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DTC Pushes Standards-Based Digital Twins for Defence Transformation

Digital Transformation

Business Honor
29 April, 2025

DTC urges standards-based digital twin adoption to enhance defence efficiency, security, and lifecycle integration.

Digital Twin Consortium (DTC) has emphasized the importance of digital transformation in defence and aerospace through the use of digital twins. In its recently released whitepaper, the DTC explains how digital twins or virtual copies of physical systems will enable stakeholders to integrate quicker, handle complexity better, and improve lifecycle results through defence operations.

The DTC focuses on the importance of a standards-based strategy to align digital thread and digital twin capabilities, making systems interoperable, scalable and secure. At the core of this change is the recognition of technology and governance gaps, particularly in system-of-systems integration, AI-driven intelligent twins, heterogeneous data management, and cybersecurity.

The whitepaper makes seven key recommendations for industry adoption, including the immediate need to evaluate existing standards, manage lifecycle interoperability, and automate digital twin calibration. A tailored cybersecurity framework must also be embedded from the earliest stages of digital twin development.

Brian Schmidt, a co-chair of the DTC Aerospace and Defence Working Group, referenced U.S. Department of Defence directive 5000.97 as having prompted digital engineering adoption with the requirement that all defence acquisition lifecycle activities be secure, standards-compliant digital practices.

David Shaw, co-author of Intuitus Corporation and president, emphasized that it is highly imperative to formulate governance frameworks definitively: "All DoD branches are launching digital transformation initiatives based on digital twins. We need to delineate standards, bridge governance seams, and specify a clear pathway."

Through a cross-functional, standardized strategy of digital twin integration, the DTC envisions the defence industry saving costs, reducing certification schedules, and enhancing system readiness—enabling an operational environment that is future-proof and digital-first.