§4402 Requirement to address modular open system approach in program capabilities development and acquisition weapon system design

Summary

Require program plans for major defense acquisition programs to say how system needs might change over the life of the system and what the minimum acceptable capability must be for initial operation. Require the Director of Cost Assessment and Performance Evaluation to make sure studies of alternatives look at evolutionary development, prototyping, and a modular open system approach. If a program uses a modular open system approach, its acquisition plan must explain that approach, separate the main platform from the components, say which components may be added, replaced, or removed later, and explain how intellectual property and technical data will be handled and how systems integration and configuration control will work. Requests for proposals must describe the approach and the minimum components to include. Milestone B cannot be approved until the decision authority finds, in writing, that interfaces are defined, necessary rights to those interfaces will be obtained, or that a modular approach is not practical. The military department Secretaries must issue guidance to put these rules into practice.