Architecture-Based Decision Making for Mission Engineering and Integration

Presenter: Jaime J. Bestard, Chief Engineer, Digital Mission Architecture, Department of Defense "The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)) defines the Department of Defense (DoD) mission engineering policy and implements related practices and operational analyses in an end-to-end mission context . Mission engineering enables the Office of the USD(R&E) (OUSD(R&E)) and the DoD to identify capability and technology gaps, provide mission-based solutions, and inform investments in technology development, prototyping, experimentation, procurement, and fielding. The Mission Integration Directorate within the OUSD(R&E) is responsible for the planning and execution of mission engineering studies to evaluate priority challenges identified by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Combatant Commands, Military Departments, and Uniformed Services. Digital mission architectures are the analytical blueprints of mission engineering studies and expand on model-based systems engineering (MBSE) concepts to develop an enterprise understanding of the complex relationships between operational activities/tasks, capabilities/systems, organizations, end-to-end system-of-system flows, and sequences of actions. Mission engineering threads that incorporate fielded and emerging capabilities provide actionable architectures to analyze current operations and future alternatives and trace their relations to mission threads validated by the operational community. These mission architectures inform Senior Leaders to optimize decisions by connecting information across the DoD enterprise. The Chief Engineer for Digital Mission Architecture has engaged with various organizations developing mission engineering threads to identify best practices and opportunities for standardization, explore courses of action, and form a group to develop and implement Department-wide guidance, to include evaluation of the Unified Architecture Framework as an enabler for Mission Engineering. Topics: Mission Engineering / System of Systems; Actionable Architecture; Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE); Unified Architecture Framework" https://www.omg.org