Achieving Military Interoperability: APIs as Catalysts for Modernizations

Application Programming Interfaces, better known as APIs, are powerful tools for agencies tackling complex challenges that require multiple technologies and devices to work together. They serve as bridges linking different apps, data points, and platforms to build systems that help handle everything from supply chain logistics to data democratization. For the federal government, APIs represent a means to create systems that scale to meet the needs of the mission.

Explaining APIs

APIs are programmable access points into your organization’s digital ecosystem. They function as a digital interface that empowers applications, devices, and websites to access the data they need. They're critical for organizations that want to modernize operations with greater levels of interoperability and fewer data silos. When the same data needs to be accessed across multiple devices and platforms, APIs are the gateways that make it happen.

Elevating Efficiency with API Management

In a traditional workflow for managing multi-system operations, developers must build a different channel from every possible device type to every possible data type. Each of those channels also needs to be kept current with the latest security standards, adding to the load this type of system creates. This inevitably makes managing these systems incredibly complex and costly. Multi-system operations without API management can impede progress, as each new tech solution adopted must meet the mission’s needs.

With API management, developers can reduce the resources needed to maintain the channels connecting each data and device type. Tools like Apigee handle mediation for API traffic across all channels and rapid changes to front-end and back-end systems. It works by providing a standardized API interface for the consuming applications – such as apps on a device – that is decoupled from the digital touchpoints in back-end systems (like the data generated by software). Developers can also apply policies to all API traffic at once, making maintaining security and system visibility much easier. An API management system can unlock new, data-driven possibilities for the public sector, especially for agencies working with modeling, simulation, or digital twins.

API management is helping the USAF meet their mission

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has harnessed the power of Apigee to bring systems together and handle some of their toughest challenges.

USAF Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO)

Maintaining the thousands of USAF aircraft stationed around the globe is a difficult objective to meet. Hundreds of data points create variables that affect the decision-making needed to keep each aircraft mission-ready. To create a more sustainable ecosystem for aircraft maintenance, the USAF RSO partnered with Google Cloud and employed Apigee. By utilizing APIs, they successfully united numerous legacy USAF operations and logistics systems into a unified dashboard for the F-15 fleet. This consolidated system manages hundreds of data points across all USAF devices. This system is helping reduce costs, improve productivity, and optimize maintenance readiness as part of RSO’s Project Lighthouse.

19th Air Force Pilot Training Transformation

The 19th Air Force Pilot Training Transformation (PTT) program has embraced Apigee to revolutionize its approach to pilot training. In 2019, training a new USAF pilot cost between $1 to $11 million, depending on the aircraft type. To mitigate these expenses, the command leveraged Apigee to create a student-centered pilot training experience with seamless access to content, instructors, and advanced technologies. It brings learning management, testing and certification, flight simulations, and more together and makes it accessible across devices used by pilots in training. Through API integration, the 19th Air Force PTT has curated a network of best-in-class applications in their curriculum for aspiring pilots.

To learn more about how Apigee’s API management can assist in crafting solutions that align with your mission’s objectives, whether it’s achieving artificial intelligence (AI) superiority or supporting warfighters stationed across the globe, contact us.