Rapid Capability Fielding Toolbox Study

Abstract

In the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. adversaries have demonstrated the ability to rapidly adopt and adapt widely-available globalized technologies and systems to conduct irregular warfare. The standard Department of Defense acquisition process is not designed to respond to this extremely dynamic environment, creating the need for more rapid development capabilities. In response, the Department has embarked on multiple rapid capability initiatives and has, in many cases, succeeded in providing critical capabilities to the warfighter, in spite of the challenges associated with a culture and acquisition system ill-suited to the task. The Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E), Mr. Lemnios, chartered this 60-day study to view the rapid capability challenges through a different lens: a technical one. This study explores the adoption, development, and implementation of new technological tools to enable better end-to-end execution of rapid capability projects. In addition, it provides specific recommendations to the DDR&E regarding technological opportunities to significantly decrease the development time and increase the operational effectiveness of rapidly fielding capabilities. This rapid turnaround (60 days) study provides recommendations to the Director, Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) regarding technological opportunities to significantly decrease the development time and increase the operational effectiveness of rapidly fielded capabilities. Current and emerging tools that defense and commercial industries use were evaluated for their potential application to rapid capability fielding projects. The study specifically focused on three types of tools: (1) modeling and simulation (M&S) tools to support rapid design, fabrication, and testing; (2) systems engineering (SE) tools to support rapid design and re-design of complex systems; and (3) manufacturing tools to reduce the total time to manufacture.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA528118

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Sensors
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aerospace Industry
  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Complex Systems
  • Construction
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Fabrication
  • Manufacturing
  • Materials
  • Prototypes
  • Reliability
  • Software Development
  • Software Prototyping
  • Systems Engineering
  • Virtual Reality

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Systems Analysis and Design