26 CrossTalk—November/December 2013 REAL-TIME INFORMATION ASSURANCE

Abstract. As the U.S. military shifts its focus from metal and mechanics to de-veloping and integrating control systems—unmanned vehicles, drones, and smart bombs—delivering advanced software-enabled systems affordably will become a vital success factor in weaponry. Technology is a strategic weapon indispensable to the viability of virtually all in-dustries and organizations. Nowhere is this truer than in the military and the DoD. The DoD is well known for its hardware-based weaponry, which is unmistakable in aircraft, satellites, missiles, and other systems in its arsenal for defending the country. Now, the military is shifting its emphasis from hardware to software. More specifically, the DoD wants to better manage the development of software that plays a growing role in national security, while improving the affordability and quality of this increasingly crucial element of modern weapon systems. This shift will require the DoD to alter its perspective, processes, and capabili-ties to avoid the increasing costs associated with software development, modern-ization, and sustainment. Failure to make these changes will burden the country’s capabilities and force the military to operate under complex and tangled systems that will cost billions of dollars to revamp. As one U.S. Air Force general explains it, “The B-52 was judged by the quality of its sheet metal; the F-35 will be judged by the quality of its software.