Industry Insights on Digital Engineering and Defense Acquisition : RAND Corporation , April 10 , 2025
Industry Insights on Digital Engineering and Defense Acquisition : RAND Corporation , April 10 , 2025
Digital engineering (DE), as defined by the U.S. Department of Defense, is an “integrated digital approach that uses authoritative sources of system data and models as a continuum across disciplines to support life cycle activities from concept through disposal.”1 DE can be seen as automated support to the systems engineering process.
In 2018, the Air Force announced a new strategy for using DE in its acquisition life cycle process. The Digital Engineering Strategy (which was updated in December 2023) emphasizes the importance of DE in improving the efficiency, effectiveness, cost, and quality of Department of the Air Force (DAF) systems. It also highlights the need for a common digital thread that connects all aspects of the acquisition process and life cycle management of weapon systems. DAF programs are now being encouraged to develop DE implementation plans at their inception.
To date, however, most DE efforts are in early stages of implementation, so there has been no empirical analysis of the extent to which DE is yielding these benefits for industry and the DAF.
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