Naval Combat System Product Line Architecture Economics

Abstract

A Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach has been developed at the Naval Postgraduate School that integrates parametric cost and product modeling methods for economic trade-off analysis of system product lines. The research assesses the economic consequences of DoD product line options and has been refining a framework for others to use and adapt. This report provides details of the methodology and its application to several empirical case studies. The modeling framework includes a reference architecture and cost model for a general combat system product line that is extensible to other DoD and government domains. It has been applied to assess the economics of Navy combat system product line architecture approaches in coordinated case studies. The case studies were performed for a three-tier cruise missile system, the Aegis ship software product line, and an Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) cross-domain product line architecture for air, surface, and sub-surface applications. An overall business case analysis for DoD product line practices was performed synthesizing the case studies with recommendations generated.