective peripherals
The Future Air Force Help reconceptualize USAF as a cutting-edge information-age organization focusing on Knowledge creation Knowledge movement Decision management Execution management with goal of accelerating processes, and winning faster and more decisively while harvesting the benefits of advances in information processing (Moore s Law) and networking (Metcalf s Law) Moving from the industrial-age to the information-age
CLOSING THOUGHTS I m inspired by patriotism and people s willingness to serve this country. We take it for granted that someone will step forward and volunteer. We need to encourage our children and grandchildren to get involved USAF Secretary Heather Wilson, PhD
CLOSING THOUGHTS Alien Ambassador We need to encourage our children and grandchildren to get involved Cyber Warrior
THANK YOU