A SoS Approach for Engineering Capability Programs

Abstract

The Australian Defence Organisation is undergoing the most significant change in 40 years to deliver a more effective and agile defence force. One of the key changes is the introduction of a new capability life cycle that seeks to take a more holistic perspective on defence capability. This has included the introduction of Programs that are to be managed in a coordinated way to optimize capability outcomes across a group of Products and Projects. The paper opens by discussing the context in which Programs will be implemented and identifies the needs for their management and systems engineering. The needs analysis concluded that a system‐of‐systems engineering (SoSE) approach is needed and that this should be tested and refined using an initial test case. Building on recent review material of SoSE approaches, a modified wave model was selected for the test case as the preferred approach for Program SoSE. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations on how the initial test case should be implemented to provide a foundation for broader implementation across Programs.

An Austere SoS Integration Assurance Methodology

“…When detailed technical and other architectural information is not available, a meaningful way to proceed is to assess the degree to which the Program design effort is considering all the topics necessary to create and employ the Program. This approach was taken by Cook and Unewisse (2017a) to capture the key enablers of systems and SoS engineering for Program design and realization (illustrated in Figure 3): 1. Governance; 2.…”

“…With the emergence of the Program-level of organization within the ADF (Cook and Unewisse, 2017a), JICA's role has expanded to also include consideration of Program-level I2 and by extension the broader challenge of Program, capability and force-level assurance.…”

“…Alignment of assessments with concurrent Program capability lifecycle stages Cook and Unewisse (2017a) recommend that Program capability design and realization be conducted using a tailored version of the Wave Model that was synthesized from practices found to be effective in the evolution of SoS by the US Department of Defense (Dahmann et al, 2011 In practice, practitioners have found it more realistic to run multiple waves in parallel, as is common in Projects; while one Project phase is being implemented, another is being planned (Scrapper et al, 2016). Figure 2 below, slightly remaps the standard Wave Model depiction to illustrate overlapping waves, uses Australian Defence language, and more clearly shows the locations of Program I2 assessment points with respect to the SoSE elements within each Program stage (and for the sake of clarity omits the essentially parallel nature of many activities and the numerous feedback paths).…”

“…The primary purpose of this assessment would be to ensure that the intended outcomes of the Program capability stage are understood and that I2 has been properly considered. Cook and Unewisse (2017a) recommend that the following activities should take place during the Initiate SoS Element (labelled Initiate Program Stage in Figure 2):…”

“…In response to the First Principles Review (FPR, Defence 2015), the Australian Department of Defence has led to the introduction of around 40 Programs each of which is "a group of related Projects, Products, and Program activities that are managed in a coordinated way to optimize the capability outcome within allocated resources" (ICLM, Defence 2016). Cook and Unewisse. (2017a) described a systems-of-systems engineering (SoSE) approach for delivering Program capabilities that are integrated by design.…”