Acquiring New Technology for US Airports
Vincent Capezzuto
FAA ASDE-X Project Lead
Erin Currier
Trios Associates Inc. ASDE-X Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Ensuring safety in America's airports is of
primary concern to the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA). As airport traffic
increases, the dual challenge of maintaining a
high threshold of safety while enabling future
growth in capacity has become the focus of new
technology acquisitions. To that end, the FAA is
currently focused on deploying advanced
technology to enhance the situational awareness
of air MIC controllers by acquiring the Airport
Surface Detection Equipment - Model X
(ASDE-X), a multi-sensor data fusion
surveillance system. The ASDE-X base system,
consisting of a primary radar subsystem,
multilateration subsystem, data fusion subsystem
and a display processor subsystem, provides
controllers with aircraft vehicle position and
identification information overlaid on a color
map depicting the airport runways / taxiways and
approach comdor leadmg to the runways. This
"system of systems" approach, largely consisting
of commercial off-the-shelf components,
supports deployment of a modular, scaleable
system, which will meet the needs of the varied
airport configurations in the U.S.National
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Figure 1. US Airpm Map for 26 ASDE-X Sites
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Airspace System (NAS) as well as facilitate
quick adaptation to airport expansion. In
addition, the ASDE-X system has product
enhancements scheduled for deployment after
the base system has been successfully tested.
These enhancements include interfacing to the
legacy ASDE-3 radar as an additional sensor
input, collision detection and alerting algorithm,
standalone primary radar towers and secured
data diseihution capabilities. These fume
enhancements will further enable the sharing of
traffic information, thereby increasing situational
awareness and collaborative decision making
with air traffic controllers in the tower, terminal
radar approach control facilities, airlie
operation centers and ramp towers.
The ASDE-X system is currently scheduled for
implementation at twenty-six mid-sized airports
in the United States. In addition, the FAA is
exploring the cost details associated with
installing ASDE-X at the nation's top thirty-
three airports, bringing the total number of sites
to fifty-nine (See Figure 1.)
0 Svppon Sites a F A A Hudqurnm I
 The FAA Federal Acquisition Management
System (AMs) provides the guidance to execute
the full life cycle milestones rypical in a FAA
acquisition project. The AMs model follows all
aspects of program development in a circular
timeline, and represents the project’s critical
points from mission analysis through service life
extension; or from “cradle to grave”. (See Figure
Figure 2. FAA AMs Model
Typically, an investment decision is conducted
by a board of senior executives prior to any
contract related activities. The approved
investment decision establishes the acquisition
program baseline which the project progress will
be monitored against. This includes the high
confidence life cycle cost, schedule, benefits and
technical performance. In the case of ASDE-X,
the life cycle cost estimate accommodates the
first article system development, follow-on
production systems, training, and depot support
for a fill twenty years after the last system
commissioning; this hanslates to deploying
systems that will remain operational until 2026.
Given this timeframe, the ASDE-X program
recognizes the trend of technology advancement
and has budgeted for technology refresh
consisting of software and hardware upgrades on
3 and 6 year cycles respectively over the
projected 20-year lifecycle. This approach
identifies and secures the fundmg necessary to
maintain the system with leading edge
technology and reduces the overhead of lifetime
buys on parts that become obsolete within a six-
year window.
The establishment of critical project metrics
(cost, schedule, benefits, and technical
performance) is usually generated solely on the
basis of a high-level requirements document.
Although this document can contain some
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quantifiable measures of effectiveness, there is
still much work to be done in the area of
requirements and functional analysis in order to
generate an unambiguous performance
specification that will reduce cost growth
associated with “requirements creep”.
The ASDE-X project team utilized the A M s
flexibility to the greatest extent possible in order
to expedite deployment into the operational
environment. Recognizing the potential cost
error and time delay associated with the
investment analysis I solution implementation
process, FAA senior executives allowed the
ASDE-X team to conduct the contract award
process in parallel with the investment analysis
process. In September 1999, the final
requirements document was signed and
distributed to the ASDE-X investment analysis I
project team. This document was used as the
basis for generating a requirements analysis
report identifying key system level evaluation
criteria. By performing the rigor of this analysis,
the ASDE-X team was able to confidently
assemble the requisite project documents
defining the acquisition strategy. In August
2000, the ASDE-X project was approved for an
initial acquisition program baseline, and in
October 2000 the ASDE-X team awarded the
contract to Sensis Corporation.
