The Role of Lead System Integrator
Abstract
The Department of Defense (DoD) has used a strategy of contracting with a Lead System Integrator (LSI) when pursuing large System of System (SoS) acquisition programs. A SoS acquisition program involves the purposeful integration of individual weapon systems, along with other task-oriented assets, yielding a sum greater than the constituent parts. A SoS is most likely to attain its potential benefits if a sole entity is responsible for managing the process. In order to properly manage the risks of a SoS development, a responsible agent is needed to fulfill the role of coordinating and managing the complex effort, provide commonality across multiple weapons platforms and ensure a common vision for the program. Believing that it did not have the organic managerial capability to oversee such monumental development tasks, the government has employed private contractors, LSIs, to manage the development of selected SoS programs. Due to difficulties in the Coast Guard's Deepwater SoS development, Congress prohibited awarding LSI contracts, effective October 1, 2010, to firms that supply systems hardware or perform an inherently governmental function. However, SoS integration functions performed by LSIs remain critical if the government wishes to pursue SoS engineering programs. System-of-Systems acquisition provides the crosslink between the DoD's change of military doctrine and its need to modernize. System-of-Systems Engineering (SoSE) enhances the value of the end product by synthesizing attributes of a group of units into something that is greater than the sum of parts. Second, SoSE, by taking a holistic view, has the potential to improve development decision-making by better valuing overall development tradeoffs. This report examines two case studies of LSIs, the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) and the Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System Project (Deepwater), to illustrate the challenges and benefits of using LSI.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA529407
Entities
People
- Adam Spiers
- Jacques Gansler
- William Lucyshyn
Organizations
- University of Maryland