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In May 2020, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering released the “Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) Reference Frameworks in Defense Acquisition Programs.”  It states:

Successful MOSA implementations have proved that proper application of modular approaches and flexible, open-system architectures allow for system components to evolve to respond to changing “technology, threat, or interoperability need” (P.L. 114-328 2017). Accordingly, the Department is moving from unique architectures and closed systems that are inflexible and cost-prohibitive to architectures that include the use of open interface standards with modular systems to facilitate continuous adaption and upgrades (Mattis 2018).

The “Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy” (Mattis 2018) emphasized that “Interoperability is a priority for operational concepts, modular force elements, communications, information sharing, and equipment” to “strengthen and evolve our alliances and partnerships into an extended network capable of deterring or decisively acting to meet the shared challenges of our time.”

There is a common thread of agreement that implementation of MOSA will enhance resiliency in future space systems but looking back, it will also help prevent issues we’re facing with some of our legacy systems.  In a 2021 article “Is the Pentagon Serious About Implementing Open Systems Architectures,” former Assistance Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering, Mr. Stephen Welby, is quoted,

For those [legacy systems], the challenge of diminishing manufacturing sources and materiel shortages and the fact that we can often no longer find replacements for the capabilities we need to trade out to extend the life of our systems is critical. The industrial base may have gone away over time. The market for commercial components has moved on. We find ourselves increasingly challenged, and it drives the non-recurring engineering costs associated with these service life extension programs. If we were smarter about thinking about modularity and we could predict where we’d be relative to those commercial component lifecycles, we could think about making sure we’ve defined our open system interfaces in ways that bounded our exposure to many of these components and think about replacing subsystems. I think increasingly, that’s a place where we find a compelling business case for open systems.

References

• OUSD R&E, “Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) Reference Frameworks in Defense Acquisition Programs,” May 2020. MOSA-Ref-Frame-May2020.pdf (cto.mil)
• Mattis, Jim. 2018. Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America: Sharpening the American Military Competitive Edge. Washington, D.C.: Department of Defense.
• Real Clear Defense, “Is the Pentagon Serious About Implementing Open Systems Architectures?” April 6, 2021, Is The Pentagon Serious About Implementing Open Systems Architectures? | RealClearDefense

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