DAF Architecture Design and Integration
Abstract
The Department does not have an integrated reference architecture, so it should not be a surprise if capabilities do not work together as desired or the technical achievements fail to match the warfighter's desired operational effects. An integrated architecture is necessary and must dynamically mature as threats advance and new technological opportunities arise. In other words an architecture must play both defense and offense effectively to adapt to these challenges and opportunities. This architecture drives programs and platforms to be built with agility via open systems and open standards so that they can adapt and upgrade components quickly in response to threats or opportunities to integrate technology as advances are made. While having an integrated architecture is uncommon in the Department, it is a standard commercial practice. This architecture focuses on closing these systems and systems-of-systems modularity and integrated capability gaps. DAF Architecture Design focuses on integration of DAF systems to deliver superior systems-of-systems capabilities addressing multiple warfighting mission scenarios. Design delivers architectures that enable scalability, flexibility, and interoperability through application of open standards and modular open system architectures. Design enables cross-cutting architecture development across the Air and Space Staffs, Program Executive Offices, Major Commands, and Deltas leveraging a collaborative digital environment and architecture repository. Design analyzes architectures to identify technical gaps and assess operational feasibility of new capabilities across science, technology, research, and development enterprises to inform acquisition strategy to maximize system-of-systems lethality. DAF Architecture Integration gauges opportunities and delivers architecturally-sound, high impact Minimum Viable Product (MVP) capabilities with roadmaps for programs to scale capabilities that warfighters need. This work is a deliberate campaign that integrates capabilities at the force-level (i.e., architecture level). This process also uncovers mission-critical gaps that may not be uncovered at test ranges—meaning they would have been discovered on the road to conflict when it could be too late to correct. Therefore, a regular campaign to deliver time-critical technology with a bridge to scaling at the architecture level is critical to deliberately advancing the DAF's technological edge and impacts overall architecture design, funding priorities among multiple capability areas, investments, requirements for future capabilities, and acquisition baseline updates for both materiel and non-materiel solutions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2023
- Source ID
- 9556d5d2d93f0bd0446ff8076a955c18