Air Operations Center Weapon System (AOC WS)
Enhances the speed of command and enables more effective, dynamic planning
Increases operational flexibility and lowers total operating costs
Links sensors, shooters and command authority for responsive air combat operations
Provides the foundation for truly integrated C2 across all domains
The Air Operations Center Weapon System (AOC WS) program modernizes the U.S. Air Force's essential operational-level command and control (C2) centers to increase operational effectiveness and reduce costs. The Defense Department considers AOCs a weapon system vital to the national interest and a major advance in C2 capability for air components supporting combatant commanders throughout the globe. The AOC WS program will enhance the speed of command for planning and execution of air and space force operations and enable more effective, dynamic planning for irregular warfare or counterinsurgency operations for the Air Force.
In conjunction with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and Air Combat Command, Northrop Grumman is developing a secure, streamlined computing environment for legacy and future applications. The program is a modernization effort to integrate mission services into a common computing environment built upon a network-centric infrastructure. The program will optimize a net-centric implementation for centralized C2 and decentralized execution.
The Northrop Grumman team is focused on delivering increased combat capability to the service men and women in the operational environment. The modernized architecture enables faster integration of new capability and a platform for continued technology insertion.
AOC WS modernization program objectives include:
Decreasing hardware footprint
Improving system manageability
Reducing manual information sharing
Providing the foundation for future C2 needs
Accelerating the integration of new applications
Enabling flexibility to deliver modular, mission-tailorable capabilities to warfighters
AOC WS creates a common computing environment to accelerate integration of new applications.
Developers' Assistance Environment
A tenet of the AOC WS modernization integration and test approach is to facilitate third-party capability development by providing a net-centric Developers' Assistance Environment (DAE). The DAE is a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Virtual Private network (VPN) that can be accessed by approved AOC WS capability providers, team members and government personnel across the Internet. The DAE provides the Capability Provider Handbook and other information critical for development as well as the infrastructure needed for integration and test of developed capabilities with the overall system.
The DAE will provide the tools and services for distributed software development and integration across disparate teams and throughout the software lifecycle (plan, code, collaborate, track, build and test, provision, release, and report). Collabnet's TeamForge is the foundational software forge element of the DAE we use for application lifecycle management (ALM). TeamForge is the same product powering the DOD's Forge.mil and there is a linkage between the Software Forge.mil AOC WS project and the DAE's projects and environment.
Accessing the DAE
To gain access to the DAE, please click on the Request DAE Account link and provide a response to every question. The DAE is a U.S.-Only network and we must certify your U.S. Citizenship status and sponsorship by the U.S. Air Force AOC WS program office before you can gain access to the environment. Please consider this when sending a request so we can expedite your account creation. Once onboard, a "Welcome to the AOC WS" email will be sent to the user with details on how to configure the account. The email will also contain useful links to DAE resources.
Dec. 3, 2013:
U.S. Air Force Awards Northrop Grumman $81 Million for C2 Centers Modernization
Sept. 24, 2013:
Northrop Grumman, U.S. Air Force Complete Warfighter Analysis Workshops for Air Operations Center Modernization Program
Feb. 14, 2013:
Northrop Grumman, U.S. Air Force Complete Successful Preliminary Design Review of Air Operations Center Modernization Program
Northrop Grumman, U.S. Air Force Achieve Key Milestones for Command and Control Modernization Program
Mar. 14, 2012:
Northrop Grumman Wins $120 Million Contract for U.S. Air Force Command and Control Modernization Program
Crown Jewel Program Modernizes Air Operations (SIGNAL Online)
AOC improvements in the works (Hanscom Air Force Base)
Developers' Assistance Environment
Request DAE Account
Current career opportunities on the AOC WS contract.
Brian Humphreys
Northrop Grumman / Capabilities / Air Operation Center Weapon System (AOC WS) Modernization Program