Search Results

The Department of Defense (DoD) faces a similar challenge to the broader aerospace community in that they must integrate and operate a range of systems developed independently over a long period. It has proved difficult for the DoD to manage this network of systems and they must explore other options for analyzing and managing their systems. This paper explores the application of social network analysis tools and metrics to a network of aerospace systems within the U.S. Air Force. The structure of the network includes over one hundred U.S. Air Force systems including, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, munitions, satellites, and command and control systems. The paper describes two separate networks based on direct connections and shared activities between these systems. For each of these networks measures of centrality, degree, closeness, betweenness, and eigenvector, quantify both the interoperability and versatility of the U.S. Air Force systems.