Major Capability Acquisition (MCA)
MAJOR CAPABILITY ACQUISITION
Activities Across Phases
Technical Reviews
Develop Strategies
Program Management
Cost Estimation/Affordability
MDD
MSA PHASE
Develop Requirements
Analysis of Alternatives
Study Contracts
Milestone A
TMRR PHASE
Mature Requirements
Prototype Contracts
Prototyping
Develop Preliminary Design
CDD Validation
Dev RFP Release Decision
Milestone B
EMD PHASE
Development Contracts
Complete System Design
Develop System
Developmental Testing
Milestone C
P&D PHASE
Production Contracts
Low Rate Initial Production
Operational Testing
FRP Decision
Full Rate Production/Deployment
O&S PHASE
Sustainment Contracts
Sustain System
IOC/FOC
Full Rate Production or Full Deployment
How to use this site
Each page in this pathway presents a wealth of curated knowledge from acquisition policies, guides, templates, training, reports, websites, case studies, and other resources. It also provides a framework for functional experts and practitioners across DoD to contribute to the collective knowledge base. This site aggregates official DoD policies, guides, references, and more.
DoD and Service policy is indicated by a BLUE vertical line.
Directly quoted material is preceeded with a link to the Reference Source.
Reference Source: DAG CH 4-3.4 FRP&D Phase
During the Production and Deployment (P&D) phase, the sustainment function in the program shifts from planning to execution and oversight. The PM, with support from the PS IPT, executes the planned delivery, verification, and deployment of the product support package to support the early production items. The PM refines and executes plans for initial fielding of the product support package for Operational Test events, IOC, interim support, and transition to FOC. Supply support and depot maintenance capabilities are put in place, and PSAs (such as Interim Contractor Support contracts, Public Private Partnerships, and Performance-Based Logistics [PBL] arrangements) are executed and monitored to ensure that providers are achieving required performance.
LCSP Focus
- Fielding plan details and adjustments
- Logistics assessments
- How sustainment performance requirements will be measured, managed, assessed and reported (Availability/ Reliability/ Maintainability/ Affordability)
- Identification of Sustainment Risks/Issues and Resolutions
- Design demonstrated/Early Fielding Issues
- Analytical and management processes for:
- Refining product support package elements
- Fielded performance management and metrics
- Cost drivers and availability degraders
- Refinement of Resource Requirements/Workload Estimates/Cost Estimates
- Should Cost Initiatives
Sustainment planning during FRP&D centers on incorporating lessons learned from beginning phases of implementing the product support package, refining the fielding plan, and contracting for sustainment.
The PM uses the LCSP during this phase to manage the program’s fielding efforts and to execute the required product support infrastructure, including PSAs, maintenance and supply capabilities, and sustaining engineering and logistics functions. The PM updates the LCSP based on results from logistics evaluation reports on operating procedures, maintenance procedures, maintenance analysis reports, and Packing, Handling, Storage, and Transportation (PHST) verification reports. Key elements include: Support equipment requirements, unique support equipment (Organization, Intermediate, and Depot), and provisioning for common and unique support equipment.
During this phase, the system design requirements are verified and validated for operational suitability. Feedback from initial operational testing may require re-analysis of product support elements within the product support package. Initial fielding may also reveal system design deficiencies, which may require engineering changes that affect product support.