This approach tosses together process, culture, environment, and technology to develop, field, and sustain quality products quickly and economically. A subsidiary benefit flowing from simulation based acquisition is the opportunity for the military and contractors to work much more closely together eliminating an inefficient, arm's length relationship that marked weapons development in the past.
Culture means a different way of interacting.
No longer do the players come to the table wearing poker faces. The user is no longer ignored until hardware is ready for testing. In a virtual environment, the user is involved from square one. Design to Test Officials at Oshkosh Truck Corporation, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, say that the simulation based acquisition process allowed the Army 5-ton truck to go from design to test without a hardware prototype. Dan Hancock, president of Allison Transmission, Indianapolis, says SBA is a paradigm shift, rather than an upgrade in process.