Boeing has initiated production of the first U.S. portion of the T-7A Red Hawk advanced trainer, the company reported on Tuesday. The aircraft was fully designed using 3D model-based definition and data management systems developed at Boeing over the past 20 years.

“The future of air dominance lies in the ability to move quickly, take smart risks and partner in new ways to get the job done,” said Shelley Lavender, Boeing senior vice president of Strike, Surveillance and Mobility. “By creating aircraft and systems along a digital thread, we can accelerate build times and increase quality and affordability for our customers in a way that has never been done before.”

The T-7A Red Hawk is an advanced pilot training system designed for the U.S. Air Force that will train the next generation of fighter and bomber pilots. The T-7A Red Hawk leveraged the digital engineering and design of Boeing’s T-X aircraft. 

Designed using a digital thread, the T-7A aligns with the U.S. Air Force’s Digital Century Series strategy by enabling the integration of new concepts and capabilities faster and more affordably through virtual testing. The Advanced Pilot Training System also incorporates leading-edge ground-based live and virtual simulators to give students and instructors a “real as it gets” experience.

In Sept. 2018, the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a $9.2 billion contract to supply 351 advanced trainer aircraft and 46 associated ground-based training simulators. Saab is teamed with Boeing on the trainer and provides the aft fuselage of the jet.

“This is a historic moment for the program and industry,” said Chuck Dabundo, Boeing vice president of T-7 Programs. “The build process leverages full-size determinant assembly, which allows technicians to build the aircraft with minimal tooling and drilling during the assembly process. The digital process accounts for a 75% increase in first-time quality.”

About Boeing

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As a top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.

The Federal Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building is working to introduce the Federal Data Service to enhance how agencies link, access and safeguard data and is looking at dashboard projects of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enable the proposed service to help agencies accelerate data maturity, FedScoop reported Monday.

“It was a real big culture change,” Ted Kaouk, chief data officer at USDA, said Friday during a meeting of the 25-member advisory panel. “It was about making visible some of the data quality issues.” Kaouk said his department made a “modest” investment of $2 million to begin implementing the dashboard projects across 19 agencies.

“Largely it was about consolidating resources we already had,” Kaouk said. “We had Tableau servers across multiple mission areas, and we were able to bring them into a common platform and I think in many cases actually save money as agencies were looking to move their own cloud platforms.”

He noted that working with the data and analytics center of excellence and four other COEs of the General Services Administration (GSA) helped USDA, which developed over 500 dashboards across 29 agencies, advance data maturity assessments and speed up dashboarding work.

Viasat has been approved to receive cyber threat intelligence through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Enhanced Cybersecurity Services (ECS) program. 

"The added DHS ECS intelligence coupled with the advanced capabilities inherent in the Viasat cyber offering, enables us to better fortify our customers' cyber posture and maintain a vigilant and watchful defense against the world's most advanced adversaries,” said Ken Peterman, president, Government Systems, Viasat.

As an accredited ECS provider, Viasat will receive DHS-provided sensitive and classified cybersecurity threat indicators and information to defend U.S.-based public and private computer networks. DHS accredited Viasat as one of four companies able to pass ECS program requirements. 

Viasat received the authorization following an audit of Viasat's cybersecurity capabilities, security architecture and facilities. DHS ECS service providers must achieve a high standard of security competence and compliance, such as maintaining the ability to safeguard sensitive and classified information, and security approvals for personnel, facilities and computer network systems.

Viasat's ECS solution has leveraged Viasat's National Security Agency (NSA)-certified Trusted Cyber Sensor (TCS) to monitor network traffic with government provided classified indicators without routing traffic through its data center. 

The company has placed its TCS devices within a customer's network and securely manages, maintains and configures them remotely from Viasat's Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC). Once in the customer's network, the TCS devices inspect network traffic on-premises, inside the customer perimeter boundary, ensuring customer privacy is preserved.

Viasat's ECS solution has utilized the ECS Netflow Analysis capability, to provide network traffic flow indicators that help customers detect malicious activity within their network. “This added insight allows us to create a more accurate, customized, real-time cybersecurity picture that will enable customers to reach advanced cyber resiliency levels needed to reduce overall risks against cyber threats," Peterman added. 

FirstNet has announced that its network now covers more than 2.71 million square miles, the company reported on Monday. In 2020, AT&T added nearly 100 thousand square miles to the FirstNet coverage footprint. 

"2020 made it clearer than ever before how critical it is for first responders to have the tools and wireless infrastructure they need to communicate with each other wherever their mission takes them. Now tens of thousands of towns and cities have access to FirstNet, bringing America's public safety community the only network built to their strict specifications and requirements,” said Jason Porter, senior vice president of FirstNet Program at AT&T. 

FirstNet has worked to support public safety, and has extended the nationwide reach of FirstNet to give agencies reliable connectivity and modern communications tools they require. The company has worked to build connectivity with direct feedback from public safety and local stakeholders. 

With the build, FirstNet will deploy public safety's spectrum, which will supply public safety with a dedicated connectivity when needed. FirstNet will also launch more than one thousand purpose-built FirstNet sites, as part of the initial FirstNet expansion to connect rural, remote and tribal areas. 

“The FirstNet Authority is pleased that the buildout continues to be ahead of schedule and that we are moving closer to fully realizing the vision of a nationwide network that serves all of public safety,” said Edward Parkinson, CEO, FirstNet Authority. 

In addition, FirstNet will collaborate with rural network providers to address rural coverage needs and expand the reach of FirstNet for the public safety community. The company will also expand the FirstNet fleet of portable network assets for public safety agencies' emergency response needs, with more than 750 requests from public safety in 2020.

FirstNet will work to increase network resiliency to provide public safety in the case of an emergency. As FirstNet builds out cell sites, the company will include fixed generators to expand support on existing infrastructure. 

"These are major milestones in the growth, adoption and deployment of public safety's network. This progress shows the strength of our partnership with public safety and how their involvement is critical to the success of the network," added Parkinson.