Siemens delivers Digital Thread for Defence to transform defence industry

Digital Thread for Defence leverages the industry’s most comprehensive and open digital portfolio to speed the development and delivery of innovative capabilities across the DoD and its entire supply chain.

Digital Thread for Defence is already in use by the US Air Force (USAF) to support current and future programs, having awarded Siemens Government Technologies a $24.6 million contract for Teamcenter software, a foundation of the Xcelerator portfolio and Digital Thread for Defence. The Air Force Product Lifecycle Management Capability Support Office will rely on Teamcenter for its open architecture, interoperability and use by aerospace and defence industry partners across a multitude of Air Force programmes.

“Defence agencies face increasing challenges from high investment costs to strict contract regulations, which emphasise the need for an open, integrated digital environment to connect data supporting complex DoD programs to the industry,” said Dale Tutt, vice-president of aerospace and defence strategy at Siemens Digital Industries Software. “In selecting Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio, the Air Force can take advantage of these integrations for use across the span of both legacy and new platforms.”

Digital Thread for Defence is well-aligned with the DoD’s Digital Engineering strategy:

• Siemens’ comprehensive digital twin supports the digital thread from model-based systems engineering through sustainment. This foundational platform can provide a seamless lifecycle for programmes across the DoD and its industry partners.


• The end-to-end model definition, simulation-driven lifecycle and adaptable processes deliver a completely navigable set of programme information by ensuring the mission, requirements and architectures are always visible and traceable throughout the downstream lifecycle. This helps enable the speed and flexibility required to continuously adapt to the changing priorities and conditions of the DoD.


• Siemens’ open ecosystem and architecture is designed to allow both new and existing programs to transition to the most advanced digital transformation capabilities available. This structure helps create a common foundation across programs, DoD service branches and industry partners to help advance capabilities across programmes very quickly while enabling an open architecture.

www.plm.automation.siemens.com