Transitioning the SWFTS Program Combat System Product Family from Traditional Document‐Centric to Model‐Based Systems Engineering

Over the past four years, the Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical Systems (SWFTS) Systems Engineering & Integration (SE&I) program has shifted from traditional document‐centric systems engineering to a model‐based systems engineering (MBSE) process for managing the evolution and support of the common combat system used by most submarines in the U.S. and Royal Australian Navies. At the beginning of this transition a pilot study established technical feasibility, and projected a 13% reduction in the cost of processing a baseline if MBSE were applied to support the SWFTS system of systems baseline development process. Over the course of two years of development new modeling techniques were invented, and a large‐scale system of systems model was designed, implemented, and populated. Now the transition to operations has begun. In early 2012 SWFTS SE&I produced its first new generation of combat system interface baselines using MBSE. The technical foundation has been established, and the workforce transition is under way. Anticipated cost reductions are still a year away as the workforce ascends the learning curve, but the program is already seeing improvements in the quality and consistency of engineering products. This paper summarizes this document‐centric to model‐based SE transition, describes the accomplishments and observations to date, and describes the metrics being collected to quantify the achieved return on investment once the transition is complete.