Next-Gen Solutions for Aerospace and Defense

A&D manufacturers operate within some of the strictest regulatory frameworks in the world from export controls, like EAR and ITAR, to digital engineering with DoDI 5000.97 and cybersecurity mandates like CMMC 2.0. Keeping pace with evolving standards while maintaining traceability across the global supply chain is critical. Failure to comply can result in expensive penalties, program delays, and missed opportunities. It’s imperative that tools like real-time auditability, secure data management, and digitalization are deployed effectively to manage regulatory risk.

Emerging threats and competitive pressure require faster innovation cycles. A&D leaders must accelerate design, development, and production without compromising quality or compliance. Advantage hinges on shortening time to field, whether delivering a next-gen airliner, a stealth fighter, or a commercial space solution. Integrated digital engineering, model-based systems engineering (MBSE), real-time collaboration, and a complete digital thread all help bridge traditional gaps between R&D, production, operations, and sustainment.

A manufacturing renaissance is underway in aerospace and defense as global fleets modernize and expand. But traditional production systems are under considerable strain as a result of rising demand. Manufacturers need to scale operations as they work to manage quality, volatile supply chain dynamics, and labor challenges. Connected factory solutions, workflow automation, and smart manufacturing technologies are helping enterprises get the right information to the shop floor and across the supply chain when it’s needed. These initiatives ramp up capacity and improve agility without losing control of costs or quality.

OEMs in both aerospace and defense are grappling with contractual backlogs running at historic highs. Scaling production alone won’t deliver on these commitments. Success requires smarter change management, supply chain visibility, and better integration of engineering, manufacturing, and other disciplines. Without seamless digital collaboration and whole-lifecycle continuity, backlog-burndown initiatives can risk delivery delays, cost overruns, and damage to the most valuable asset of all—customer relationships.

Operational readiness is non-negotiable in aerospace and defense. Whether commercial fleets, military aircraft, ground vehicles, or space systems, availability must be guaranteed. Manufacturers and service providers need to advance and support predictive maintenance, responsive parts logistics, and real-time visibility into asset health. PLM solutions, digital twins, and AI-powered service optimization will all play critical roles in maintaining readiness.

Information siloes impede progress. Today—and in A&D in particular—engineering, manufacturing, and service teams must collaborate across disciplines, organizations, and geographies to keep pace with the demands of the industry. By integrating PLM, ERP, ALM, MRO, and other systems into a cohesive digital thread, stakeholders can unlock more fully informed decision-making, stronger quality control, and new levels of agility in program execution.

Despite decades of incumbency and undeniable ability to manufacture at scale, many A&D industry incumbents are being challenged by non-traditional defense industry competitors. These new players, unburdened by entrenched processes, can leverage firm fixed-price contracts, rapid prototyping, and flexible business models to deliver faster, and often at lower costs. Established players must respond by adopting more agile processes, committing to digital transformation, and deploying significant resources to fuel the kind of innovation that can outmatch the disruptors.

The aerospace and defense industry designs, manufactures, and sustains the systems that power global aviation, space exploration, and military operations. It encompasses everything from commercial airliners and satellites to next-generation fighter jets and autonomous defense platforms. Today, the industry is undergoing rapid digital transformation. AI-driven technologies, cloud computing, digital twins, and smart manufacturing are redefining how systems are designed, built, operated, and maintained. PTC empowers aerospace and defense leaders to drive this transformation, delivering greater speed, precision, innovation, and lifecycle value across the mission.

“The Companies That Make Products the World Relies on, Rely on PTC.” In many ways, PTC’s federal sector and aerospace and defense business embodies this idea. If you’re a defense contractor, that might mean lowering R&D costs within a firm fixed-price contract, accelerating product development, or addressing record backlogs. If you’re a government stakeholder, that could mean faster initial operating capability (IOC) of a new platform or increasing operational readiness of fielded assets. As the leader in preparing government and industry stakeholders for the convergence of the digital-physical world, PTC enables actionable intelligence to optimally design, manufacture, operate, and sustain warfighter and industrial systems.

In the US market, PTC’s primary footprint is in the US Department of Defense (Army, Navy, Air Force), US Department of Energy, and NASA, along with major defense primes like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon (RTX). In the European market, PTC’s main customers include Airbus, BAE, Rolls-Royce, and Thales, as well as Safran, MBDA, and Lufthansa Technik.

As of December 2017, PTC has had a FedRAMP Authorized Moderate SaaS Hybrid Cloud. And specifically for DoD, as of February 2019, PTC has a provisional authorization for DISA Authorized IL5 Private Cloud. This covers every level of unclassified DoD data and is restricted to ONLY DoD customers—meaning no other government customers users are allowed to access or utilize it.