Experience applying the CoRE method to the Lockheed C-130J software requirements

For safety-critical systems, regulatory and human concerns make assurance of requirements correctness a necessity. Most popular requirements methods rely heavily on expensive after-the-fact verification, validation and correction activities to attain a desired level of correctness. In cooperation with its industrial partners, the Software Productivity Consortium (the Consortium) has developed a rigorous requirements engineering method called CoRE ("Consortium Requirements Engineering"), building upon proven formal and object-oriented methods. As part of Continuous Process Improvement (CPI), Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Company (LASC) has incorporated CoRE into its C-130J aircraft program, to develop avionics system requirements. C-130J is a safety critical application. The results have verified the method's practicality and effectiveness at "building in" correctness during requirements analysis. They have further demonstrated that the benefits of a rigorous approach can be had without adversely affecting cost or schedule.<>