Warfighting Concepts to Future Weapon System Designs (WARCON)
Abstract
The end of the Cold War brought decreased military budgets at a time when existing platforms and weapons were reaching the end of their service life. The emergence of new military missions and technologies lead to a need for revolution in acquisition strategy. The Department of Defense (DoD) searched for new ways to improve the systems acquisition process to meet the emerging need. Research confirmed the nation's military needed the means to field new or improved systems quickly and efficiently with reduced acquisition costs. This philosophy, simplistic in its approach, is rather complex in execution. In its zeal to research, develop, test, and field systems, a program office must establish a balance among system capabilities, speed of acquisition and procurement costs. This balance is often measured in the degree of risk that exists in meeting the objectives that a proposed system is designed to achieve. These objectives include performance, schedule, and cost. DoD research conducted in the early 1990's concluded that practices and processes using simulation and modeling practices in procurement could increase the likelihood of acquiring and producing systems that have better performance, a faster schedule for delivery and fielding, and a significant cost savings compared to acquisition procedures and practices used during the Cold War. The use of modeling and simulation tools enables a design team to perform 'what if' analyses on hundreds of options and provides rapid feedback to the design engineers in charge of system development. In addition, Modeling and Simulation (M&S) techniques remain applicable to the entire product life cycle. As result of Joint Vision 2010, DoD directed that acquisition program managers use an M&S process in future systems procurement programs. The Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DMSO) was tasked with assisting in developing models and simulations that support the acquisition process.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 12, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADB292110