Systems Engineering and Program Management: Trends and Costs for Aircraft and Guided Weapons Programs

Systems engineering and program management (SE/PM) constitute a large portion of the acquisition cost of military aircraft and guided weapons systems. The goal of this study was the development of a set of cost-estimating relationships that can be used to estimate the SE/PM cost element for developm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2006
Main Authors: Stem, David E, Boito, Michael, Younossi, Obaid
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Budgets/Expenditures
RAND Corporation
Science/Technology/Public policy
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Systems engineering and program management (SE/PM) constitute a large portion of the acquisition cost of military aircraft and guided weapons systems. The goal of this study was the development of a set of cost-estimating relationships that can be used to estimate the SE/PM cost element for development and production of aircraft and weapons programs. The authors canvassed government and industry personnel to learn about current techniques for estimating SE/PM costs, and they collected historical data from several aircraft and weapons programs to investigate trends in SE/PM costs over time and to generate methods that cost analysts can use early in the life cycle of a program when little cost information is available. The authors also investigated the effects on SE/PM costs from acquisition reform, including the reduction in the number of military specifications and standards, the use of integrated product and process teams, and the trend toward "evolutionary acquisition."