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 AV/MSA Interface Definition 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. The Cross-Organizational Collaboration Team, comprised fourteen (14) qualified VLC members, collectively analyzed, developed, validated, and delivered a Specification of the AV/MSA Interface with Unlimited Rights (with no proprietary data/information).
The AV/MSA Interface Definition is purposely aligned with the DoD MOSA to promote simplified sustainment and opportunities for enhanced open competition and innovation.The resulting product is positioned to inform other Government S&T and Acquisition activities, and will be useful for and can evolve to support the needs of JMR Technology Demonstrator (TD) efforts, JMR MSAD Capstone Demonstration, follow-on Integrated Mission Equipment (IME), and to inform the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) acquisition strategy.