Program Managers have long been applying modeling and simulation tools to efforts within the various stages of their programs. Recently, declining defense budgets have increased the pressure on the acquisition community to find cheaper ways to develop and field systems. The objective of this book is to convince program managers that Simulation Based Acquisition is a smarter way of doing business.

Presents the combined efforts of three military Research Fellows, participating in an 11-month Defense Systems Management College Research Fellowship program. These fellows have developed a new approach to the development of weapons systems which is designed to get the new materials into the hands of the warfighter faster. This approach is called Simulation Based Acquisition (SBA). The objective of this book is to convince program managers that SBA is a smarter way of doing business.

Information technology is creating more realistic, more capable, and more diversified simulation tools. These tools have been applied to a range of ongoing product development programs with an increasing diversity of applications. Phenomenal reductions in development time, life-cycle costs, and improved system quality are reported from these new opportunities. In contrast to simply networking more and more computers and software together in ever-increasing capability, entirely new approaches are emerging. One overarching approach within the Department of Defense (DoD) is simulation-based acquisition (SBA). It is the proactive use of simulation and information technologies to rapidly advance all elements of the product development process. It is capturing more elements of industry every day and has the potential to revolutionize product development all over again. The author examines one powerful example of simulation-based acquisition implementation in the American and British Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft Program.

The Committee on Modeling and Simulation Enhancements for 21st Century Manufacturing and Acquisition was formed by the NRC in response to a request from the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DMSO) of DOD. The committee was asked to (1) investigate next-generation evolutionary and revolutionary M&S capabilities that will support enhanced defense systems acquisition; (2) identify specific emerging design, testing, and manufacturing process technologies that can be enabled by advanced M&S capabilities; (3) relate these emerging technologies to long-term DOD requirements; (4) assess ongoing efforts to develop advanced M&S capabilities and identify gaps that must be filled to make the emerging technologies a reality; (5) identify lessons learned from industry; and (6) recommend specific government actions to expedite development and to enable maximum DOD and U.S. commercial benefit from these capabilities. To complete its task, the committee identified relevant trends and their impact on defense acquisition needs; current use and support for use of M&S within DOD; lessons learned from commercial manufacturing; three cross-cutting and especially challenging uses of M&S technologies; and the areas in which basic research is needed in M&S in order to achieve the desired goals for manufacturing and defense acquisition.