Prototyping: Increasing the Pace of Innovation
Abstract
Prototyping has long been recognized as an effective tool for reducing technical risk throughout the development of complex weapons systems. A growing number of leaders in government and industry advocate that it can do so much more. Supporting their claims are recent studies suggesting prototyping can increase the pace and reduce the cost of developing complex systems, enable organizational cultural change, aid acquisition reform, advance the technical skills of the industrial base, and even deter rival nation-states from pursuing paths that threaten our national interests. Prototyping s role in the capability development process appears to be changing, expanding from focused design tool to potentially paradigm-changing methodology. What once was just another trusted tool in the designer s toolbox has now blossomed into a collection of developmental and experimental activities that are maximizing the value of developing and working with intermediate forms (models or demonstrators). A Risk Reduction Tool For the last several decades, prototyping in the Department of Defense (DoD) has mostly been associated with the technical maturation of complex weapon systems. Increased interest in technical maturation prototyping followed the failures of many high-profile weapon system programs during the Cold War. The U.S. weapons development strategy at the time relied upon technical superiority to counter the Soviet Union s numerical advantage. The resulting pressure on the acquisition system to maintain a technological advantage encouraged heavy reliance on nascent and untested technologies. Acquisition programs suffered lengthy delays as they struggled to mature cutting-edge technologies. Of those programs that eventually fielded, many would falter under battlefield conditions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA608683
Entities
People
- Richard Hencke
Organizations
- Defense Acquisition University