Expedited Systems Engineering for Rapid Capability and Urgent Needs

Abstract

This Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) research topic 34 (RT-34) examines expedited systems engineering (SE) as applied to rapid capability and urgent needs as developed in response to changing threats. The Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force on the Fulfillment of Urgent Operational Needs (July 2009) identified more than 20 rapid-reaction programs and organizations addressing DoD urgent warfighter needs. Later, OSD/DDR&E conducted a study called "Rapid Capability Fielding Toolbox" released in March 2010. Recently GAO has examined how well the DoD handles rapid solutions to Joint Urgent Needs, and they have also specifically examined the acquisition activities for Special Ops urgent needs. These studies determined that the standard Department of Defense acquisition process is not designed to respond to the dynamic environment of rapid acquisition. These reports and others have also documented the problems and possible solutions surrounding rapid acquisition, rapid fielding and/or rapid prototyping. The recommendations have included acquisition process changes and introduction of new SE tools. Lifecycle of urgent needs programs is driven by "time to market" as opposed to complete satisfaction of static requirements, with delivery expected in days/months versus years/decades. The processes and practices applied to urgent needs must add value and not require an excessive bureaucratic oversight to implement, while at the same time address, understand, and manage risk such that programs can understand better where to include, truncate, or eliminate systems engineering (SE) practices and processes. The RT-34 research team set out with the goal to identify the factors that contribute positively to rapid acquisition focusing on the systems engineering process. One can hypothesize that certain critical success factors from those organizations that do rapid acquisition may well be transferrable to traditional acquisition.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 31, 2012
Accession Number
ADA582709

Entities

People

  • Debra F. Lepore
  • John M. Colombi

Organizations

  • Systems Engineering Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • C4I
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agile Software Development
  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Computer Programming
  • Employment
  • Human Behavior
  • Industrial Engineering
  • Information Systems
  • Knowledge Management
  • Lessons Learned
  • Management Personnel
  • Model Based Systems Engineering
  • Organizational Structure
  • Social Media
  • Software Development
  • Systems Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation

Readers

  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Systems Analysis and Design