Question
How soon before Milestone B should a System Readiness Review (SRR) be conducted? Our SRR may be delayed, and we're trying to determine the impact on Milestone B. Please advise.
Answer
It really depends on what criteria they have agreed upon to be completed for the MS B. The reviews, SRR to PDR, are part of the requirement of the program office to manage technical risk.
The milestone should be viewed as event driven so you would normally see an SRR followed by an SFR and a PDR prior to MSB in the TMRR phase. Is the SRR completed in time for the remaining required reviews to be completed? The PDR is identified as required in United States Code 2366b below -
United States Code § 2366b. Major defense acquisition programs: certification required before Milestone B approval
(a) Certifications and Determination Required.—
A major defense acquisition program may not receive Milestone B approval until the milestone decision authority—
(1) has received a preliminary design review and conducted a formal post-preliminary design review assessment, and certifies on the basis of such assessment that the program demonstrates a high likelihood of accomplishing its intended mission;
(2) further certifies that the technology in the program has been demonstrated in a relevant environment, as determined by the milestone decision authority on the basis of an independent review and technical risk assessment conducted under section 2448b of this title;
(3) determines in writing that—
(A) the program is affordable when considering the ability of the Department of Defense to accomplish the program’s mission using alternative systems;
(B) appropriate trade-offs among cost, schedule, technical feasibility, and performance objectives have been made to ensure that the program is affordable when considering the per unit cost and the total life-cycle cost;
(C) reasonable cost and schedule estimates have been developed to execute, with the concurrence of the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, the product development and production plan under the program;
(D) the estimated procurement unit cost for the program and the estimated date for initial operational capability for the baseline description for the program (established under section 2435) do not exceed the program cost and fielding targets established under section 2448a(a) of this title, or, if such estimated cost is higher than the program cost targets or if such estimated date is later than the fielding target, the program cost targets have been increased or the fielding target has been delayed by the Secretary of Defense after a request for such increase or delay by the milestone decision authority;
(E) funding is expected to be available to execute the product development and production plan for the program, consistent with the estimates described in subparagraph (C) for the program;
(F) appropriate market research has been conducted prior to technology development to reduce duplication of existing technology and products;
(G) the Department of Defense has completed an analysis of alternatives with respect to the program;
(H) the Joint Requirements Oversight Council has accomplished its duties with respect to the program pursuant to section 181(b) of this title, including an analysis of the operational requirements for the program;
(I) life-cycle sustainment planning, including corrosion prevention and mitigation planning, has identified and evaluated relevant sustainment costs throughout development, production, operation, sustainment, and disposal of the program, and any alternatives, and that such costs are reasonable and have been accurately estimated;
(J) an estimate has been made of the requirements for core logistics capabilities and the associated sustaining workloads required to support such requirements;
(K) there is a plan to mitigate and account for any costs in connection with any anticipated de-certification of cryptographic systems and components during the production and procurement of the major defense acquisition program to be acquired;
(L) the program complies with all relevant policies, regulations, and directives of the Department of Defense;
(M) the Secretary of the military department concerned and the Chief of the armed force concerned concur in the trade-offs made in accordance with subparagraph (B); and
(N) the requirements of section 2446b(e) of this title are met; and
(4) in the case of a space system, performs a cost benefit analysis for any new or follow-on satellite system using a dedicated ground control system instead of a shared ground control system, except that no cost benefit analysis is required to be performed under this paragraph for any Milestone B approval of a space system after December 31, 2019.
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