When Does It Make Sense to Acquire a Single Weapon System Design That Can Be Used in Both Manned and Unmanned Operational Modes

Abstract

There is a strong push to change from manned toward both unmanned and optionally manned systems within the Department of Defense. There are significant open questions about how the manned versus unmanned versus optionally manned options influence costs, adaptability, operational utility, and suitability for missions. The Institute for Defense Analyses developed an approach to address these questions that links underlying physical attributes and engineering relationships to mission attributes and costs. We discuss this approach, where it fits into the acquisition process, and how it can be used to quantitatively inform the unmanned versus optionally manned discussions at both a system level and fleet level.