Reinvigorating Technical Rigor in Test, Evaluation and Analyses at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex - A Retrospective on Ten Years of Progress

摘要

Following the aerospace defense industry's shift from "further, faster, higher" to "faster, better, cheaper," the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) adopted a strategy of cost reduction in the 1990s that resulted in several unexpected second-order effects that proved deleterious to AEDC's legacy of technical excellence. This paper describes the factors that led to a myopic focus on cost in the 1990s, the unexpected side effects of that focus, and the actions that AEDC has taken over the last decade to address those effects. The paper also describes some of the successes that have resulted from AEDC's renewed emphasis on technical rigor, the lessons learned during that process, and areas where additional work is needed. Ultimately, AEDC's quest for technical excellence is not a static milestone to be achieved, but rather a vision towards which the Complex must continually strive.