include Specific (as to what to mea- sure), Meaningful (tied to the business case, baselines, or requirements), Achievable , Relevant (should provide value and allow for actionable infor- mation), and Timely . Report of the Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force on T&E. The DSB was asked to examine DoD and commercial approaches to T&E and recommend ways to improve test out- comes and efficiencies. The following actions were recommended in its re- port: • Incorporate testability require- ments in components, subsys- tems, and systems to speed evi- dence accrual. • Develop approaches to report system status and data to enable feedback for improving system performance. • Plan for structured evidence ac- crual during development and test- ing to validate performance. • Capture data systematically across the life cycle, including evidence of cost, schedule, performance, and agility of model-based systems engineering (MBSE). DoD 2024 PM functional compe- tencies. PMs now must be competent in DE. Approved competencies are used as the basis to develop learning objectives for PM courses. In the DoD PM Functional Competencies are con- sidered the core knowledge, capa- bilities and practices associated with formulating, planning, implementing, managing, tracking, and evaluating projects or programs and their asso- ciated requirements and risks, ranging from small one-time projects to major system-of-system programs. The DE competency was added in December 2024, with the following details: Understand DE tools, meth- odologies, and standards to enhance system design, integration, and veri- fication. It includes the subcompe- tency of developing a foundational understanding of how a digital twin or model can reduce costs, improve schedules, enhance performance, and
Table 1. DoD Manual 5000.100 Supports Digital Engineering
Topic
Excerpts
Technical Baseline Requirements
Acquisition Program Baseline: States the threshold and objective values for the cost, schedule, and performance requirements for a program. • Describe the DoD system design with a focus on those features that would affect the test design or scope. Such features include both hardware (e.g., subcomponents, components, and subsystems) and software (e.g., architecture, supply chain components, system and user interfaces, and security levels) for the planned increments. Include survivability enhancement features. • Describe software-enabled features of the system, including control systems, databases, algorithms, system boundaries, and any autonomous or Artificial Intelligence-enabled or capabilities. Identify the technical and operational performance requirements (e.g., key performance parameters, key system attributes, survivability requirements) as determined by the user. Reference requirements and concept of operations documents. • Display a schedule that includes timelines relative to acquisition and program decisions and associated T&E plans, and reporting requirements to support those decisions, in alignment with the integrated decision support key. Include timelines related to delivery of test assets and the development and VV&A of critical test enablers (e.g., threats). • Ensure sufficient time between test periods and between modeling and simulation (M&S) events to allow for corrections of deficiencies. • List all required certifications and dates. The certifications are entrance criteria or requirements to support acquisition decisions.
Requirements
Technical Performance
Automated Schedule Status
VV&A
support the testing and integration of weapon systems. The topic, Digital Literacy, was also added to Engineering Management. This included the subcompetencies of understanding the following: 1. The process of Agile software de- velopment and the application to acquisition programs. 2. How to develop, integrate, and maintain software systems us- ing best practices in Systems En- gineering (SE) and align software development efforts with broad-
er program objectives. These best practices and guidance items are pertinent to digital literacy. Data, analytics, and artificial in- telligence (AI). The best practices and sources of truth cited support the DoD Data, Analytics, and AI Adop- tion Strategy (Data Strategy). Per Data Strategy, Agile, user-focused, product-centric development and ex- perimenting with minimum viable products are essential. An agile ap- proach emphasizes speed of delivery, prioritizing outcomes over processes,
32 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION | July-August 2025
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