Acquisition Management for Systems-of-Systems: Analysis of Alternatives via Computational Exploratory Model

Abstract

The Department of Defense (DoD) has placed a growing emphasis on the pursuit of agile capabilities via net-centric operations. The breadth of technological advancements in communication and sensing has generated exciting opportunities for battlefield systems to exploit collaboration to multiple effects. In this setting, systems able to interoperate along several dimensions increase the efficiency of the overall system-of-systems (SoS) manifold. However, the manner in which these SoS are acquired (designed, developed, tested, and fielded) hasn't completely kept pace with the shift in operational doctrine. In our current project, we have attempted to unravel the layers of complexities in an SoS acquisition program, outline an acquisition strategy better suited for such programs, and develop an exploratory analysis tool to provide insights into the acquisition process. The research efforts during the one year study period have focused on the development and consequent extension of prior frameworks of the Computational Exploratory Model (CEM) -- a discrete event simulation model -- and its associated analytical representation, the Markov approach, to investigate the impact of development dependencies on the successful acquisition of an SoS. These efforts also include a complementary decision analysis tool that is based on investment portfolio theory. The conceptual model for acquisition strategy proposed in our project is based on the 16 technical management and technical system-engineering processes outlined in the "Defense Acquisition Guidebook" (DAG), often referred to as the 5000-series guide. Our conceptual model for acquisition is centered on the revised processes of the 2007 System-of-Systems System Engineering (SoS-SE) manual. The Markov-based analytical approach seeks to augment the CEM approach by developing a method that enables the comparison of networks of systems that are interconnected and quantifying the cascading effects of development risk.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 03, 2012
Accession Number
ADA568383

Entities

People

  • Daniel Delaurentis
  • Muharrem Mane
  • Navindran Davendralingam

Organizations

  • Purdue University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aircrafts
  • Algorithms
  • Computational Science
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Littoral Combat Ships
  • Littoral Warfare
  • Mathematical Models
  • Military Acquisition
  • Operations Research
  • Probability
  • Random Variables
  • System Of Systems
  • Systems Engineering
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Systems Analysis and Design