Empowering F-35 Digital Engineering Transformation

The JPO began its systems engineering transformation in 2018 to digitize its key development practices, asking Booz Allen to lead the critical theme of MBSE. Within months of initiating work, the team had helped the JPO develop the F-35 Technical Approach to Implementing MBSE. Now in its second revision, the F-35 MBSE Technical Approach outlines in strategic terms how the JPO, in collaboration with prime contractor Lockheed Martin, would apply MBSE to develop advanced capabilities for the air system. Now demonstrated on multiple engineering efforts, this approach is being applied to a critical mass of the capabilities set for integration across the air system. 

The F-35 MBSE Technical Approach digitizes prior paper-based approaches to engineering, enables the JPO and Lockheed Martin to share digital models on multiple classification levels, and allows the key engineering processes (design, verification, requirements, certification, and compliance) to occur in a single set of federated models. This approach enables the JPO to better understand the impacts of new capabilities across the air system, gain real-time web access to engineering artifacts, and the ability to perform digitized technical reviews.

Early on, the JPO recognized that simply transitioning existing development work to a digitized process was insufficient. New capabilities had to be “born digital.” The JPO team of partners is applying an approach using a series of knowledge points and early systems engineering that Booz Allen had successfully applied on other acquisition category (ACAT) 1 programs.

The early systems engineering approach applies MBSE development to all new, pre-program of record capabilities to be integrated into the air system. Successfully demonstrated by a Booz Allen-led team, and now in implementation, the early systems engineering approach digitizes JPO development work in the MBSE systems model for F-35.

Booz Allen is helping the JPO institutionalize the MBSE-driven process through a multi-pronged approach: directives, training, infrastructure and technology, and cultural transformation. These methodologies enable the JPO to formalize development and integration work through models representing a single source of truth.

The F-35 program is embracing MBSE and digital engineering across the entire enterprise. This transformation enables the institution to seize advantage of key MBSE and digital engineering benefits such as:

• Better understanding of the impacts of design changes and new capabilities
• Digitized means of sharing requirements, verification, design, and development data in a modeled construct between the government and industry across multiple networks
• Real-time access to digital engineering artifacts in the systems model
• Formalized rigorous means of involving the entire JPO enterprise in development through models representing a single source of truth
• The ability to get to key development milestones faster with a higher quality product through increased efficiency in engineering and acquisition
• Ways to find and resolve deficiencies sooner, and in some cases, avoid higher cost verification activities such as flight testing

Through MBSE, we help DOD ensure the F-35 continues to play a leading role in keeping the U.S. and its allies at the forefront of defense—year after year.