SeaPort Enhanced

As managing partner of the Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) joint venture, Jacobs manages a 2,300-plus highly-skilled workforce providing operation, maintenance, information management, and support of processes, facilities, and infrastructure at the USAF’s Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), near Tullahoma, TN. AEDC comprises nearly 60 aeronautical testing facilities (with a replacement value in excess of $7B+) and is primarily located in a remote area within 30,000 acres with other facilities located at White Oak, MD, and at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Twenty-seven of the Center’s test units have capabilities unmatched anywhere in the U.S., and 14 are unique in the world. Jacobs has continuously served as an AEDC operating contractor since 1950 when we completed the design and construction of the AEDC complex, and in July 2003, we were awarded the $2.7B, 12-year contract for the consolidation of total center operations (test + base services). Jacobs owns nearly 60% of the joint venture and Computer Sciences Corporation and General Physics are Jacobs’s minority partners. AEDC is a shared command between the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force, and Jacobs has supported both services in the T&E of most modern weapons systems including aircraft, missiles, sensor/seeker packages, and space-based platforms. Planning, conducting, analyzing, and reporting on test programs that subject critical defense systems to the limits of operational envelopes has led Jacobs to develop a comprehensive approach to project and program management that is supported by disciplined system engineering approaches, technical excellence, and a commitment to quality and customer service – consistently achieving virtually 100% of customer test objectives on more than 1,000 diverse and demanding projects. Working in partnership with our customer – and the users of the AEDC test facilities – Jacobs has led the development of state-of-the-art test processes, techniques and systems that have established AEDC as the world’s leading ground test facility. An illustration of our success in relevance to SeaPort, we have designed and tested full-scale LEAP (light exoatmospheric projectile) vehicles for the Navy Standard Missile 3, now part of the Seabased Midcourse Defense system, assessing lethality of the kill vehicle against various intercept target. We supported aerodynamic test activities of the Navy’s Enhanced Effectiveness (E2) system. Tests were performed at Mach 6-10 to develop an aerodynamic database for Navy E2 demonstrator. The demonstration was flown on the Trident II D5 FBM. Our engineers worked closely with Lockheed Martin and the Naval Surface Warfare Center to successfully plan and execute the wind tunnel test program.

To accomplish improvements, we have identified, developed, and implemented a variety of information technology approaches ranging from the use of virtual test presence (allowing test personnel to participate in the test from remote locations) to real time data analysis (ensuring that risk to high value hardware is minimized and test results are maximized). Jacobs provides instrumentation, data, and control services to support testing activities with more than 140 full-time hardware/software development and applications engineers. With primary responsibility for the sustainment of the $7B+ infrastructure at the AEDC, Jacobs has developed and maintains an effective configuration management system that ensures that facility and system designs are documented, and that changes are only carried out after the appropriate reviews and authority is provided by the customer.

Under this contract, we deactivate and reactivate test cells, including ensuring critical equipment is safeguarded and that hazardous materials are properly disposed, and we provide ongoing, low-level maintenance activities to ensure that deactivated cells can be reactivated as needed.

Jacobs provides integrated logistics support including accounting for and managing a vast array of materials procured to support O&M functions. Jacobs also provides supply and provisioning support, administering 70,000+ items of property, such as highly technical test measurement and diagnostic equipment. We operate and maintain instrument cribs, ensuring instruments are calibrated, available, and ready for use. We provide industrial security support by maintaining controlled areas and 10,000 items of classified material.

As part of our in-service engineering support, we supported the functional checkout and calibration of approximately 40 sensors in the 7V Sensor Test Chamber, which simulates deep-space conditions and incorporates a capability for mission simulation – with target and background sources for above- and below-the-horizon tracking, discrimination, and intercept testing.

Jacobs is an integral partner with our customer in defining and developing the strategic plan for AEDC, ensuring that this unique test capability is prepared to meet the constantly changing needs for testing on critical weapon systems.

We have sustained high levels of technical performance while reducing staff and concurrently introducing additional significant efficiency gains. We proposed and have implemented a number of innovations and efficiencies designed to achieve significant productivity increases over the life of the contract, including reorganization along business lines, re-engineering of processes, automation initiatives and productivity improvements, and implementation of industry-best safety practices.