ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-8:2019

• Abstract:

  This document establishes the requirements for technical reviews and audits to be performed throughout the acquisition life cycle for the US Department of Defense (DoD) and other defense agencies. This document provides the definition, description, and intent, as well as the entry, exit and success criteria, for each technical review and audit. It is to be used to establish agreement between acquirers and suppliers on the technical reviews and audits that are needed for the project, as well as the focus and expectations of each technical review and audit.

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 05-Feb-2019
• ICS: 35.080 - Software
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 - Software and systems engineering
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 - Software and systems engineering
• Current Stage: 9092 - International Standard to be revised
• Start Date: 04-Mar-2025
• Completion Date: 29-Aug-2026

• Revised: ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 24748-8 - Systems and software engineering — Life cycle management — Part 8: Technical reviews and audits on defence programs
• Effective Date: 08-Mar-2025

Overview

ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-8:2019 - Systems and software engineering - Life cycle management - Part 8: Technical reviews and audits on defense programs - defines requirements for technical reviews and audits across the acquisition life cycle for the US Department of Defense (DoD) and other defense agencies. The standard provides definitions, descriptions, and intent, and specifies entry, exit and success criteria for each review and audit. It is intended to establish clear agreement between acquirers and suppliers on which technical reviews and audits are required and what each should focus on.

Key Topics

• Scope and purpose of technical reviews and audits within defense acquisition programs
• Definitions and intent for each review/audit type to ensure common understanding
• Entry, exit and success criteria that define when a review starts, when it is complete, and what constitutes success
• Common review and audit types (identified in the standard):
  • System Requirements Review (SRR)
  • Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
  • Critical Design Review (CDR)
  • Integration Readiness Review (IRR)
  • Test Readiness Review (TRR) and Flight Readiness Review (FRR)
  • Production Readiness Review (PRR)
  • System Verification Review (SVR)
  • Functional and Physical Configuration Audits (FCA/PCA)
  • Software Requirements and Architecture Review and Software Specification Review
• Use of reviews/audits to form acquirer–supplier agreements about expectations, scope and evidence required
• Emphasis on repeatable, auditable processes to support defense program accountability and risk reduction

Applications

• Program managers and systems engineers use ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-8:2019 to plan and schedule mandatory technical reviews and audits during the defense acquisition life cycle.
• Suppliers and contractors use it to understand entry/exit criteria and prepare deliverables for reviews such as PDR, CDR and TRR.
• Auditors and compliance teams apply the standard to verify that technical maturity, verification, and production readiness milestones are met.
• Useful in contract development to codify review expectations in Statements of Work or acquisition plans for DoD and other defense agencies.

Related Standards

• IEEE Std 15288.2™-2014 (IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews and Audits on Defense Programs) - the IEEE-originated standard incorporated in the ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-8:2019 publication.
• ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748 (life cycle management series) - part of the broader life cycle management family addressing processes and guidance.

ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-8:2019 is essential for defense acquisition stakeholders seeking consistent, auditable frameworks for technical reviews and audits that reduce program risk and align acquirer–supplier expectations.

