Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS): - SSTC

Advanced Field Artillery Tactical
Data System (AFATDS):
A Government-Industry
Team Success Story
Cynthia Inteso
PMO Intelligence and Effects
April 21, 2004

What is AFATDS?
AFATDS is a fully automated Command & Control (C2) system used
by the Joints services (USA, USMC, USN) to prioritize targets and
pair them with optimal Fire Support weapon systems. It gives
commanders timely, accurate, coordinated fire support to prosecute
high-value targets.
AFATDS puts the right weapon on the right target, at the right time
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Success: A Team
Effort
AFATDS success is as much about
professionalism, expertise, discipline, and
teamwork as it is about advanced processes
and application of emerging technology.
This is not a story of some gee-wiz silver bullet.
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Alpha Contracting
Partnership
Quality
Continuous Testing
Tech Reviews Metrics
Prototyping Technology
User PM Contractor
Success:
A Team Effort
AFATDS
SUCCESS
Tailored Spiral Development Process
Omnipresent
Performance
& Reliability
Visibility /
Measurement
User buy-in /
Optimized Benefits
Managed Risk
Right Sizing
Trust
Competence
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Government-Contractor
Partnership
• Encourage communication, trust, and
cooperation.
• Discourage traditional adversarial mindset.
• Maintain continual dialog.
• Empower peer-to-peer interactions at all levels
across all system disciplines.
• Effective teamwork necessitates mutual
respect.
• Encourage innovation & creative approaches to
traditional problems within a context of sound
system and software engineering principles.
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The Contractor –
Raytheon, Ft Wayne, IN
Raytheon is a Six Sigma company: Employment of the six principles
(visualize, commit, prioritize, characterize, improve, and achieve)
assists in a continuous process improvement cycle over the past 4
years.
• Management is responsive, cooperative, open, constructive, and
innovative.
• Software engineering staff is highly-qualified, motivated, open, and
professional.
• Engineering staff has unparalleled knowledge in Army Fire Support
automation.
• Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR): Current CPAR
rating from the government shows Exceptional in all categories of
Technical, Schedule, Cost Control, and Management.
• Award Fee is used as incentive and is based on performance
assessment
• Bottom Line priority: Teamwork between contractor and customer.
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Customer
Requirements
Contractor
TSM FATDS
USMC
ECP Ready for
contractual
action
ALPHA CONTRACTING
PM
Requirements IPT
Meetings -
Other Agencies
Government-
Contractor
Sizing
Agreement
Initial
Requirements
Alpha Contracting
Process
Contractor
Develops
Requirements
Government
Evaluation
Working Draft
Requirements
IPT Meetings
Contractor
Estimates Software
Sizing using
SEER-SEM
Tech
Agreement
Use Case &
Function Point
Analysis via IPT
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Alpha Contracting
Alpha Contracting, which has been used on the AFATDS
program for many years, is an Integrated Product Team
(IPT) concept that joins the user, contractor, government
program office and contracts personnel into a cohesive
team to:
• Eliminate lengthy proposal preparation
• Provide concurrent technical definition and discussions
• Highlight unnecessary or potentially unaffordable requirements
• Promote alternative thinking and solutions
• Provide coordinated and focused fact finding
• Foster cooperative spirit
• Provide more expeditious agreements on methodologies and
estimating techniques for both technical and pricing venues
• Bottom-Line Objective has been achieved: Right sizing that
provides well-understood functional requirements coupled with
realistic budget for effort and schedule.
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Modified Spiral
Development Process
AFATDS software utilizes spiral development
techniques for rapid turnaround deliveries (including
Service Packs) of new features within 2.3 million lines
of code in Ada, JAVA, C++, XML. The process:
• Is responsive to requirements for early incremental capabilities to
support parallel development of other Army systems.
• Manages integration risk effectively, spreading integration into
bite-sized pieces.
• Optimizes staffing profile by spreading all development phases
over time; minor fluctuation in personnel loading allows retention
of expert team from one version to the next.
• Includes Incremental Technical Documentation:
Early incremental description of developmental products
provided to customer and stakeholders
Contractor format, replaces delivery of full development
documentation.
