Adoption of Model-Based Systems Engineering in Traditional DoD Systems

The transition to digital engineering has become a major objective within the Department of Defense (DoD). One such method is Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), or the use of models to facilitate systems engineering. Most new DoD programs are being built from the ground up using MBSE. However, the question of whether MBSE should be incorporated into existing systems still lingers. Little research currently exists on the efforts required to transition existing systems to MBSE. In this article, the authors measure the effort required to transition an existing system of systems (SoS), which primarily relied on document-centric methods, to MBSE. Time efforts were measured to develop the model for the SoS, as well as the subsystems and components it contains. Additionally, existing MBSE resources that are part of the cost of transitioning to MBSE were also compiled. The research is intended to serve as a guide for program managers throughout the DoD to roughly estimate the time and costs they will incur to transition their programs to MBSE.