Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessment

Abstract

The Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessment (ACPA) Program Element delivers an integrated government concept definition, simulation, analysis, and testbed capability. ACPA's focus is on the exploration of novel and/or emerging capabilities that may have the potential to enhance the Missile Defense System (MDS). ACPA centralizes assessment of advanced missile defense technology and delivers insight into the performance of proposed concepts extending the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) ability to address evolving threats for the Warfighter. Working with National Laboratories and Industry, MDA will invest in the analysis and assessment of directed energy system components to determine their effectiveness and capability for missile defense. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) provide independent assessments of government, university, and industry technology concepts, used in concert with systems engineering requirements, to support acquisition strategy decisions and define technology focus areas. The innovative structured concept definition and assessment methodology enables MDA to quickly validate focus areas, verify contractor technology solutions, and evaluate promising concepts in future MDS architectures. This methodology significantly enhances MDA's ability to assess technology concepts while decreasing the cost of development by: - Delivering Independent model-based simulations of industry technology concepts to inform the systems engineering process - Quantifying expectations through algorithms, digital simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and/or demonstration events prior to expensive live fire test events - Executing end-to-end testing of technology concepts integrated with weapon systems through Command and Control (C2) network architectures Performance assessment of advanced concepts is the key enabler for Government evaluation of concepts in the earliest stages of technology development and maximizes the efficiency of technology investments. Performance assessment is used to quantify capability expectations of innovative concepts to counter the expanding regional and homeland missile threats, including ballistic and cruise missiles, and hypersonic vehicles.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2023
• Source ID: 0603176C_3_0400_PB_2023
• Change Summary Explanation: Increase of $24.2 million in FY 2022 provides the Congressional Plus-up for improvements to Missile Defense System (MDS) cybersecurity, cyber operations, and hypersonic kill vehicle hardware-in-the-loop test and assessment capability. FY 2023 funding increase reflects the fact that the FY 2022 President's Budget request did not include out-year funding.
• Service Agency Name: Missile Defense Agency

Entities

Organizations

• Missile Defense Agency

Tags

Communities of Interest

• C4I
• Cyber
• Human Systems
• Space
• Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

• Acquisition
• Algorithms
• Command And Control
• Cybersecurity
• Cyberspace Operations
• Defense Systems
• Department Of Defense
• Directed Energy Weapons
• Engineering
• Information Assurance
• Information Systems
• Risk Analysis
• Risk Management
• Small Business
• Systems Engineering
• Test And Evaluation
• Weapon Systems

Readers

• Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
• Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.
• Missile Defense Systems.

Technology Areas

• Directed Energy
• Fully Networked C3
• Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
• Hypersonics