Will Roper, assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics and 2020 Wash100 Award winner, has released a guidance to help program heads achieve an “e-Series” designation for digital engineering programs.
The Air Force said Tuesday the guide details 14 principles required for e-Series programs which apply practices in digital engineering that enable virtualization and automation of real-world functions According to Roper, the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance program met the criteria for e-Series programs and serves as an “e-Plane” effort
NGAD operates as a sixth-generation demonstrator and follows the Air Force’s first e-Plane known as the eT-7A Red Hawk, which was constructed within 36 months through digital methods. The Air Force and Space Force must now work to apply such practices on a broader scale, Roper noted.
“E-Series should guide the Air Force and Space Force’s analog-to-digital metamorphosis,” he said. “Given the adversaries and challenges these two Services face, that metamorphosis had better be fast.”