The development of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) is Europe’s most important defence project

1. Índice
Indra General.
FCAS
Think Different
Master in Aircraft Systems Integration, Campus Getafe
9th June 2021
Dr. Bernardo A. Delicado
Chief Engineer NGWS/FCAS

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About me
AcademicBase
ProfessionalCareer
Teaching and Research
Systems Engineering Leadership

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The development of the Future CombatAir System (FCAS)is
Europe’s most important defence project
A projectthatwouldno doubtbetoocostlyfor a singlecountry
A projectguidedbyan imperativeofnationalandEuropeanstrategicautonomy
Spain'sinclusionin2020 is excellentnewsforthe FCAS
Spain'spoliticalwilltoparticipateinthe FCAS projectis very strong

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Two slightly different approaches
• Both of them acknowledgetheSystemof
Systems ( SoS ) natureof FCAS,but the first vision
centreson the combataircraftwhile the second
focuses on the wholearchitecturewith its
connectivity.
• Militarycapabilities will lie less in the unitary
performanceof its individual components
(platforms,sensors,carriers)than in the way they
are combined in FCAS

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The most common Military Capability attributes are :
• Application of military sources to place any identified target at a
disadvantage ( effect)
• Measures to protect forces against threats from the enemy ( protection )
• Means to achieve and maintain a position of advantage ( mobility)
• Means to perform planning, tasking and control of forces ( command &
control)
• Means to provide situation awareness of the battle-space ( information)
• Ability to maintain the necessary level and duration of operational activity
( sustainment)

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A World in Motion

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Connecting the dots: How to solve bigger problems with
better creativity
Creative problem solving that happens
when you connect the dots between
different people, perspectives and
ideas

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You can't connectthe dots
looking forward, you can only
connect them looking
backwards.
Steve Jobs

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Connectthe dots can be used as a metaphor to illustrate an
ability (or inability) to associate one idea with another, to find
the "big picture“,or salient feature, in a mass of data
Wikipedia

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What would happen if we all embraced a systemic vision of the
project, if we all started thinking and acting with a systemic
awareness, if we learned how to connectthe dots in FCAS?

11. “FCAS as a revolution, not an evolution”
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France is committed to design a FCAS relying on an
architecture of networks, meshing inhabited and
unmanned platforms within a System of Systems
and fitting fully into the Man-Unmanned Aircraft
teamingparadigm.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data Analytics, Cloud
Computing and Cyber-Security are the four digital
technologies at the heart of the digital
transformation of our Air Force.
David Pappalardo is a French Air Force Officer in charge
of Combat Aviation in the capability branch of the French
Air Staff

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The FCAS will be disruptive, and of course,
with nothing to do with what we know so
far
Col Martín García-Almenta is a Spanish Air Force Officer
( NGWS/FCAS National Study )

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The big question is what information should be shared,
and with whom, to best enable the delivery of the right
effect at the right place at the rig low-, mid- or high-level
fusion, which is needed between which assets and with
which level of integration? That will be the crucial question
for the FCAS ( The Luftwaffe in Multi-Domain Operations)
We must be prepared to give up our traditional way of
thinking.
Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, Chief of the German Air
Force

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FCAS: FROM A SYSTEM TO A "SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS"
This project will be a complete
innovationover previouscombat aircraft
projects.The FCAS will not just be
another Rafale or Eurofighter, but an air
"system of systems“( SoS )
FrenchSenate
ForeignAffairs,DefenceandArmedForces Committee

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SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS : NGWS/FCAS
The NGWS ( New Generation Weapon System ) is the innovative core of the FCAS. It consists of a new fighter
aircraft, the Next Generation Fighter (NGF), as well as Remote Carriers (RCs), all of which are connected to each
other in a protected data exchange system called the Combat Cloud (CC) as a primary core enabling System of
Systems .
French Senate
This NGWS will be able to act independently or
in a network with other aviation, naval, land or
space command or combat systems (we speak
of an "NGWS within a FCAS") then, beyond that,
interoperatewithNATO andEU resources.
French Senate

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New Generation Fighter ( NGF )
TeamingwithRemoteCarriers ( RCs) as forcemultipliers

