Downloaded from https://www.everyspec.com MIL-HDBK-502: A MIL-HDBK-502: A CQUISITION CQUISITION L OGISTICS OGISTICS Estimates of manpower and personnel requirements for new systems are reported at each milestone decision point in the defense systems acquisition process. These requirements provide important input to force structure plans, forecasts, and cost estimates, and help to formulate more cost effective alternatives. 4.3.3 Systems Engineering Application The level of systems engineering activity needed for a total system depends upon the current stage of design development of its hardware, software, and support.
The more design development there is to do, the more systems engineering analysis will have to be performed. As the state of the design evolves, the types and depth of the analyses will also change as program objectives are refined. The general discussion of systems engineering provided here addresses the full design development cycle. But for most defense systems requirements, there are real opportunities to reduce time, costs, and risk associated with any new design activity. These opportunities lie in making the greatest use of available designs for product hardware, for software, and for logistic support resources and services.
The level of design development required diminishes with the increased use of existing designs in a total system. Certainly the need for many of the supportability-related analyses is reduced in scope and depth, or altogether eliminated once a design alternative is selected. This reduction demonstrates proper tailoring of the systems engineering process based on the changing needs of the program. However, use of the systems engineering process approach is equally crucial for modifications or commercial and nondevelopmental item acquisitions—perhaps even more so.
In development programs there is usually time to correct mistakes or deficiencies, but existing design characteristics are relatively fixed (significant change may be costly or impossible). So selecting an existing design alternative for the total system is important. Deficiencies in a selected design have to be compensated for through other design elements of the total system, which diminishes the total system overall. Only an integrated systems engineering approach fosters the essential interactions between the related design activities so that imbalances are identified and addressed. Determining the optimal approach for a total system’s design is a program management decision.
All of a program’s technical activities, of which the system engineering activities are a part, are intended to support and facilitate sound program management decisions. These decisions determine the next set of activities, which in turn lead to the next set in a constantly evolving set of issues, analysis requirements, and decisions. The acquisition strategy, which is developed in consonance with the policies and 4-17