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Case Study: Agile Systems Engineering at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Integrated Fighter Group
Author(s) -
Dove Rick,
Schindel William Bill,
Garlington Ken
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
incose international symposium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2334-5837
DOI - 10.1002/j.2334-5837.2018.00483.x
Subject(s) - agile software development , process (computing) , waterfall model , engineering , systems engineering , component (thermodynamics) , engineering management , process management , software engineering , computer science , information system , operating system , physics , electrical engineering , thermodynamics
The Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Integrated Fighter Group (IFG), in Fort Worth, Texas, was motivated to move to an agile system engineering (SE) development methodology by the need to meet urgent defense needs for faster‐changing threat situations. IFG has and is tailoring a baseline Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) systems engineering process for a portfolio of mixed hardware/software aircraft weapon system extensions, involving some 1,200 people in the process from executives, through managers, to developers. Process analysis in October 2015 reviewed two years of transformation experience, updated in this article to 2017 status. Notably, the SE process is facilitated by a transformation to an Open System Architecture aircraft‐system infrastructure, enabling reusable cross platform component technologies and facilitating faster response to new system needs. The process synchronizes internal tempo‐based development intervals with an external mixture of agile/waterfall subcontractor development processes. This article emphasizes the manifestation of agility as the purpose and outcome of an embedded system of innovation , and introduces concepts of information debt, process instrumentation, and a preliminary systems integration lab for early customer demonstrations and discovery of potential difficulties.