Air Force Facility Dedicated to AI and Automation Opens in Pittsburgh

A new Air Force Advanced Technology and Training Center (ATTC) focused on robotics, automation, and AI in aircraft maintenance opens down the road from SAE International’s headquarters in Warrendale, Pennsylvania.

April 30, 2019

William Kucinski

The U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, opened a new facility to qualify state-of-the-art sustainment technologies and training in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The new Advanced Technology and Training Center (ATTC), which opened yesterday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony, will focus on breakthroughs in condition-based maintenance and the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and automation within that domain.

Specifically, the Pittsburgh ATTC’s robotics activities will be applied to airframe sanding and paint removal while AI technologies will be used for rapidly developing predictive maintenance algorithms that identify potential maintenance issues on aircraft faster.

Learn more about artificial intelligence in aerospace maintenance, repair, and overhaul

“One of the goals of the ATTC is to help increase mission readiness,” says Debbie Naguy, product support engineering division chief of AFLCMC. “The facility’s robotic laser de-paint technology will drastically reduce the time it takes to de-paint aircraft and improve aircraft availability to the warfighter. In addition, the technology will decrease maintenance costs and help extend the life span of aircraft.”

William Kucinski is content editor at SAE International, Aerospace Products Group in Warrendale, Pa. Previously, he worked as a writer at the NASA Safety Center in Cleveland, Ohio and was responsible for writing the agency’s System Failure Case Studies. His interests include literally anything that has to do with space, past and present military aircraft, and propulsion technology.

Contact him regarding any article or collaboration ideas by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..