Managing Complex Systems Engineering and Acquisition Through Lead Systems Integration

Abstract

In the modern operational environment, multiple systems forming System of Systems (SoS) are required to satisfy the spectrum of capabilities needed to satisfy the mission. Accomplishing the mission has always been a SoS endeavor, where integrating multiple systems into a SoS has been left to small communities of hero engineers, or to the operators responsible for the mission. The acquisition and management of these mission capabilities across the SoS life cycle requires the complex integration of interdependent new and legacy systems from the lowest component level to the highest enterprise level. In 2008, Congress directed government organizations to adopt a Lead System Integration (LSI) process to address the issues with the acquisition, development, and integration of a SoS. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) the results of our early exploration of LSI are presented with the definition and development of the LSI Enterprise Framework; (2) it provides an update to our ongoing research that is using a model-based approach to explore the correlation between other frameworks and processes used to engineer and manage SoS employed by Navy Systems Commands.