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC/
STANDARD IEEE
24748-8
First edition
2019-02
Systems and software engineering —
Life cycle management —
Part 8:
Technical reviews and audits on
defense programs
Ingénierie des systèmes et du logiciel — Gestion du cycle de vie —
Partie 8: Revues techniques et audits des programmes de défense
Reference number
©
IEEE 2015
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Foreword
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IEEE Std 15288.2™-2014
IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews
and Audits on Defense Programs
Sponsor
Software & Systems Engineering Standards Committee
of the
IEEE Computer Society
Approved 10 December 2014
IEEE-SA Standards Board
Abstract: The requirements for technical reviews and audits to be performed throughout the
acquisition life cycle for the US Department of Defense (DoD) and other defense agencies are
established in this standard. This standard provides the definition, description, and intent, as well
as the entry/exit/success criteria, for each technical review and audit. It is to be used to establish
agreement between acquirers and suppliers on the technical reviews and audits that are needed
for the project, as well as the focus and expectations of each.
Keywords: 15288, acquirer-supplier agreement, alternative systems review, critical design
review, defense acquisition program, defense acquisition program life cycle, flight readiness
review, functional configuration audit, IEEE 15288.2™, integration readiness review, physical
configuration audit, preliminary design review, production readiness review, software
requirements and architecture review, software specification review, system functional review,
system requirements review, system verification review, technical audit, technical review, test
readiness review
•
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PDF: ISBN 978-0-7381-9535-3 STD20106
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Participants
At the time this IEEE standard was completed, the DoD Systems Engineering Standardization Joint
Working Group had the following membership:
Garry Roedler, Chair
David Davis, Vice Chair
Bill Bearden John Evers Larry Pennell
Dave Berwald Ronald Fradenburg Chris Ptachik
Tom Channell Mark Henley Bob Scheurer
Dan Christensen Theresa Hunt John Schnackenberg
Stephen Christensen Cheryl Jones Brian Shaw
Luke Daniels Ed Matheson Zachary Taylor
Geoff Draper Revis Napier Gan Wang
The following members of the individual balloting committee voted on this standard. Balloters may have
voted for approval, disapproval, or abstention.
Bill Bearden Hannibal Iyob Brian Shaw
Bill Brown Cheryl Jones Carl Singer
Susan Burgess Piotr Karocki David Singleton
William Byrd Yuri Khersonsky John Snoderly
Tom Channell Dewitt Latimer Eugene Stoudenmire
Dan Christensen James Moore Walter Struppler
Stephen Christensen Edward Moshinsky Marcy Stutzman
Luke Daniels Revis Napier Michael Swearingen
David Davis Olileanya Ogbonna Zachary Taylor
Robert Epps Larry Pennell David Walden
Alan Fitzmorris Chris Ptachik Gan Wang
Ronald Fradenburg Annette Reilly Nancy Weaver
Randall Groves
William Riski Clifford Whitcomb
Denise Haskins Garry Roedler Michael Yokell
Mark Henley Bartien Sayogo Matthew Young
Theresa Hunt Bob Scheurer Kenneth Zemrowski
Noriyuki Ikeuchi John Schnackenberg David Zhong
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When the IEEE-SA Standards Board approved this standard on 10 December 2014, it had the following
membership:
John Kulick, Chair
Jon Walter Rosdahl, Vice Chair
Richard H. Hulett, Past Chair
Konstantinos Karachalios, Secretary
Peter Balma Michael Janezic Ron Peterson
Farooq Bari Jeffrey Katz Adrian Stephens
Ted Burse Joseph L. Koepfinger* Peter Sutherland
Clint Chaplain David J. Law Yatin Trivedi
Stephen Dukes Hung Ling Phil Winston
Jean-Phillippe Faure Oleg Logvinov Don Wright
Gary Hoffman
T. W. Olsen Yu Yuan
Glenn Parsons
*Member Emeritus
Also included are the following nonvoting IEEE-SA Standards Board liaisons:
Richard DeBlasio, DOE Representative
Michael Janezic, NIST Representative
Catherine Berger
IEEE-SA Content Production and Management
Malia Zaman
IEEE-SA Technical Program Operations

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Introduction
This introduction is not part of IEEE Std 15288.2-2014, IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews and Audits on Defense
Programs.
For effective and efficient application of ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 on defense programs, additional
requirements are needed for the assessment of those programs. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 is written in a general
manner to address all types of systems and different modes of application. Thus, it does not have
requirements specific to the use by defense projects that facilitate effective implementation of an acquirer-
supplier agreement, such as use in DoD contracts. This standard responds to the needs of DoD and other
defense agencies to have more specific and detailed requirements for technical reviews and audits as part of
the assessment of projects during the life cycle.
The requirements and guidance in this standard have been written at the most general level possible so that
they might meet not only DoD’s needs but also those of other defense agencies, either by direct application
or by tailoring for an agency’s specific needs.
This standard was developed with input from government and non-government resources. This standard
does not supersede or supplant any other law, regulation, directive, contractual provision, or requirement.
Accordingly, users of this standard must verify, conform and complete the technical review and audit of
any governmental programs to meet the requirements specified by the government at the time of the
technical review and audit. The user is instructed to consult the governmental contact or commissioning
party for specific instructions and requirements, which may be different from this standard. Users may also
have to comply with other applicable laws, regulations, and agency requirements in the undertaking and
completion of any such technical reviews and audits, including but not limited to confidentiality, security
clearance, access to protected areas, and document management. It is the user’s responsibility to determine
all applicable laws and requirements.
x i i
© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

