The US Government (USG) desires the ability to procure mission system capabilities separate from the procurement of the air vehicle for future acquisition projects. To achieve this goal, the USG acquired support from the Vertical Lift Consortium (VLC) to collaboratively develop an interface specification consistent with the tenets of a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA). The VLC collaboration team was formed to include a diverse group of companies and subject matter experts (SMEs) that span aircraft developers, systems integrators, suppliers, and academic institutions to obtain the broadest possible consensus on the end products.
This paper introduces the concept of the AV/MSA Interface Definition (ID). It describes the approach used to develop the Specifications using model-based systems engineering (MBSE) tools and processes, and presents the objectives and results of each AV/MSA ID Task and Sub-task. It discusses the application of the AV/MSA Interface Definition to aviation programs as part of a larger and longer term U.S. Army MOSA Transformation, positioned to support next-generation aircraft designs for the air vehicle (AV) and mission systems architecture (MSA) hosting aircraft avionics.