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Systems Engineering and Architecture
Systems Engineering and Architecture
SE&A News and Events
Value Engineering Webinar April 21
Join Mr. Chris DeLuca, Director, Specialty Engineering, SE&A April 21 for a
webinar on DoD Value Engineering reinvigoration activities.
Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Time: 1:00 pm.
Info and Registration: https://www.dau.edu/events/value-engineering-dod
RELEASED: Implementing a Modular Open Systems Approach in Department of Defense Programs
This guidebook provides the DoD community, including Military Services, civilians, and DoD support contractors with information to help ensure programs incorporate a modular open systems approach (MOSA) as part of the defense acquisition program life cycle. The audience includes decision makers, program management offices, program managers, and program lead systems engineers responsible for implementing and evaluating MOSA in defense programs.
Although MOSA has long been incorporated into DoD programs, this guidebook describes statute and DoD policy that now impose requirements to use MOSA. This guidebook provides best practices for planning, implementing, and evaluating MOSA, including implementation principles, benefits, challenges, and suggestions based on experience from practitioners in DoD and industry. It includes recommendations to consider when developing requests for proposals and evaluating planned approaches for implementing MOSA. The appendices provide supplemental information on the background efforts that have helped inform the DoD MOSA community.
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) Systems Engineering and Architecture (SE&A) prepared the guidebook and will continue to review, update, and incorporate feedback to acknowledge advances in the field.
SE&A website: https://www.cto.mil/sea
SE&A Library: https://www.cto.mil/sea/pg
SE&A Systems Engineering: https://www.cto.mil/sea/se
DoD MOSA Community of Practice: https://www.dau.edu/cop/mosa
RELEASED: SD-24 DoD Value Engineering (VE) Guidebook
OUSD (R&E) recently issued SD-24 Value Engineering: A Guidebook of Best Practices and Tools, an update of a 2011 version. VE is a sound and effective business practice that can yield significant returns on investment not only for cost, but also for capability performance and schedule.
DoD Components use VE to analyze programs, systems, services, products, and more to ensure they accomplish essential functions at the lowest life-cycle cost consistent with the required performance, quality and safety. Components retain their VE savings for allocation to other internal priorities to achieve a better value for the money.
The recent update to DoD Instruction 4245.14, “DoD Value Engineering Program,” is intended to reinvigorate VE and, along with this guidance, facilitate an understanding of responsibilities for VE programs and how to enhance DoD processes and products. VE is integral to supporting DoD’s national security mission.
This guidebook equips Components with information needed to establish and maintain viable VE programs. It describes the basics of the VE methodology, the benefits of a strong DoD VE Program, and best practices for applying VE on government contracts.
The publication is available here.
DoD Instruction 4245.14 is available here.
For more information on VE, visit its webpage at https://www.cto.mil/sea/ve/ and its Community of Practice webpage at https://www.dau.edu/cop/se/resources/value-engineering .
Released: Best Practices to Achieve Better Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) Estimates for DoD Systems
The guide assists DoD programs to improve R&M estimates by narrowing the gap between estimates made during the acquisition of a system and the achieved levels of R&M in the field. Better estimates support better forecasting of operating and support costs as well as increased mission effectiveness.
SE&A developed the guide in collaboration with participants from the DoD-Industry R&M Engineering Roundtable, which meets at the Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS) to discuss and prioritize R&M challenges. The guide was submitted for peer review among the roundtable participants, the DoD R&M Service Leads, OUSD(R&E), and OUSD(A&S).
This guide is the first of a series of planned documents to address top R&M challenges. Follow-on documents will address R&M estimates at points in the acquisition cycle
including user requirements, concept development, development, DT&E, OT&E, and in-service.
The publication is available here.
SE&A R&M web page
https://www.cto.mil/sea/rm/
R&M Community of Practice
https://www.dau.edu/cop/rm-engineering
Engineers Week 2025: Design Your Future
OUSD(R&E) recognizes critical role of engineering in national defense.
On behalf of OUSD(R&E), Systems Engineering and Architecture (SE&A) collaborated with Washington Headquarters Services Facilities Services Directorate to host an Engineers Week event at the Pentagon, February 18. Featured speakers included Estee Pinchasin, Director of Logistics, National Security Agency and former Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Lt Col Matthew Leines, U.S. Space Force; and Mr. Daniel Hettema, Director of Digital Engineering, Modeling and Simulation (DEM&S) in SE&A. The DEM&S Director highlighted how digital engineering is evolving, driving change, and overcoming challenges; he described DEM&S’s work creating the Digital Engineering Tool Evaluation Criteria Template (DETECT) and ongoing collaboration with industry practitioners to develop standards. This annual event coincides with National Engineers Week, designed to encourage young people to pursue a career in engineering; the Pentagon presentation highlights the significant contributions engineers bring to DoD and national security. A recording is available at https://www.dvidshub.net/video/952787/2025-engineers-week
Released: DoD Software S&T Strategy Implementation Plan
The DoD Software Science and Technology (S&T) Strategy Implementation Plan provides information on planned S&T investments across DoD to promote alignment of investment to support future warfighting needs. The guide describes ongoing and planned research projects that may become candidates for prototyping and subsequent deployment at scale. For those planning research and development (R&D) of software-enabled capabilities, the guide provides awareness of a rapidly growing base of enterprise resources such as cloud infrastructure and software factory assets that can speed the development and delivery of research results to help initiatives cross the software “valley of death” from research to operational deployment.
The implementation guide is available on the SE&A Policy and Guidance page under the heading "Software Engineering."
Released: DoD Instruction 4245.14, DoD Value Engineering (VE) Program
Value engineering (VE) is a methodology used to reduce acquisition and ownership costs or delivery timelines, while maintaining or improving required functionality. VE is integral to supporting DoD’s national security mission.
R&E has released an updated DoD Instruction (DODI) 4245.14, DoD Value Engineering (VE) Program, to reinvigorate VE practice in the DoD.
DoD Components use VE to analyze programs, systems, services, products, and more to ensure they accomplish essential functions at the lowest life-cycle cost consistent with the required performance, quality and safety. Components retain their VE savings for allocation to other internal priorities to achieve a better value for the money.
Released: SysML Conversion Approach and Transition Outline
The approach and outline were developed as part of a project sponsored by the SE&A Digital Engineering, Modeling and Simulation (DEM&S).
Systems Modeling Language (SysML) Version 2 (v2) is the next generation of SysML, a standard modeling language used in systems engineering throughout industry and government. SysML v2 supports the evolving practice of model-based systems engineering (MBSE) to address challenges in increasing system complexity and rapid technology change. SysML v2 is intended to increase the effectiveness and adoption of MBSE by improving the language precision, expressiveness, regularity, and interoperability.
The paper "SysML v1 to SysML v2 Model Conversion Approach" presents a suggested approach for DoD programs to make the transition from SysML v1 to SysML v2. To illustrate the transition, the project team used a hypothetical system model, Skyzer Mission Model, developed by the https://sercuarc.org/ Systems Engineering Research Center, a DoD university-affiliated research center.
The SysML v1 to SysML v2 Transition Planning Outline and Recommendations suggests a five-step outline organizations can use and adapt as they plan the SysML transition.
Contact Us
For more information, contact osd-sea@mail.mil using the following subject line: Attn SE&A
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense,
Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E))
3030 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3030
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