Facilitating the Transition to Model-Based Acquisition

One major benefit offered by MBSE is the ability to formalize interactions between subsystems in the design process. This formalization eases the transfer of information between parties. The process of government acquisition is likewise characterized by information transfer: diverse requirements must be altered and tracked between the requesting, responding, and evaluating parties. Thus, it is a natural extension of MBSE is to apply it to the acquisition process. This paper demonstrates a set of tools and patterns developed during a surrogate simulation of an MBSE-enabled Request for Proposal between NAVAIR and a responding contractor. In particular, the tools presented were developed from the NAVAIR Systems Model viewpoint. This paper covers four tools developed in this surrogate pilot. The first analyzes the problem of requirement generation. While standards such as the OMG SysML are being adopted by MBSE practitioners, the model literacy of all stakeholders is unlikely and may never be fully guaranteed. Document generation tools, such as OpenMBEE have been developed for SysML software, which enable presentation of descriptive information about the model. This paper demonstrates modeling patterns and a tool that translates information from native-model form into a text-based format. The second and third tools presented assist in the acquirer's source selection process. Making use of the patterns which generate the text requirements above, Evaluation and Estimation Models are presented, which can act directly on contractors' responses. The Evaluation Model assists the verification process by ensuring numerical requirements are satisfied. The Estimation Model compares the contractors' claimed values with historically expected values, to assist directing the source selection experts' focus of examination. The fourth tool presented offers a method of extracting historical traceability for model elements. This aids the acquisition process by enabling digital signoff at any stage of the acquisition process. These four tools were applied in the surrogate acquisition process for a notional UAV, and a description of this case study is presented.