Unveiling the Future: Pioneering the First Digital Twin for Ground Combat Systems
Testing of the inaugural digital twin model for a ground warfare system
- The French Ministry of Defense’s procurement and technology agency (DGA), with backing from its Defense Innovation Agency (AID), assigns the KNDS-ARQUUS consortium the task of testing the inaugural digital twin model for a ground warfare system.
- This digital twin model is the first to be utilized for a ground combat vehicle.
- The creation of this model will result in a comprehensive deployment on 20 VBCI vehicles, and will initiate the exploration of predictive maintenance for an initial fleet of Army’s vehicles.
The inaugural digital twin for ground warfare systems
The defense technology initiative “Digitization of Maintenance” (NumCo) is focused on developing and testing a digital twin model of the VBCI infantry fighting vehicle. It will be the very first digital twin within the domain of ground warfare systems.
Utilizing advanced modeling and simulation technologies, the innovations from KNDS and ARQUUS will empower the industry, the DGA, and the Army to collaboratively execute a virtual replica of the VBCI vehicle to assist engineering and maintenance tasks.
The NumCo digital twin leverages the knowledge acquired over several years by the KNDS-ARQUUS consortium, especially within the context of the European Commission’s FAMOUS defense industrial development initiative. These cutting-edge technological advancements are fundamental to the digital infrastructures of future combat vehicles.
The future of maintenance
The NumCo digital twin model will be constructed using an incremental and agile methodology over two years, followed by enhancements for an additional two years utilizing training data from 20 instrumented VBCI. The experimentation phase could be broadened to include another batch of 20 VBCI.
As part of this exploration, various Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) sensors will be installed on the actual vehicles to gather extensive data, analyze it, and convert it into digital models and virtual representations. The system will employ numerous predictive algorithms to assess the lifespan of diverse mechanical components based on vehicle operations, forecast failure risks, and customize maintenance procedures for each vehicle, thus simplifying failure diagnosis.
Ultimately, the NumCo digital twin technology is anticipated to be the cornerstone of KNDS’s and ARQUUS’s propositions for the modernization of maintenance for the Army’s vehicle fleets.
