Reformed MOSA for Ground Combat Vehicles

Abstract

Ground combat vehicles traditionally remain in service for decades, yet their rigid architectures make them costly to upgrade and slow to adapt to evolving threats. While the Department of War's 2025 Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) mandate aims to address this challenge, implementation barriers persist inconsistent vendor interpretations, physical and logical interoperability gaps, and IP complexities hinder progress. This paper proposes a reformed MOSA framework for ground vehicle Portfolio Acquisition Executives that redefines the government's role from system architect to ecosystem governor. The framework comprises four pillars: tiered standards balancing mandatory physical integration with vendor innovation, digital validation pipelines accelerating compliance verification, dynamic IP rights preventing vendor lock-in, and strategic portfolio management aligning investments with ground vehicle capability priorities. Special emphasis addresses integrating AI capabilities. This reformed approach enables rapid fielding of advanced ground vehicle capabilities at commercial innovation speed.