Framework for Assessing Cost and Technology

A shrinking defense budget and constant demands in the Department of Defense (DoD) for efficiency mandates new processes be developed to help our decision makers and designers. The Framework for Assessing Cost and Technology (FACT) intends to help DoD perform the analysis, conduct trades, and make hard decisions being better informed. FACT was initiated at a time when the Marine Corps had just terminated the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program and was initiating an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle to fulfill a similar mission. The Marine Corps Systems Command surveyed the tools available to make the AoA process more efficient and to answer the fundamental acquisition questions: How well will the system perform? How reliable will it be? How much will it cost? When can we get it? FACT approaches these questions through collaborative model-based systems engineering processes with the capability to answer these questions concurrently rather than in a stove-piped, independent fashion. Its enabling algorithms recognize the interdependence of de-sign and maintenance and procurement philosophy on the tradespace. The options in the tradespace represent the interrelated impacts of cost, performance and reliability based on the multitude of design options available to decision makers. Based on the options selected, the framework leverages available models to calculate the procurement cost for the system and projects the operational and support costs for the system versus a level of performance and associated reliability metrics.