Strategic Force Multiplier for Aerospace and Defense
Trace through the digital thread
At Forward Engineering, we transform requirements from static documents into dynamic, data-driven assets. We provide disciplined digital requirements development, analysis, and management for complex systems, subsystems, and systems-of-systems across the Air, Space, and Sea domains.
Our MBSE-centric approach ensures every requirement is clear, testable, and bi-directionally traceable through the digital thread—from the initial CONOPS model to final Verification, Validation, and Certification (VV&C). This process finds errors in the model, not in the field.
Requirements Framework (Oversight and Execution)
- Strategic Elicitation & Definition: We lead the stakeholder engagements to extract the real needs from government customers and warfighters. We translate vague operational desires into sharp, technically verifiable "shall" statements. We direct the process, ensuring the "Voice of the Customer" is technically sound.
- Digital Traceability & Allocation: We architect the requirements schema. We ensure a flawless digital thread from high-level Mission Needs Statements (MNS) down to system, subsystem, and component specifications. We oversee the allocation logic to ensure no requirement is "orphaned" and every design decision is justified.
- Tool Implementation & Governance (DOORS, Cameo, Jama): We define the strategy for your requirements management tools. whether you use IBM DOORS, Cameo, or Jama, we establish the schema, attributes, and workflows for success. For execution, we deploy our specialists to handle the day-to-day administration, linking, and database management.
- Verification & Validation (V&V) Strategy: Requirements are useless if they cannot be tested. We leverage our deep Test & Evaluation (T&E) background to embed verification methods into the requirements phase. We ensure every requirement is written with a clear path to test, reducing risk at the end of the program.
- Agile Requirements & Change Management: We provide the governance for managing change. When the threat environment shifts, we lead the impact analysis to determine exactly how changes ripple through the system. We deploy our team to execute the updates, ensuring the baseline remains stable and configuration-controlled.
Mission Impact & Key Advantages
- Eliminate Costly Late-Stage Rework: By digitizing and validating requirements early, we identify conflicts, gaps, and ambiguities before metal is cut or code is written. We stop the "requirements churn" that historically drains budgets and delays Critical Design Reviews (CDRs).
- Guarantee Mission Traceability: We ensure every single technical requirement traces directly back to a validated operational need or threat. This eliminates "requirements creep" and ensures the engineering team is solving the right problem for the warfighter, not just checking a compliance box.
- Accelerate Verification & Acceptance: We structure requirements to be verifiable from day one. By linking every "shall" statement to a clear test method and success criteria within the digital model, we streamline the path through Test & Evaluation (T&E) and government acceptance.
- Enable Rapid Impact Analysis: When mission needs or funding profiles change—as they always do—a digital requirements baseline allows for instant impact analysis. We can immediately visualize how a change affects the entire system, enabling faster, safer, and more informed program pivots.
Contact Us for RFI's or RFP
Forward Engineering, LLC kward@fwdengllc.com
