Boeing [BA] recently said that as of Sept. 11 Tommy Filler takes up his duties as the new U.S. Apache program manager, as the program drives toward a Milestone C production decision in April.
“I was able to do an expedited recruitment and hiring,” Al Winn, Boeing vice president, Apache programs in an interview with sister publication Defense Daily from the program’s Mesa, Ariz., offices. “Bringing Tommy back is just a tremendous boon for the program going forward.”
Filler, who will run a multifaceted office, has a 29-year Apache history with the company. “I hired in on the YH-64 program before it was even named Apache, I was working for the company before Mesa was even a thought, building the Little Birds back East before the 160th was even stood up.”
Filler replaces Gary Bishop, who retired from the company and who “contributed a significant amount” to the helicopter program’s success, Winn said. Bishop has since joined EADS North America as vice president of its Armed Scout 645 program.
Filler is currently Boeing CH-47F Chinook program manager, a job he has held for about 18 months after being promoted from his position as International Apache program manager. Until taking up his official duties, Filler will move between the two programs, “hitting the key event dates until he’s here full time,” Winn said.
“He actually worked for me in engineering when we originally developed the 64D Longbow Apache, I was the chief engineer on it at the time, and Tommy was head of electrical subsystems on that,” Winn said. “Bringing Tommy back with his technical experience, his international experience and very successful leadership on the 64D Multiyear II program, this is a great boon for Apache going forward,” Winn said. Filler also knows the customer–the Army–very well, from the Pentagon to the operators.
Apache program officials visit every returning unit to get their feedback as well as honor the warfighters with an Apache Combat Pin, Winn said.
The tradition continues in the Chinook helicopter program. On Aug. 25 program officials head to Ft. Hood, Texas, to visit with the returning operators of the First Unit Equipped CH-47F 4th Infantry Div.unit.
Filler said the Apache office not only has the Extended Block II program, but also wartime replacement aircraft in the Block II configuration, with that production line running, and the government just keeps adding more aircraft to it.
“The paramount program in front of me to get to Milestone C by April of next year is the Block III program,” Filler said. “That’s our next-generation Apache; this is just that next evolution of what we have logically done.”
Multi-Year II was a major avionics upgrade in terms of putting capability and relevance into the aircraft. Block III adds modifications to the airframe “to restore performance, agility in terms of how the aircraft performs and that next level of upgrade for the avionics and sensors,” he said.
Winn said the annual program progress review was held last week and focused on completing the system design and development program.
“We have demonstrated all of the capabilities and we’re in the finishing touches of the qualification testing; and then in November we have our limited user test, and then the Milestone C decision next April and then production award a couple of months after that,” Winn said.
While there are no plans to accelerate the program before the Milestone C decision, Boeing does have the capability to accelerate production.
“To make this program successful, we’ve got a lot of work to do to maintain our schedules, maintain our commitments, and to provide the warfighters the best product we can,” Filler said. “We can look out to 2030 and say we know exactly where this program is going, we know how to keep the aircraft relevant, we know how to give the best product to the warfighter. We listen to the warfighters and we translate that working with our (Training and Doctrine Command Capability Managers) TCMs and our PM (program manager) and we turn it into reality and turn around and get it to the warfighter as quickly as possible.”