Survey of Acquisition Manager Experience Using the DOD Joint Technical Architecture in the Acquisition Process

摘要

This report is the third and final in a series of reports and discusses the use of an open systems approach in the acquisition process for weapon systems. The first report discusses the extent that acquisition program managers considered and used an open systems approach in the design and development of major defense weapon systems. The second report discusses the extent that DoD planned and implemented DoD Component use of the Joint Technical Architecture (JTA) to help achieve weapon systems interoperability requirements and to support affordability and an open systems approach to weapon system design. This report summarizes the results of Component Acquisition Executive, Program Executive Officer, and program manager responses to survey questionnaires regarding use of JTA in the acquisition process. The open systems approach and JTA are closely linked. In the open systems approach, acquisition program managers and contractors choose commercially supported specifications and standards for system interfaces. JTA specifies a set of primarily commercial specifications and standards that cover information processing, information transfer, content, format, security, and commonality. In August 1996, the Office of the Secretary of Defense mandated that acquisition program managers use JTA for all command, control, communication, and intelligence systems. During November 1998, the Office of the Secretary of Defense broadened the JTA requirement to include all emerging capabilities or changes to an existing capability that produces, uses, or exchanges information electronically; crosses a functional or DoD Component boundary; or gives the warfighter or DoD decisionmaker an operational capability.