Special Technology Area Review on Commercial Off-the-Shelf Electronic Components

摘要

The Advisory Group on Electron Devices (AGED) held a Special Technology Area Review (STAR) on the use of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) electronic components in DoD weapon systems. This STAR was held on December 4 and 5, 1997 at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. A large number of distinguished plenary session speakers including Dr. Jacques Gansler, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, presented their views on this topic. Following is a summary of the major findings and recommendations resulting from this STAR. It is recognized that appropriate use of COTS electronics components during development of new systems and system upgrades is essential to reduce costs in order to stay within shrinking acquisition budgets, maintain technology currency as system life cycles shorten and balance the needs for high system performance with acceptable costs. However, it is also unequivocally clear that, although COTS usage will continue to expand, the need for military-unique components to maintain warfighter superiority will not disappear. There is and will continue to be a need for the DoD to invest in electronics R&D. The benefits of this investment are clear and compelling.