Perspectives on Defense Systems Analysis

A guide to defense systems analysis by experts who have worked on systems that range from air defense to space defense.

The Department of Defense and the military continually grapple with complex scientific, engineering, and technological problems. Defense systems analysis offers a way to reach a clearer understanding of how to approach and think about complex problems. It guides analysts in defining the question, capturing previous work in the area, assessing the principal issues, and understanding how they are linked. The goal of defense systems analysis is not necessarily to find a particular solution but to provide a roadmap to a solution, or an understanding of the relative value of alternative solutions. In this book, experts in the field—all of them with more than twenty years of experience—offer insights, advice, and concrete examples to guide practitioners in the art of defense systems analysis.

The book describes general issues in systems analysis and analysis protocols in specific defense areas. It offers a useful overview of the process, a discussion of different venues, and practical advice running a study and reporting its results. It discusses red teaming (the search for vulnerabilities that might be exploited by an adversary) and its complement, blue teaming (the search for solutions to known shortcomings). It describes real-world defense systems analysis for both traditional and nontraditional areas, including air defense and ballistic missile defense systems, bioterrorism defense, space warfare, and interplanetary communications. Perspectives on Defense Systems Analysis is a very readable resource for analysts and engineers in industry, government, and research.

William P. Delaney is the Director's Office Fellow and former Assistant Director at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, a former Assistant Director and a former member of the Office of the Secretary of Defense for R&D in Air, Missile and Space Defense.