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Enhance Collaborative Combat Through Connectivity and
Automation The FrenchAir Force willswitchfromplatforms to“nodes within a network”
whichwillbe usedto compensatefortheweaknessesofplatformswhen
consideredinisolationtoconcentrateanddistributeeffects,enhance
collaborativeandincreasecombatperformance.
LieutenantGeneralDavidDeptulaUSAF
DeptulaconsiderestheCombatCloud( CC ) to be the driver not
only ofair power butalso of cross-domain synergy,whichhas
beenthemantra of Americanoperationalconcepts
French Senate

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Integration: Making into a whole by bringing all parts together
Integration
startshere!
V Model
Integrationtasksrequirethecoordinationineach lifecyclephase:
• Integrated analysis/definition of thecustomers missions needs and through subsequent analyses derive an integratedset of requirements
• Integratedsets of plans ( Project Management Plan, Systems Engineering Management Plan, Technology Maturation Plan, Demonstration
Plan, Verification & Validation Plan, etc )
• IntegratedDesigntosatisfy SoS/system requirements
• IntegratedAssembly toproduce/acquire and assemble hardware/software system element-levelproducts into integratedsystem-level
products that can be verifiedand validatedas meeting stakeholder needs and requirements
• IntegratedDeployment
• IntegratedSustainment
integrated teamof programmatic and technical specialists
Start ofassembly
is too late

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Integrated Mission Analysis
• Poor operational assessment
 Solution does not address theright
problem
 Poor understandingof the reason for
the capability gap
 Solutions do not address the
capability gaps whichsolve a mission
need
 Systems developedwhere other
solutions are more feasible
• Gaps in mission capabilities not addressed
 Focuses on the wrongmission tasks
 Inadvertentlycreates new mission
capability gaps

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Mission Linked to Systems Engineering
Instruments of Power
Defense Enterprise
CampaignTheater
Mission Area Force Level
Engagement
Small Unit
Systems
Engineering
Most Aggegate
Least Resolution
Widest Focus
Least Specialization
Narrowest Focus
Most Specialization
Least Aggegate
Highest Resolution
Depth
Breadth
Systems engineering
is applied to the
System of Systems
(SoS) supporting
operational mission
outcomes

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Mission Analysis and Systems Engineering Analysis (i)

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Mission Information
Plataform
Mission-basedSoS
Engineering
IT-basedSoS
Engineering
Systems
Engineering
From platform-centric
to System of Systems
Mission Analysis and Systems Engineering Analysis (ii)
A shift in mindset will be necessary to move the industry forward to thinking aboutSoS Engineering as
a discipline that builds upon traditional Systems Engineering approaches, but involves new approaches
and enablerstoevolveandsustaina SoS
The current state of systems engineering does not adequately support the development of complex,
adaptive, andsoftware-intensive SoS
There is no well-established SoS methodology and associated tools and techniques that can support
fasterengineeringanalysisandrealizationofrequiredcapabilities

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Applying Systems Engineering to
Mission-based
SoS Engineering
Platform & IT based
SoS Engineering
Systems Engineering
IndividualSystems
Individual
Systems
Applying Systems Engineering to
SoS
Mission • Froma mission perspective -
driversfor SoS and systems
• Froma SoS view -driversfor
systems
• Engineering a systemaddresses
the fit to the SoS to support the
mission
Source : “Extending the DoD DigitalEngineering Strategy toMissions, Systems of Systems,
and Portfolios”Zimmerman, Gilbert, et Dahmann, 2019
Focused on the definitionof a mission(and
associatedcapabilities) as a system that
canbe designed

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Model Based Systems Engineering ( MBSE )
A framework for the application of MBSE techniques, with
a particular focus on the integration of SoS architecture
with system analysis techniques, to support mission level
engineering. It provides decision-quality information to
understand capability, inform system engineering decisions
and targetareas forimprovements
 Requirementsderivation
 Systemsintegration
 Measuresand metrics
 Technologyinsertion

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Integrated PMT ( Processes, Methods & Tools ) Strategy
Source : Principles and Challenges of MBSE,Michael J. Vinarcik, SAIC

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Conclusion
A shiftin mindsetwillbe necessaryto move the industry forward to
thinking about FCAS
Sometimes thinking differently requires leaving yourcomfortzone
If we THINK DIFFERENT, we can
become extraordinary in FCAS

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I think it is possible for ordinary
people to chooseto be extraordinary
Elon Musk
SpaceX

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We want to be extraordinary
captaciondetalento@indra.es

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