Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessment

Mission — Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessment source

The Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessment (ACPA) Program Element delivers a government concept that integrates concept definition, simulation, analysis, and testbed capability. ACPA's focus is on the exploration of novel and/or emerging capabilities that may have the potential to enhance the Missile Defense System. ACPA centralizes assessment of advanced missile defense technology and delivers insight into the performance of proposed concepts extending the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) ability to address evolving threats for the Warfighter. Working with national laboratories and industry, MDA will invest in the analysis and assessment of directed energy system components to determine their effectiveness and capability for missile defense. Subject Matter Experts provide independent assessments of government, university, and industry technology concepts, used in concert with systems engineering requirements, to support acquisition strategy decisions and define technology focus areas. The innovative structured concept definition and assessment methodology enables MDA to quickly validate focus areas, verify contractor technology solutions, and evaluate promising concepts in future Missile Defense System architectures. This methodology significantly enhances MDA's ability to assess technology concepts while decreasing the cost of development by: - Delivering Independent model-based simulations of industry technology concepts to inform the systems engineering process. - Quantifying expectations through algorithms, digital simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and/or demonstration events prior to expensive live fire test events. - Executing end-to-end testing of technology concepts integrated with weapon systems through Command and Control network architectures. - Maturing and conducting assessments of new technologies to evaluate their readiness for transition to the future Missile Defense System. - Supports early coordination with the program elements to promote efficient integration into the Missile Defense System and provide additional capability to meet the Warfighter needs. - Collaborate with partners across Industry, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Other Government Agencies, Service Partners, and the National Laboratories to transition advanced technologies into functional areas and programs of record. Performance assessment of advanced concepts is the key enabler for government evaluation of technology in the earliest stages of development and maximizes the efficiency of technology investments. Performance assessment is used to quantify capability expectations of innovative concepts to counter the expanding regional and homeland missile threats, including ballistic and cruise missiles, and hypersonic vehicles.

Mission — Cyber Operations source

This project supports the monitoring and tracking of Cybersecurity mitigations as required in the Department of Defense (DoD) Instruction Number 8510.01, as amended which establishes Risk Management Framework (RMF) requirements for DoD Information Technology (IT). Funds in this project implement and sustain DoD-required RMF and associated Controls Validation Testing activities, analysis of validation results, risk assessments and reviews of proposed Program Manager/Information Assurance System Security Manager Plans of Action and Milestones (POAMs) for enabling modeling and simulation mission systems. This project captures the RMF documentation (artifacts, validation results, Information Assurance (IA) risk assessment results, and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Authorizing Official and Chief Information Officer accreditation decisions) into the Defense Information Systems Agency's Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service system. Hardware and software upgrades required to meet DoD standards are supported by funding in this project. Independent verification and validation team actions ensure the availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality and non-repudiation of the MDA mission, test and administrative systems. Activities in the project are necessary to comply with the Federal Information Security Management Act.

Mission — Program-Wide Support source

PWS contains non-headquarters management costs in support of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) functions and activities across the entire Missile Defense System. These functions include Government Civilians and Contract Support Services. This effort provides integrity and oversight of the Missile Defense System as well as supports MDA in the development and evaluation of technologies that will respond to the changing threat. Additionally, PWS includes personnel to support global deployments performing deployment site preparation and activation, and provides facility capabilities for MDA Executing Agent locations worldwide. Other MDA wide costs include: physical and technical security; civilian drug testing; audit readiness; the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program; legal services and settlements; travel and agency training; office, equipment, vehicle, and warehouse leases; utilities and base operations across multiple geographic locations; commercial and ancillary facility services; management of all facility aspects regardless of lifecycle stage; supplies and maintenance; compliance with statutory environmental requirements; data and unified communications support; materiel and readiness and central property management of equipment; Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization (FSRM) program (formerly Real Property Maintenance) to keep the Department's inventory of facilities in good working order; and similar operating expenses. PWS is allocated on a pro-rata basis across most Agency PEs and therefore fluctuates per PE by FY based on the total Agency budget in that FY.

Mission — Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessments source

Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessments (ACPA) centralizes advanced technology concept modeling, simulation, software, and analysis. Integrating models of promising disruptive technical solutions into Missile Defense System system-level simulations enables leadership to make data driven acquisition and technology investment decisions. Assess concepts that improve or adapt existing systems, such as the addition of mobile sensors or interceptors that can be surged into areas of conflict. Examples of efforts required to quantify the contribution of disruptive technologies may include, but not limited to environmental experimentation and phenomenological characterization required for new sensor concepts, advanced weapon technologies, and emerging directed energy concepts. In addition, facilitate stakeholder collaboration on advanced concepts to ensure transition into functional areas and programs of record. Using a technology development testbed approach, ACPA enables assessment and characterization of disruptive and incremental technology improvements to inform requirements and evaluate missile defense elements, components, and/or sub-component technologies and to assess maturity as it relates to readiness for transition to the future Missile Defense System. ACPA promotes informed decision making early in the acquisition life-cycle to maximize investments and successful transition into the Missile Defense System. Coupled with characterization efforts, ACPA develops innovative left-through-right-of-launch modeling capabilities including physics-based representations in the areas of cyber, sensor technologies, lethality and survivability, communications, and sensor support. ACPA is focusing on Science and Technology initiatives which increase interoperability and leverages expertise with allied and service partners. ACPA capitalizes on the innovation of small businesses, universities, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, and University Affiliated Research Centers to pursue a broad range of hardware, software, models, algorithms, trade studies, and analysis. These innovations bring together government developed models representing existing and future missile defense architectures, technology concepts, and advanced algorithms to provide detailed assessments of concept performance and inform investment decisions. These innovations, combined with a robust high performance computing infrastructure, provide a unique in-house government capability to demonstrate and assess technology concepts for emerging technology risk reduction, to mature concepts with laboratory, ground, and flight test data, and where possible, apply concepts in simulated exercises with weapon systems across representative communication architectures. Advanced Concepts for Disruptive Cyber assesses technology and techniques, which move beyond the incremental gains in power balance with a focus on expanding the domain and reach of Missile Defense Agency (MDA) capabilities as well as those with asymmetric countermeasures whether in cost, effect, or defensibility.

Accomplishments & Planned Programs (3)