Over the past 20 years, the DoD has had several successful, high-profile programs. The process: To improve the effective use of SE, the DoD must learn from past experience-both successes and failures. Systems engineering principles are useful in managing military networks such as this one, which links information transmission among US aircraft, partner aircraft, ground stations, and space systems. Figure 1 shows an example of the complex battle space in which the military must currently operate each system has its own set of stakeholders, timelines, and programmatic risks.
The interoperability requirements now imposed on project managers have reinforced the need for a disciplined approach to both SE and project management because an ever-increasing number of stakeholders across a wide range of domains must now be served. Today, tanks, ships, aircraft, satellites, and ground stations are collecting, processing, and disseminating real-time information to ensure military decision-makers receive the best data as quickly as possible. While the DoD cannot be credited with inventing SE, it was deeply involved in its evolution and continues to be at the forefront of developing its practices today.Īs technology continues to advance, the DoD has evolved from procuring standalone systems to procuring complex and tightly integrated systems of systems. The DoD continued to use these system-based principles to develop missile and missile-defense systems in an effort to stem Cold War aggression from the USSR. 3 While RAND uses a different name for the process, systems analysis (SA), the principles of holistic and system-based planning are very similar in nature to those of SE and have contributed to the body of knowledge we have today.
Over the course of the next several decades, RAND used system-based principles to develop strategic recommendations for aircraft, weapon and ship capabilities, and military basing locations, as well as to determine how to best implement an air defense campaign and how to develop life-cycle cost estimates for budgeting purposes, among other initiatives. According to RAND, “World War II revealed the importance of technology research and development for success on the battlefield… Forward-looking individuals in the War Department, the Office of Scientific Research and Development, and industry therefore began to discuss the need for a private organization to connect military planning with research and development decisions.” 2 After the war, the nonprofit research institution RAND (its formal name was a contraction of Research and Development) was created to connect military planning with research and development decisions. 1 While the DoD didn’t invent SE, it quickly started using the methodology during World War II. According to the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), the term “systems engineering” stems from the practices employed by Bell Telephone Laboratory in the early 1940s. The approach: In order to appreciate the DoD’s use of SE, it’s helpful to understand its origins. The question is, what can the DoD do today to maximize its investment in SE?
But, the increasing complexity of defense systems makes reaching such targets a constant challenge. Historically, the DoD has employed systems engineering (SE) to deliver products within cost, schedule, and scope targets. The challenge: As the defense budget continues to shrink and the need to innovate continues to grow, the US Department of Defense (DoD) must make better use of its resources.