Masthead Corporate Logo
Subscribe eNewsletter Magazines
Search  Advanced

The Mil & Aero Blog

Bookmark this Blog Subscribe to an RSS Feed of this Blog.
<< Home

Needing reform


Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Posted by John McHale

Last week I was struck by how the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense (MOD) is behind on acquisition reform, not having anything like a block upgrade or other type of incremental acquisition.

During a presentation at the Avionics conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands, engineers from the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) discussed their efforts to integrate COTS electronicsinto military avionics systems and manage the obsolescence issues that go along with it.

According to them the MOD uses mid-life upgrades, that have long intervals between them, which causes major obsolescence issues as the parts from the last upgrade are no longer supported by the time the next upgrade comes around.

Yes, block upgrades put even more pressure on maintaining the life cycle of components, but that is necessary if systems are to have the latest technology deployed to the field.

For acquisition, the U.S. Department of Defense uses what they call spiral development, which breaks down program development into blocks that incrementally add capability to the program every year or so. This gets new systems into the hands of warfighters more quickly and helps battle the obsolescence problem of COTS components by upgrading them more frequently.

It also enables designers to get feedback from those using the systems in the field.

However, block upgrades can also be confusing to suppliers and newcomers to the industry as there are so many variants and requirements for each block.

I think the gentlemen from Dstl would welcome that type of incremental technology insertion, but kudos to them finding innovative ways to integrate modern military avionics despite the MOD's slow-moving procurement structure.

Post a Comment

0 Comments:

<< Home


Welcome to the lighter side of Military & Aerospace Electronics. This is where our staff recount tales of the strange, the weird, and the otherwise offbeat. We could put news here, but we have the rest of our Website for that. Enjoy our scribblings, and feel free to add your own opinions. You might also get to know us in the process. Proceed at your own risk.

John Keller for MAE
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.


Courtney Howard for MAE Courtney E. Howard is senior editor of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine. She is responsible for writing news stories and feature articles for the print publication, as well as composing daily news for the magazine's Website and assembling the weekly electronic newsletter. Her features have appeared in such high-tech trade publications as Military & Aerospace Electronics, Computer Graphics World, Electronic Publishing, Small Times, and The Audio Amateur.


John McHale for MAE John McHale is executive editor of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, where he has been covering the defense Industry for more than dozen years. During that time he also led PennWell's launches of magazines and shows on homeland security and a defense publication and website in Europe. Mr. McHale has served as chairman of the Military & Aerospace Electronics Forum and its Advisory Council since 2004. He lives in Boston with his golf clubs.

Previous Posts

Archives
THE MAE WEBSITE AUTHORS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT AND ACCURACY OF THEIR BLOGS, INCLUDING ANY OPINIONS THEY EXPRESS, AND PENNWELL IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR THE CONTENT, ITS ACCURACY, AND OPINIONS THAT MAY BE CONTAINED HEREIN. THE CONTENT ON THE MAE WEBSITE MAY BE DATED AND PENNWELL IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE UPDATES TO THE INFORMATION INCLUDED HEREIN.