- Gentlemen, I'll get right to the point.
We just received a tasking order from European command.
We need to deliver combat air power
as quickly as possible to help kick down the door.
You have six hours to generate and employ
four F16 Fighting Falcons to suppress enemy air defenses
so our F15 e-strike Eagle counterparts
can take out critical surface-to-air missile systems.
This is a time-critical mission.
Failure is not an option.
You are dismissed.
- Sergeant Rockford. - Yes, sir.
- We just got hit with a real-world tasking.
We need to get these jets loaded
and we only have a few hours to do it.
- Sir, we'll give it our best.
- Let's go.
- Stop the load, stop the load, stop the load!
Sergeant Rockford, why aren't you finished
loading this aircraft?
Time is up and policy's stepping.
- I'm sorry it's taking so long.
The checklist is too complicated.
I'm spending too much time navigating it.
I wish there was a better and faster way.
- Hello, I'm Master Sargent Valenzuela
from the 52nd maintenance group
at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.
Current weapons loading checklists are already
complex and time-consuming.
Oftentimes, team chiefs have to use four to five
different PDF checklists and sort through
upwards of 840 steps just to find the 245 steps
that apply to the task that they are performing.
The abundance of non-value-added motion
adds critical time to a speed-sensitive operation
and forces the team chief
to focus on navigating their checklist,
rather than performing a safe and reliable load.
My proposal is to engineer a smart checklist
that will streamline the weapons-loading technical data
to only display the required steps
for the action being performed.
The concept revolves around software
that is capable of filtering multiple input conditions.
For example, the team chief would only enter
the type aircraft, current configuration,
and the action to be performed,
and the software would generate
a single, streamlined checklist
with only the applicable steps for that particular load.
During our proof-of-concept weapons loads,
the simplified checklist cut 28 minutes
from the overall load time of one aircraft,
which equates to a 36% reduction.
Deployed on the largest scale, this initiative
would significantly increase unit readiness
by decreasing generation timelines.
Best of all, this innovation doesn't just improve
Spangdahlem's readiness.
It is scalable across all fourth-generation air frames.
That equates to increased lethality,
whether you're an A10 unit in South Korea,
or an F15 unit deployed to Afghanistan.
Spark Tank, I need your help to deliver this capability
across the combat Air Force.
By providing funding for this initiative,
we have an opportunity
to modernize weapons-loading checklists
and give our airmen the technological edge
to generate aircraft with weapons 36% faster.
Thank you.