Support of COTS and open system architecture modules [in military avionics systems]

Defense dollars are becoming scarcer and technology is advancing at an ever-increasing rate. This combination is putting increasing pressure on the available acquisition budget. To combat this, the Department of Defense (DoD) has moved toward commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment and open systems architecture (OSA) to reduce acquisition cost, shorten development time and allow rapid technology insertion into existing avionics systems. This paper will present a summary of the DoD funded study Boeing is currently working on. The study, Diagnostics for Acquisition (DFA), assesses the impact of COTS equipment and open systems architecture on Built In Test (BIT) and the DoD's support infrastructure.