Contents
1. Overview . 1
1.1 Scope . 1
1.2 Purpose . 1
1.3 Field of application . 2
1.4 Organization of this standard . 2
1.5 Conformance . 3
2. Normative references . 4
3. Definitions, acronyms, and abbreviations . 4
3.1 Definitions . 4
3.2 Acronyms and abbreviations . 5
4. Overview of technical reviews and audits . 9
4.1 Technical reviews and audits defined . 9
4.2 The role of technical reviews and audits in the US DoD acquisition life cycle . 9
4.3 Technical reviews and audits in the context of Technical Management processes . 9
4.4 Key participants for technical reviews and audits .10
4.5 Program considerations for technical reviews and audits .11
4.6 Media selection for products discussed in this standard .17
5. Requirements for technical reviews and audits .17
5.1 General .17
5.2 Alternative systems review (ASR) .19
5.3 System requirements review (SRR) .21
5.4 System functional review (SFR) .24
5.5 Preliminary design review (PDR) .26
5.6 Critical design review (CDR) .29
5.7 Test readiness review (TRR) .32
5.8 Functional configuration audit (FCA) .34
5.9 System verification review (SVR) .36
5.10 Production readiness review (PRR) .38
5.11 Physical configuration audit (PCA) .40
6. Detailed criteria to be addressed for each technical review and audit .43
6.1 General .43
6.2 Alternative systems review (ASR) detailed criteria .43
6.3 System requirements review (SRR) detailed criteria .48
6.4 System functional review (SFR) detailed criteria .55
6.5 Preliminary design review (PDR) detailed criteria .60
6.6 Critical design review (CDR) detailed criteria .69
6.7 Test readiness review (TRR) detailed criteria .77
6.8 Functional configuration audit (FCA) detailed criteria .83
6.9 System verification review (SVR) detailed criteria .87
6.10 Production readiness review (PRR) detailed criteria .92
6.11 Physical configuration audit (PCA) detailed criteria .98
7. Technical review and audit application guidance for defense programs .103
7.1 General .103
7.2 Alternative systems review (ASR) application guidance.103
7.3 System requirements review (SRR) application guidance .104
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7.4 System functional review (SFR) application guidance .105
7.5 Preliminary design review (PDR) application guidance .105
7.6 Critical design review (CDR) application guidance .106
7.7 Test readiness review (TRR) application guidance .107
7.8 Functional configuration audit (FCA) application guidance .110
7.9 System verification review (SVR) application guidance .111
7.10 Production readiness review (PRR) application guidance .112
7.11 Physical configuration audit (PCA) application guidance .113
Annex A (informative) Software requirements and architecture review (SAR) .115
A.1 General .115
A.2 Annex A purpose .115
A.3 Annex A tailoring .115
A.4 Application of Annex A content .115
A.5 Requirements for a SAR .115
A.6 SAR detailed criteria .118
A.7 SAR application guidance .124
Annex B (informative) Software specification review (SSR) .126
B.1 General .126
B.2 Annex B purpose .126
B.3 Annex B tailoring .126
B.4 Application of Annex B content .126
B.5 Requirements for an SSR .126
B.6 SSR detailed criteria .129
B.7 SSR application guidance .134
Annex C (informative) Integration readiness review (IRR) .135
C.1 General .135
C.2 Annex C purpose .135
C.3 Annex C tailoring .135
C.4 Application of Annex C content .135
C.5 Requirements for an IRR .135
C.6 IRR detailed criteria .138
C.7 IRR application guidance .143
Annex D (informative) Flight readiness review (FRR) .145
D.1 General .145
D.2 Annex D purpose .145
D.3 Annex D tailoring .145
D.4 Application of annex D content .145
D.5 Requirements for an FRR .145
D.6 FRR detailed criteria .148
D.7 FRR application guidance .152
Annex E (informative) Bibliography .154

