January 2020
Review: This is a deeply interesting and occasionally very technical book that covers the history and practice of defense systems analysis. It consists of three sections. The frst (by Delaney) is an overview of Defense Systems Analysis, which covers what is meant by the term and how such analysis is done. It provides a few examples from the early days of the Defense Science Board, as well as details about the founding of Lincoln Laboratories. Section two consists of four chapters that provide a variety of views about Defense Systems Analysis. The chapters include a historical and practice review (by Stein), red teaming (by Feder), blue teaming (by Atkins), and some ruminations on truth and uncertainty (by Bernard). The third section covers specifc subject areas: air defense; ballistic missile defense; air, space, and cyberspace; bioterrorism; and communications to and from Mars. These chapters are very technical and detailed, and include, for example, two separate derivations of the radar range equation. The book’s target audience is “analysts and engineers in industry, government, and research.” It describes issues in systems analysis, in order to provide a roadmap to a solution and an understanding of alternative solutions’ relative value. The authors are all veterans in the feld, with 20–40 years of experience, which comes through clearly in their individual discussions of the challenges involved in applying systems analysis practices to often ill-informed problems. The frst fve chapters give an excellent history of defense systems analysis, how to organize and manage Defense Science Board studies, and how to think about complex problems. The remaining chapters are more narrowly focused on specifc subjects. While interesting, they are very domain-specifc and can be quite technical. The book is well written and organized, and a reader will come away with a great appreciation for the application of science and systems analysis to defense problems. Defense systems analysis, however, is focused on the prerequirements phase of defense acquisition and, while providing fascinating and illuminating anecdotes about systems analysis, the book is mainly useful only to acquisition professionals involved in systems engineering.
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Defense ARJ, January 2020, Vol. 27No. 1 : 108–109
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