Executive summary:
Defense contractors face mounting pressure to deliver adaptable systems at the speed of technological change. China develops and fields capabilities five to six times faster than the U.S., according to a recent DoD assessment. To maintain technological superiority, the Department of Defense has mandated a modular open systems approach (MOSA) for major defense acquisitions.
Talbot West champions a MOSA-compliant paradigm to AI implementation. We call it “cognitive hive AI,” or CHAI. It’s an explainable, configurable, adaptable paradigm for deploying AI systems. If you’re interested in a MOSA approach to AI deployment, let’s talk.
MOSA is an integrated business and technical strategy that breaks down monolithic systems into modules connected by open interfaces. Traditional defense systems often function as tightly integrated units that resist modification or upgrading. These systems take years to develop and often face obsolescence before achieving full operational capability.
MOSA addresses this problem through modularity and standardization. Like a modern smartphone that can download new apps or upgrade components independently, MOSA-compliant systems can integrate new capabilities without system-wide redesign.
The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act mandated MOSA for major defense acquisitions because:
MOSA is based on the following five pillars:
Let’s look at each of these in more detail.
Creating an enabling environment means fundamentally reshaping how organizations approach system development and acquisition. This goes far beyond technical specifications to encompass the entire organizational ecosystem.
The environment must integrate development and operations while enabling phased technology insertion and secure data sharing. Organizations need to transform their requirements, business practices, and management approaches to align with MOSA principles. This includes developing clear contracting language that mandates MOSA compliance and crafting data rights strategies that protect both government and industry interests.
Success requires strategic use of incentives, such as tying fees to verified MOSA compliance or linking sustainment support to delivery of technical data rights. Organizations must also invest in training programs and infrastructure that support modular development practices.
Modular design creates highly cohesive, loosely coupled, and self-contained components. Each module should contain everything necessary for its function while limiting itself to only related components. This approach emphasizes clear boundaries and minimal external dependencies.
The core principle of modularity is that each module represents a single relevant concept and hides its implementation details behind well-defined interfaces. This encapsulation enables parallel development efforts and accommodates future uncertainty. Modules can be separately procured from independent vendors, tested and validated independently, and updated or replaced without disrupting the broader system.
This approach contrasts sharply with traditional systems where components are tightly interwoven. MOSA's modular design philosophy enables innovation by allowing different vendors to compete at the module level, while ensuring that individual improvements can be integrated without system-wide redesign.
Key interfaces serve as the critical boundaries between major system components, whether between platforms, between components, or between platforms and their components. These interfaces require precise definition and thorough documentation to enable true interoperability.
Each interface must specify not just its technical parameters but its semantic meaning - what the interface does and how it behaves. This documentation includes machine-readable definitions and clear descriptions of how the interface relates to existing standards. Version control and compatibility management ensure that systems can evolve while maintaining functional connections.
The success of MOSA depends heavily on these interfaces being stable, accessible, and verifiable. When properly implemented, they allow programs to maintain current functionality while incrementally improving capabilities through module updates and replacements.
MOSA relies on standards that have broad industry support and validation from recognized organizations. The Defense Standardization Program has established MOSS (Modular Open Standards and Specifications) as a dedicated repository for MOSA-enabling standards, including everything from interface specifications to implementation practices.
These standards must be mature, proven in use, and regularly maintained. They should enable interoperability across vendors while facilitating technology insertion and system evolution. The focus on open standards reduces dependency on proprietary solutions while promoting competition and innovation.
Standard selection requires careful evaluation of industry support, technical maturity, and long-term viability. Programs must balance the benefits of newer standards against the stability of established ones, always keeping in mind the goal of reducing lifecycle costs while maintaining system effectiveness.
Conformance certification moves beyond basic interoperability testing to verify that modules fully implement standard interfaces and behaviors as specified. This process requires clear criteria, robust verification procedures, and regular revalidation as systems evolve.
Programs must develop specific measures of effectiveness and performance that reflect their operational requirements while ensuring compliance with MOSA principles. Testing should verify not just interface implementation but also functional behavior, performance requirements, and security controls.