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HCI Prototyping
Human Computer Interface Windows prototyping
IPT effort provides:
• Early insight into how the requirements are going to
be implemented with time to react to directed
changes
• Early proof of concept of the requirements
• Early User buy-in on HCI and associated capabilities
• Streamlined execution of the follow-on phases –
cost reduction
• Reduction in requirements creep – control risk to
schedule & cost
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Technology
AFATDS remains “state-of-the-art” -- Continuously evolving
and incorporating emerging technology since its introduction
7 years ago, thus expanding the AFATDS capabilities for the
warfighter
• Software designed to facilitate portability and insertion of newer hardware
technology.
• Computing hardware has become smaller, lighter, and higher performance at
relatively low cost for software & integration.
• Software reuse is practiced incorporating DoD-wide Common Operating
Environment and Army Foundation products. In addition, commercial
software products, such as C/JMTK are being used.
• AFATDS has embraced client / server technology and has developed and
fielded the Effects Management Tool as an AFATDS client.
• Contractor developed automated code generation tools that provide better
quality and cost controls by eliminating human error.
• JAVA used instead of Ada for user interface software.
• DBMS migrated from legacy product to Oracle.
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Technical
Reviews
Technical Reviews are focused on the working
level:
• Used in place of traditional, expensive Mil-Std 1521
design reviews where substance is often displaced by
form
• Meeting presentations cover both technical and
programmatic aspects including overriding requirements,
design, and test issues
• Sidebar working sessions enable small groups of
stakeholders and experts to focus on specific issues
• Results in real solutions on the spot and minimizes the
need for follow-on actions that can cause delays
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Metrics
Program success is aided by metrics activity vigorously
supported by the Government and contractor:
• Metrics tracked weekly: defect density, requirements
integrated, fault correction progress, software changes
initiated vs retested successfully, and tasks starts and
completions.
• Metrics IPT meets weekly to review status on collected
metrics – government and industry team.
• Metrics are tailored to meet the developmental paradigm
(i.e., modified spiral) and current program phase – metrics
are eliminated that no longer apply.
• Early identification of weak areas that are detected through
the use of the metrics reports aid in indicating current
program process and identifying potential future issues.
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Continuous Testing
Testing begins with the first incremental software engineering
release and continues until product release:
• Off-site test events are scheduled as early as possible to
address interfaces with other systems and interoperability.
• Separate software and system test labs are used for
integration and testing.
• Simulators are used to allow testing with realistic interfaces to
simulate actual usage.
• Final integration & test includes both internal contractor-level
checkout and Government oversight.
• Independent Verification & Validation testing performed on all
incremental releases.
• Field testing and live fire demonstrations are conducted when
requirements dictate.
• Cooperative working relationships with Army test community
have facilitated practical resolution of issues.
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Quality Process
Quality is critical since AFATDS is used during live-fire
exercises as well as in war where personnel safety is
essential.
• Use of Apex and Encompass tools within an extensive configuration
control system aids engineers in the development process
• DOORS database used to track system (SSS) and software (SRS)
requirements producing bi-directional traceability between documents
and test cases – provided to PM IE for evaluation and validation of
requirements
• Engineering Change Requests (ECRs) used to control changes to
system requirements; Change Orders (COs) provide authorization for
working controlled software changes
• Procedures audited by Product Quality Assurance to assure procedure
adherence
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Keys to Success
• The program’s success is derived from a highly collaborative government and
industry team.
• Alpha Contracting process for developing program requirements
- Government-Industry team including Raytheon, User, PM Intelligence and Effects
• Requirements Definition and System Design phases
- Early Windows prototype development
- Government-Industry team reviews
• Periodic Technical Reviews with all stakeholders - extremely beneficial
• Raytheon has developed a comprehensive set of software engineering process
requirements and guidance material to direct software development and to
ensure high-quality software products.
• AFATDS is a model acquisition program — within schedule and cost parameters,
exceeding performance metrics, and which played a significant role in winning
the ground war in Iraq.
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AFATDS – Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System
C2 – Command and Control
C/JMTK – Commercial / Joint Mapping Tool Kit
CO – Change Order
CPAR – Contractor Performance Assessment Report
DBMS – Database management system
DoD – Department of Defense
ECR – Engineering Change Request
HCI – Human Computer Interface
IPT – Integrated Product Team
Mil-Std – Military Standard
PM IE – Program Manager Intelligence and Effects
RDD – Requirements Definition Document
SISTIM – Simulation/Stimulation
SRS – Software Requirements Specification
SSS – Systems/Software Specification
TSM – TRADOC System Manager
USMC – United States Marine Corps
XML – eXtensible Markup Language
Acronyms
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