Technology Today issue 1 2008 - Raytheon

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Feature Adaptive Land Enhanced Raytheon Radar Technology “Small radar” provides big protection AC-17 Globemaster III lands on a remote airfield under the cover of darkness. Forward-deployed warfighters emerge and quickly perform their mission. One of the warfighters opens a case that contains tripods, batteries, sensors and communication equipment. Within minutes, a secured zone of protection is established around the entire aircraft, extending at least 100 meters from each sensor head. Throughout the night, the warfighters perform their duties with the confidence that no one will approach their aircraft undetected. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) has made this concept a reality. A perimeter security system for aircraft protection has already been field-tested by the U.S. Air Force, and Raytheon continues to make enhancements to have the system ready with the most current and advanced technology. The sensor used for the aircraft protection concept is a millimeter-wave multi-beam radar that has been internally developed by IDS Engineering’s Advanced Technology group. Known as an Adaptive Land Enhanced Raytheon Radar Technology (ALERRT) sensor, it can be configured to operate in multiple perimeter security scenarios that require portable or fixed asset protection. An ALERRT sensor weighs a mere two pounds, is the size of a paperback book, and is battery-powered. It can be mounted on tripods, fences and buildings. Designed for low-power consumption, an ALERRT sensor is ideal for missions where line power may not be available for an extended period of time. An ALERRT sensor can be used in a wired or wireless configuration, 20 2008 ISSUE 1 RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGY TODAY with the detection of vehicle or personnel presence transmitted to a display unit. For large, multiple, or irregularly shaped assets, the ALERRT sensors can be networked to provide expanded zones of protection. Each sensor provides a detection range of 100 meters and at least 100 degrees of coverage. The fielded system mentioned earlier in this article is the Aircraft Self-Protection Security System (ASPSS) developed for the Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, Mass. Using four ALERRT sensors, along with wireless communication equipment and a handheld user display, the Air Force is able to provide complete 360-degree coverage of a single An ALERRT sensor is easily mountable on tripods, fences and buildings. An ALERRT sensor weighs about 2 pounds. aircraft. Using the handheld user display, the aircraft security personnel can configure the system and with a quick glance monitor the secured zone of protection. Additional ALERRT sensors increase coverage and enable protection of multiple aircraft parked together. Given the large dimensions of many military transport aircraft, it is crucial to have 360-degree coverage during nighttime and adverse weather conditions. The ALERRT sensors used in the ASPSS give aircraft security personnel low-cost detection capabilities in various environmental conditions. This is accomplished without the use of additional personnel, artificial lighting or other technologies. The ALERRT sensor can be adapted beyond military perimeter security for other applications, such as FAA runway incursion detection and cleared-zone facility security for important assets like sensitive communications components or ammunition depots. In addition, the ALERRT sensor can be integrated with other sensor technologies to form a layered defense in more complex protection scenarios. The mission of Raytheon IDS is to provide warfighters with the most reliable and affordable protection of persons and property. And this is exactly the value that the ALERRT sensor adds when integrated into the highly portable, low-power perimeter security system. David Hall david_l_hall@raytheon.com
LEADERS CORNER Greg Alston Vice President, Mission Assurance Recently, Technology Today sat down with Greg Alston, Raytheon vice president of Mission Assurance. Alston joined the company last June, after more than 30 years with the U.S. Air Force, where he most recently served as a civilian senior executive in the role of deputy chief of safety and executive director of the Air Force Safety Center. He was also a command pilot with more than 2,000 flying hours in the F-4, F-16, AT-38 and F-117A. Alston discussed how he is leveraging his Air Force safety experience to develop an integrated enterprise Mission Assurance vision and strategy at Raytheon, the importance of organizational assurance, and what Mission Assurance means to him. TT: There seems to be several definitions for Mission Assurance. Do you have a standard one? GA: That’s a challenge because there really isn’t a standard definition. I’m currently working on a dissertation titled “Comprehensive Mission Assurance” and interestingly, there’s not a lot of research on the subject. They don’t know how to package and define it. TT: Why is it so hard to define? GA: First of all, you need to determine what mission you are assuring. And, you can’t just assure one mission. For instance, at Raytheon we have several missions, starting with customer success. To support customer success, we also need to assure our corporate success, production success and organizational success. These are all interrelated, and they build and count on each other. TT: Then what are some of the leading definitions of Mission Assurance? GA: From research, a common theme is “the belief, or conviction, that mission objectives will be satisfactorily achieved.” There is also the definition of Christopher Alberts and Audrey Dorofee in their report Mission Assurance Analysis Protocol which describes it as “establishing a reasonable degree of confidence in mission success.” Even at Raytheon, the businesses have slightly different definitions. The closest we come to a common definition is “the discipline to manage inherent risk and to allocate resources to ensure mission success in collaboration with our customers and suppliers.” This is a risk-based definition, which I believe is an essential foundation. TT: Why is risk important? GA: All action bears risk. We need risk for successful action and mission success. If we have too little risk, that equates to inadequate action, and we fail in absolute mission success. At the other extreme, too much risk results in strained resources, and we again fail to achieve mission success. The right amount of measured, controlled risk is what drives mission success. In the end, we need to look at risk as a resource. It’s a resource like a medicine. You need medicine to stay alive, but if you take too much, it can kill you. If you don’t get enough, it can kill you. If you have the right amount, you stay alive and you’re healthy. So risk is like that, you can’t live without it. By definition it’s one of our resources we have to have. We have to coexist with risk. TT: Will risk be one of the things you’re focusing on in 2008? GA: This year we are looking at better integrating Mission Assurance across the enterprise, and a big part of that is looking at organizational risk through a concept called organizational assurance, which helps identify normalizations of deviance. TT: Normalizations of deviance? GA: Yes, it’s a strange phrase, used by Diane Vaughan in her book, The Challenger Launch Decision. What it refers to is when you deviate from a good standard, you allow substandard performance. You may have the best processes, but if you accept substandard performance, this can lead to undue risk. What it means is this: What you tolerate today becomes normalized tomorrow. There are famous cases where the cause of a crash or disaster wasn’t because of poor processes or individual performance, but because the organizations failed as a whole. Things like scheduling pressures caused managers to deviate from a good standard, and say launch when they otherwise would not have. It’s about the discipline to do the right thing. In some cases people were breaking the rules and the leaders were allowing it to happen. So in these cases you had leadership problems and you had discipline problems that presented organizational risks that led to mission failures. Normalizations of deviance are often seen when cutting corners, especially when it is allowed by management. If a programmer Continued on page 22 RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGY TODAY 2008 ISSUE 1 21
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