The goal of certification isn't just to ensure quality - it's to enable competition while maintaining reliability. Regular revalidation ensures that systems maintain compliance as they evolve, protecting the benefits of the MOSA approach throughout the system lifecycle.
MOSA fundamentally transforms how defense systems are acquired, maintained, and upgraded. As implementations mature across programs, the benefits compound through a growing ecosystem of compatible modules and experienced vendors.
Traditional defense acquisitions often result in vendor lock, where single contractors control proprietary interfaces. This monopoly position leads to inflated prices and slow innovation cycles. MOSA breaks this cycle by enabling competition at the module level. The U.S. Navy's Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical System demonstrates this benefit - its open architecture allowed multiple vendors to bid on system components, driving down costs while accelerating innovation.
The U.S. Army's Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) showcases MOSA's impact on deployment speed. Using a government-owned base kit, MAPS rapidly integrates new sensors and countermeasures as threats emerge. Rather than waiting years for complete system upgrades, defense organizations can deploy improvements as individual modules become ready. This agility proves crucial in an era of rapidly evolving threats.
When components are clearly separated with standardized interfaces, maintenance becomes more efficient and cost-effective. The Hardware Open Systems Technology (HOST) initiative demonstrates this advantage - HOST-compliant systems enable quick module replacement without affecting other components. This modularity reduces downtime and simplifies logistics through standardized replacement parts.
MOSA's standardized interfaces naturally promote cross-system compatibility. The Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) consortium shows how this works - FACE-compliant software components can be reused across different aircraft platforms, reducing development costs while ensuring systems work together effectively.
Modules developed for one program can be rapidly adapted for others, spreading development costs across multiple applications. This reuse accelerates innovation while reducing costs. The Defense Standardization Program's Modular Open Standards and Specifications (MOSS) repository accelerates this sharing by providing a central source for MOSA-enabling standards.
As vendors gain experience with MOSA standards and practices, integration expertise builds across the industrial base. This expanding knowledge pool makes each new implementation more efficient than the last. Competition intensifies as more vendors develop MOSA capabilities, driving continued innovation and cost reduction.
Standardized interfaces and well-documented requirements make it easier for new vendors to enter the market. This increased competition spurs innovation while giving defense programs more options for capability development and sustainment.
MOSA's benefits compound over time through network effects. Each successful implementation expands the ecosystem of compatible modules, experienced vendors, and proven standards. Programs implementing MOSA today both benefit from and contribute to this growing ecosystem.
The creation of the MOSS standardization area further accelerates these benefits by encouraging convergence on common approaches. This standardization helps programs identify and implement appropriate standards while reducing fragmentation in the industrial base.
Organizations that embrace MOSA position themselves to leverage a broadening ecosystem of innovation while maintaining control of their technical baseline. The documented successes across multiple programs and domains demonstrate that MOSA delivers measurable, sustained benefits in cost, speed, and capability.
The success of MOSA has been extensively documented across multiple defense programs. Let's examine some key implementations that demonstrate its concrete benefits.
The Vehicle Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY) initiative shows how MOSA principles transform ground vehicle electronics integration. Before VICTORY, each new electronic system required its own display, processors, and power systems. This "bolt-on" approach led to increased size, weight, and power consumption while limiting interoperability.
VICTORY's standardized data bus architecture enables vehicles to share hardware resources like displays and processors. This sharing has achieved documented reductions in integration costs and timeline compression for new capabilities. When the Army needed to add new electronic warfare capabilities to existing vehicles, VICTORY-compliant systems integrated in weeks rather than months.
The Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) framework demonstrates MOSA's value for rapid capability insertion. MAPS uses a government-owned base kit that can quickly incorporate different sensors and countermeasures. Key achievements include:
The MAPS framework has validated MOSA's ability to speed development cycles. Its reference implementation guide helps developers leverage the architecture for new active protection systems, while its compliance test suite ensures reliable integration of new modules. This standardization has led to documented acceleration in deploying new protective capabilities against emerging threats.
The Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) initiative has revolutionized avionics software development. The Navy has documented significant cost savings through software reuse across different aircraft platforms. FACE-conformant components have demonstrated portability between different systems, reducing development time for new capabilities.
The FACE technical standard enables rapid integration of new avionics functions while maintaining backward compatibility. This approach has proven particularly valuable for upgrading legacy aircraft with modern capabilities without complete system overhauls.
The C4ISR/EW Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) shows how MOSA enables hardware consolidation and rapid technology insertion.
By standardizing hardware interfaces and form factors, CMOSS allows rapid insertion of new capabilities while reducing the physical footprint of electronics systems. The initiative has documented reductions in size, weight, and power consumption while improving the speed of capability upgrades.
The Air Force's Open Mission Systems (OMS) initiative demonstrates MOSA's impact on aircraft systems integration. OMS has enabled rapid integration of new sensors and mission systems across multiple aircraft types. The standardized interfaces have reduced integration timelines and costs while enabling competition among vendors for system upgrades.
Cognitive hive AI (CHAI) extends MOSA principles to artificial intelligence implementation. Like MOSA, CHAI uses modular architecture and open standards to create flexible, explainable AI systems. This approach breaks AI capabilities into discrete modules that can be independently developed, tested, and deployed.
The modular nature of CHAI enables the following advantages:
At Talbot West, we specialize in implementing CHAI solutions through our CHAI architecture. Our team brings deep expertise in both defense systems and artificial intelligence. We guide organizations through the entire process, from assessing needs and designing architectures to selecting standards and developing governance frameworks. Our approach ensures secure deployment with ongoing monitoring and optimization.
Implementing MOSA sometimes requires higher upfront investment than traditional approaches. However, these costs are typically offset by reduced lifecycle costs through increased competition, simplified maintenance, and faster capability insertion. The key is taking a long-term view of system costs rather than focusing solely on initial development.
Well-designed modular systems can match or exceed the performance of traditional integrated systems. While poorly implemented modularity might introduce overhead, proper interface design and system architecture minimize these impacts. Programs like the Army's MAPS demonstrate that MOSA can deliver high performance while maintaining flexibility.
Modularity refers to breaking systems into independent, self-contained components. "Open" refers to using publicly available, consensus-based standards for interfaces between those modules. A system can be modular without being open (using proprietary interfaces), but MOSA requires both characteristics to enable true competition and innovation.
MOSA includes specific provisions for security. The architecture can incorporate security controls at module boundaries, and interface standards include security requirements. Programs can implement different security levels for different modules while maintaining overall system security. The key is designing security into the architecture from the start rather than adding it later.
The best time to implement MOSA is at program inception, when architectural decisions have the most impact. However, existing programs can adopt MOSA principles incrementally during major upgrades or technology refresh cycles. The key is developing a clear transition strategy that balances immediate needs with long-term MOSA benefits.
MOSA requires careful balance of government and industry intellectual property rights. While interface specifications must be open and available, vendors can maintain proprietary implementation details within modules. Programs need clear data rights strategies that protect both government interests and industry investment in innovation.
The choice of standards depends on your specific domain and requirements. The Defense Standardization Program's MOSS repository provides a starting point for identifying relevant standards. Programs should prioritize widely supported, mature standards that align with their technical and business objectives.
Programs need robust conformance testing and verification processes. This includes clear requirements in contracts, specific conformance criteria, and regular testing throughout development and deployment. Many successful MOSA implementations tie contract incentives to verified MOSA compliance.
Yes, MOSA has been successfully implemented in safety-critical systems including aircraft and combat vehicles. The key is incorporating safety requirements into interface standards and ensuring proper verification of safety-critical modules. The FACE consortium demonstrates how MOSA can work in safety-critical avionics.
Successful MOSA implementation requires a mix of technical and business expertise. Teams need understanding of:
Many organizations work with experienced partners to build internal MOSA expertise over time.
Initial benefits such as increased competition can appear quickly, while others like reduced lifecycle costs accumulate over time. Programs typically see significant advantages within their first major upgrade or technology insertion cycle. The key is maintaining consistent MOSA implementation to realize long-term strategic benefits.
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