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IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews
and Audits on Defense Programs
IMPORTANT NOTICE: IEEE Standards documents are not intended to ensure safety, security, health,
or environmental protection, or ensure against interference with or from other devices or networks.
Implementers of IEEE Standards documents are responsible for determining and complying with all
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This IEEE document is made available for use subject to important notices and legal disclaimers.
These notices and disclaimers appear in all publications containing this document and may
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Concerning IEEE Documents.” They can also be obtained on request from IEEE or viewed at
http://standards.ieee.org/IPR/disclaimers.html.
1. Overview
1.1 Scope
This standard establishes the requirements for technical reviews and audits to be performed throughout the
acquisition life cycle for the US Department of Defense (DoD) and other defense agencies. This standard
provides the definition, description, and intent, as well as the entry, exit and success criteria, for each
technical review and audit. It is to be used to establish agreement between acquirers and suppliers on the
technical reviews and audits that are needed for the project, as well as the focus and expectations of each
technical review and audit.
1.2 Purpose
This standard is intended to elaborate the technical review and audit clause of ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288,
System life-cycle processes, for use by the DoD and other defense agencies in acquiring systems (and parts
thereof) or services. It amplifies ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, subclause 6.3.2.3.a, for selection, negotiation,
agreement, and performance of the necessary technical reviews and audits, while allowing tailoring
flexibility for the variety of acquisition situations/environments when the technical reviews or audits are
conducted. While primarily supporting the acquirer-supplier agreement mode, this standard also can be
used to support the other modes such as use by organizations, projects, and process assessors.

© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

IEEE Std 15288.2-2014
IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews and Audits on Defense Programs
NOTE—The acquirer-supplier mode is not necessarily limited to a government acquirer and corporate prime contractor
supplier situation. For example, a service component program executive officer (PEO) might be considered the
acquirer, and the applicable government program office/manager the supplier for internal government reviews.
Depending on how a given service or other DoD agency operates, the government might be the acquirer and their
systems engineering and technical assistance (SETA) contractor might be responsible for the conduct of a subset of the
reviews in this standard. Similarly, a defense contractor could be the acquirer and a key subcontractor could be the
supplier. In the case of a contractor’s internal research and development (R&D), corporate management could be the
acquirer and the company’s R&D organization could be the supplier.
1.3 Field of application
This standard addresses the needs of the defense community with respect to the incorporation,
implementation, and execution of technical reviews and audits. IEEE Std 15288.1-2014, the standard that
implements ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 for application on defense programs, provides the defense-specific
language and terminology to ensure the correct application of acquirer-supplier requirements for technical
reviews and audits on a defense program, while this standard provides the implementation details to fulfill
those requirements.
1.4 Organization of this standard
Subclause 1.5 defines what it means for an organization, project, or other users such as process authors and
assessors to claim conformance with this standard.
Clause 2 defines normative references, i.e., documents that are indispensable in the application of this
standard.
Clause 3 provides definitions of terms peculiar to this standard, as well as acronyms and abbreviations used
in this standard.
Clause 4 provides an overview of technical reviews and audits. It defines them, discusses their role in the
US DoD acquisition life cycle, and their support of specific ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 processes. It answers
questions such as: “What are technical reviews and audits?” “Why perform them?” “Is there a standard set
of them, and if so, what are they?”
Clause 5 specifies the minimum set of required properties for each technical review and audit that form the
basis for agreement between defense program acquirers and suppliers.
Clause 6 provides the detailed criteria to be addressed for each technical review and audit contained in
Clause 5.
Clause 7 provides, for each technical review and audit contained in Clause 5 of this standard, detailed, best-
practice guidance for applying the detailed criteria of the corresponding portion of Clause 6 of this standard
to various kinds of defense programs.
Annex A, Annex B, Annex C, and Annex D contain examples of other technical reviews that DoD
acquisition programs may find useful, based on the complexity, nature, and domain of the systems that are
being developed or acquired by those programs.
Annex E contains a bibliography.
Notes in text, tables, and figures of a standard are given for information only and do not contain requirements needed to implement
this standard.
ISO/IEC publications are available from the ISO Central Secretariat, 1, ch. de la Voie-Creuse, CP 56, CH-1211 Geneva 20,
Switzerland (http://www.iso.org/). ISO/IEC publications are available in the United States from the American National Standards
Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10036, USA (http://www.ansi.org/).

© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

IEEE Std 15288.2-2014
IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews and Audits on Defense Programs
1.5 Conformance
1.5.1 General
The requirements in this standard are contained in Clause 5 and Clause 6. This standard provides
requirements for a number of technical reviews and audits to be conducted throughout the acquisition life
cycle of a system. Since particular projects or organizations may not need to use all of the reviews and
audits provided by this standard, implementation of this standard may involve selecting a set of reviews and
audits suitable to the project or organization. There are two ways that an implementation can be claimed to
conform to the requirements of this standard. Any claim of conformance is cited in only one of the two
forms below.
NOTE— Evidence of conformance can be as simple as including traceability from the requirements in this standard to
the conforming policies, processes, and procedures. This could be provided by various means, including as a separate
section in the traceability documentation for the system requirements or in the Systems Engineering Management Plan
(SEMP).
1.5.2 Full conformance
A claim of full conformance declares the set of technical reviews and audits for which conformance is
claimed. Full conformance is achieved by providing evidence that all of the mandatory requirements of the
declared set of reviews and audits have been satisfied.
1.5.3 Tailored conformance
When this standard is used as a basis for establishing a set of technical reviews and audits that do not
qualify for full conformance, the reviews and audits in this standard are selected or modified in accordance
with the tailoring process defined in 5.1.1.2.
NOTE 1— In this document, the word shall is used to indicate a mandatory requirement. The word should is used to
indicate a recommendation. The word may is used to indicate a permissible action. The word can is used for statements
of possibility and capability.
NOTE 2— When this standard is used to help develop an agreement between an acquirer and a supplier, the contents of
Clause 5 and Clause 6 can be selected for incorporation in the agreement with or without modification. In this case, it is
more appropriate for the acquirer and supplier to claim compliance with the agreement than conformance with this
standard.
NOTE 3— The acquirer request for proposal includes the intended tailoring of the requirements in this standard.
However, the supplier may propose additional changes or alternatives during the steps to finalize the agreement.
Conformance to this standard can be claimed by a project or organization independent of a claim of
compliance to a specific agreement.

© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

IEEE Std 15288.2-2014
IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews and Audits on Defense Programs
2. Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document (i.e., they must
be understood and used, so each referenced document is cited in text and its relationship to this document is
explained). For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For unda
...

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC/
STANDARD IEEE
24748-8
First edition
2019-02
Systems and software engineering —
Life cycle management —
Part 8:
Technical reviews and audits on
defense programs
Ingénierie des systèmes et du logiciel — Gestion du cycle de vie —
Partie 8: Revues techniques et audits des programmes de défense
Reference number
©
IEEE 2015
© IEEE 2015
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting
on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO or IEEE at
the respective address below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8 3 Park Avenue, New York
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva NY 10016-5997, USA
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail] Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org Website: www.ieee.org
Published in Switzerland
© IEEE 2015 – All rights reserved
ii
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other
international organizations, governmental and non‐governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also
take part in the work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint
technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of ISO documents should be noted (see www.iso.org/directives).
IEEE Standards documents are developed within the IEEE Societies and the Standards Coordinating
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Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
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Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does
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For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
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see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748‐8 was prepared by the Software & Systems Engineering Standards Committee
of the IEEE Computer Society (as IEEE Std 15288.2) and drafted in accordance with its editorial
rules. It was adopted, under the “fast‐track procedure” defined in the Partner Standards
Development Organization cooperation agreement between ISO and IEEE, by Joint Technical
Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee SC 7, Software and systems
engineering.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
© IEEE 2015 – All rights reserved
iii
IEEE Std 15288.2™-2014
IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews
and Audits on Defense Programs
Sponsor
Software & Systems Engineering Standards Committee
of the
IEEE Computer Society
Approved 10 December 2014
IEEE-SA Standards Board
Abstract: The requirements for technical reviews and audits to be performed throughout the
acquisition life cycle for the US Department of Defense (DoD) and other defense agencies are
established in this standard. This standard provides the definition, description, and intent, as well
as the entry/exit/success criteria, for each technical review and audit. It is to be used to establish
agreement between acquirers and suppliers on the technical reviews and audits that are needed
for the project, as well as the focus and expectations of each.
Keywords: 15288, acquirer-supplier agreement, alternative systems review, critical design
review, defense acquisition program, defense acquisition program life cycle, flight readiness
review, functional configuration audit, IEEE 15288.2™, integration readiness review, physical
configuration audit, preliminary design review, production readiness review, software
requirements and architecture review, software specification review, system functional review,
system requirements review, system verification review, technical audit, technical review, test
readiness review
•
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
3 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5997, USA
All rights reserved. Published 15 May 2015. Printed in the United States of America.
IEEE is a registered trademark in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, owned by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Incorporated.
PDF: ISBN 978-0-7381-9535-3 STD20106
Print: ISBN 978-0-7381-9536-0 STDPD20106
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of the publisher.
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© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

