Next Generation Navy Ship Automation Systems Engineering From Sensors to Systems

The next generation navy ship acquisition strategy calls for the delivery of an entire system of interoperable combat and machinery platforms with supporting systems designed to meet performance-based requirements. Many systems will operate various parts of the ship, but the ship functions optimally when all its systems work properly together. For the ship function, it needs to have the right mix of these independent systems, and these systems need to cooperate with each other. This emerging "system of systems" concept involves the large-scale integration of many independent, self-contained systems in order to satisfy a global need. For Navy ships, these complex multi-systems are very interdependent. To properly design, build and integrate a system of systems type of automation suite requires a new systems engineering approach