Washington, D.C., and Dayton, Ohio, July 16, 2021 -- Google Cloud and the United States Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO) today announced an agreement to build an open, agile, and globally scalable ecosystem using Google Cloud technology for aircraft maintenance.  Through this initiative—code-named “Project Lighthouse”—the RSO will be able to optimize maintenance readiness, increase staff productivity, and reduce overall costs.

With more than 329,000 active duty personnel and more than 170 operating locations around the globe, the RSO’s goal is to implement and scale new technology solutions that build a stronger, more agile, and more resilient Air Force. Project Lighthouse is a program that integrates successful RSO technology solutions to create a unified ecosystem that helps the RSO accelerate its goals and digitize for the future.

“Our partnership with Google Cloud is a significant milestone for RSO on our journey to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies, when everything is connected, and deliver on our mandate to solve the Air Force’s toughest sustainment challenges,” said Mr. Nathan Parker, deputy, Program Executive Office at RSO. “What we’re building with Google Cloud will accelerate the way we adopt, integrate, and scale technologies for the Air Force. Project Lighthouse is a hardware-flexible, software-driven approach that provides optionality at scale.” 

“We know that sustainment is one of the biggest and most complex challenges in the military, and we are proud to support the RSO in its mission to modernize the U.S. Air Force,” said Mike Daniels, vice president, Global Public Sector, Google Cloud. “Thanks to Project Lighthouse, more personnel are going to have what they need to do their jobs faster, and we’re committed to playing a key role in this effort.” 

This new aircraft maintenance ecosystem will provide seamless integration for the Air Force’s full ecosystem of technology providers, which could range from predictive maintenance software to manufacturing robotics to augmented reality headset and other hardware. Powered by Google Cloud’s API management platform Apigee, and managed application platform Anthos, this project is supported by Google Cloud’s professional services organization. Before launch, the aircraft maintenance ecosystem will be prototyped, validated, and tested for scalability within the Air Force’s technology environment.