Cost-efficiency of simulation-based acquisition

Reduction of risks and acquisition delays is a major issue for procurement services, as it contributes directly to the cost and availability of the system. A new approach, know as simulation-based acquisition (SBA) has been used increasingly within the last past years. In this paper, we address cost-effectiveness issues of SBA. Using the standard cost estimates familiar to program managers, we show first that the cost overhead of using SBA instead of a "conservative" approach is cancelled and turned into a financial gain as soon as the first unforeseen event arises. Then, we show that reuse within SBA of a system-of-systems induces financial gains which give the design of the encompassing meta-system for free.