The executive challenge following this
milestone was to update the acquisition prognun
baseline six months after contract award with all
the cost details of the project. After the contract
award, a system requirements review,
preliminary design review and critical design
review were conducted to establish the baseline
solution design. Additionally, within the six
months, an implementation team visited all the
identified ASDE-X airport sites to perform a
preliminary site survey in order to develop a
higher confidence basis of estimate as it related
to unique site-specific cost drivers. This
information was presented to the FAA executive
hoard in May 2001 and finalized in September
2001. During this time the project continued
under fist article development and did not place
the FAA at contractual risk for the ensuing
production buy. This was accomplished through
a flexible contract structure which allowed for
“step-ladder’’ option pricing to accommodate
variable quantities per fiscal year without a
financial commitment constraining the executive
decision making process. This acquisition
strategy provided the ability to proceed with the
first article development and still challenge the
balance of cost, benefits and technical
performance. Currently, the ASDE-X first
article system deployment is 21 months into a
31-month schedule with an operational readiness
milestone planned for May 2003 at the
Milwaukee, Wisconsin key site. (See Figure 3.)
TEAMDYNAMICS
The ASDE-X team consists of members
diverse in age, professional discipline, race,
gender and nationality. The combination of these
varied amibutes creates a team dynamic which is
not only influenced by various perspectives and
background, but also by geographic location
since many of the program’s integral members
work in different offices and states. This reality
alone promotes the concept of operating as a
virtual team, utilizing all the possible
combinations of electronic communication tools
that allow the team to execute in an efficient and
effective manner. In order to deliver a high
quality product withim schedule and budget
targets, the concept of team empowerment
coupled with trust and mutual respect builds an
environment of creative cooperation in which
synergistic realities evolve because of, rather
than in spite of, team diversity. Because we are
not limited by location, our program has the
flexibility to recruit team members who are
experts in their fields regardless of where in the
country they live. This raises the overall standard
of experience and education found in our project,
and ensures that the work we set out to do will
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Figurr 3. F b t Alticle Development Schedule
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be done in a cost-effective, low-risk, dependable
manner. Additionally, OUT work dynamic
requires frequent communication between
individuals at all the various offices in order to
guarantee that the program status is universally
known. This increased communication allows
frequent participation from individual members,
as well as promotes team interaction despite
individual circumstances.
Given the FAA’s Washington D.C. program
office location relative to the operational airport
sites throughout the US., organic support
facilities in Oklahoma, test facilities in New
Jersey and the prime vendor factory location in
New York, the ASDE-X program strives to
avoid a ‘’managing by authority” model of
organization. Today’s problems are complex and
require teams to meet the demands of a
competitive environment with commitled and
flexible workers capable of responding to
changing responsibilities. The “managing by
authority” method fosters specialization of work,
encouraging one person to perform one job,
which creates a narrow focus on the individual
rather than the team. Typically in this
environment, information filters down only from
top management (“vertical stovepipe”) and leads
to organizations with little internal flexibility, a
time lag between decisions and change, a
filtering and / or distortion of information, lack
of identification with the end product 1
organizational goals by the workforce, and
overall reduced efficiency with higher costs.
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 The FAA approach to reducing the effect of
vertical stovepipes has been through the
implementation of an integrated product team
(IPT)model. The IPT approach is a more life
cycle centric environment that is comprised of a
multi-disciplined team deeply involved with the
project decisions, thereby taking ownership of
the solution and following through with
commitment. The ASDE-X IPT has been
smctured to encourage problem-solving close to
where the work is being done; in this way the
team is afforded the opportunity to forge ahead
and take measured risks knowing they are
supported by the appropriate levels of authority.
The ASDE-X IPT includes all the personnel
responsible for defming, designing, testing,
deploying, maintaining and using the system.
Subject matter experts *om the diverse
disciplines of program management,
engineering, finance, integrated logistic support,
product vendor and end users are assigned as
members of the team to assure that the product
meets the needs of the users in a cost effective
manner.
The IPT smcture effectively creates an
environment conducive to individual growth, but
also one that the ASDE-X team thrives in. The
team has demonstrated the ability to be self-
organizing, able to project ahead and make
proactive decisions based on the team knowledge
of their individual roles and inter-relationship
with the FAA's mission and vision. In addition,
the ASDE-X team is encouraged to pursue
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training classes to update their skills pertaining
to program management, engineering, and
leadership techniques that expedite efficiencies
and standardize operational processes. This
learning environment acts as a catalyst to create
new energy within the team and leverages the
reality of achievement.
The ASDE-X project success can be directly
linked to the team's embracement of continuous
improvement, adapting to the ever-changing
environment and new constraints, while seeking
to differentiate themselves from their o w n
measured baseline of effectiveness. In this last
regard, there is a sense of personal pride and
commitment to excellence because the team
understands the project and FAA values, and has
a measurement system in place to connect
objectives to schedule and budgets.
CONCLUSION
The FAA ASDE-X Integrated Product Team
is focused on acquiring a state-of-the-art system
that will provide enhanced airport surveillance
and improve situational awareness for air traffic
controllers, airline operation centers, ramp
towers and terminal radar approach control
facilities. As future air traffic will only continue
to grow in volume and frequency, ASDE-X is a
forward-looking investment that creates the
surface surveillance information infrastructure to
support the United States NAS through 2026.