AUSA 2025: Digital engineering remains priority for BAE Systems

A screenshot from a simulated environment in BAE Systems' Virtual Proving Ground. (BAE Systems)

BAE Systems displayed its Ground Requirements in Digital (GRID) system to showcase its digital engineering capabilities at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington, DC, from 13 to 15 October.

“This is our attempt to try to show the types of information that's in our digital twins that would be used in our products,” Jamie Hoyt, senior director of engineering for BAE Systems, told Janes on 13 October.

He showed Janes a video of different mission equipment packages and roles that the company's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) could perform, including a fire support team (FIST) variant using drones to detect threats and hand off targets to other AMPV variants.

The GRID can “model the mission effectiveness at a formation level of having different mission equipment packages on the vehicle” as well as how different packages might interact, Hoyt said.

An active protection system, for example, protects a single vehicle, but if considered at the formation level, it can be designed to provide greater protection, he said, adding that the system also helps evaluate the economics of the cost of a vehicle or formation.

Virtual proving ground

Digital engineering is a significant priority for BAE Systems, Hoyt said, highlighting three key areas.

The first is BAE Systems' Virtual Proving Ground in Sterling Heights, Michigan, where the company can “bring our engineers together with our customer and key partners to develop solutions for some of the challenges on the modern battlefield”, he said.

“In this space, we're able to test digital twins of our products in simulated real-world mission scenarios,” Hoyt said.