Participants
At the time this IEEE standard was completed, the DoD Systems Engineering Standardization Joint
Working Group had the following membership:
Garry Roedler, Chair
David Davis, Vice Chair
Bill Bearden John Evers Larry Pennell
Dave Berwald Ronald Fradenburg Chris Ptachik
Tom Channell Mark Henley Bob Scheurer
Dan Christensen Theresa Hunt John Schnackenberg
Stephen Christensen Cheryl Jones Brian Shaw
Luke Daniels Ed Matheson Zachary Taylor
Geoff Draper Revis Napier Gan Wang
The following members of the individual balloting committee voted on this standard. Balloters may have
voted for approval, disapproval, or abstention.
Bill Bearden Hannibal Iyob Brian Shaw
Bill Brown Cheryl Jones Carl Singer
Susan Burgess Piotr Karocki David Singleton
William Byrd Yuri Khersonsky John Snoderly
Tom Channell Dewitt Latimer Eugene Stoudenmire
Dan Christensen James Moore Walter Struppler
Stephen Christensen Edward Moshinsky Marcy Stutzman
Luke Daniels Revis Napier Michael Swearingen
David Davis Olileanya Ogbonna Zachary Taylor
Robert Epps Larry Pennell David Walden
Alan Fitzmorris Chris Ptachik Gan Wang
Ronald Fradenburg Annette Reilly Nancy Weaver
Randall Groves
William Riski Clifford Whitcomb
Denise Haskins Garry Roedler Michael Yokell
Mark Henley Bartien Sayogo Matthew Young
Theresa Hunt Bob Scheurer Kenneth Zemrowski
Noriyuki Ikeuchi John Schnackenberg David Zhong
x
© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

When the IEEE-SA Standards Board approved this standard on 10 December 2014, it had the following
membership:
John Kulick, Chair
Jon Walter Rosdahl, Vice Chair
Richard H. Hulett, Past Chair
Konstantinos Karachalios, Secretary
Peter Balma Michael Janezic Ron Peterson
Farooq Bari Jeffrey Katz Adrian Stephens
Ted Burse Joseph L. Koepfinger* Peter Sutherland
Clint Chaplain David J. Law Yatin Trivedi
Stephen Dukes Hung Ling Phil Winston
Jean-Phillippe Faure Oleg Logvinov Don Wright
Gary Hoffman
T. W. Olsen Yu Yuan
Glenn Parsons
*Member Emeritus
Also included are the following nonvoting IEEE-SA Standards Board liaisons:
Richard DeBlasio, DOE Representative
Michael Janezic, NIST Representative
Catherine Berger
IEEE-SA Content Production and Management
Malia Zaman
IEEE-SA Technical Program Operations

xi
© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

Introduction
This introduction is not part of IEEE Std 15288.2-2014, IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews and Audits on Defense
Programs.
For effective and efficient application of ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 on defense programs, additional
requirements are needed for the assessment of those programs. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 is written in a general
manner to address all types of systems and different modes of application. Thus, it does not have
requirements specific to the use by defense projects that facilitate effective implementation of an acquirer-
supplier agreement, such as use in DoD contracts. This standard responds to the needs of DoD and other
defense agencies to have more specific and detailed requirements for technical reviews and audits as part of
the assessment of projects during the life cycle.
The requirements and guidance in this standard have been written at the most general level possible so that
they might meet not only DoD’s needs but also those of other defense agencies, either by direct application
or by tailoring for an agency’s specific needs.
This standard was developed with input from government and non-government resources. This standard
does not supersede or supplant any other law, regulation, directive, contractual provision, or requirement.
Accordingly, users of this standard must verify, conform and complete the technical review and audit of
any governmental programs to meet the requirements specified by the government at the time of the
technical review and audit. The user is instructed to consult the governmental contact or commissioning
party for specific instructions and requirements, which may be different from this standard. Users may also
have to comply with other applicable laws, regulations, and agency requirements in the undertaking and
completion of any such technical reviews and audits, including but not limited to confidentiality, security
clearance, access to protected areas, and document management. It is the user’s responsibility to determine
all applicable laws and requirements.
x i i
© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

Contents
1. Overview . 1
1.1 Scope . 1
1.2 Purpose . 1
1.3 Field of application . 2
1.4 Organization of this standard . 2
1.5 Conformance . 3
2. Normative references . 4
3. Definitions, acronyms, and abbreviations . 4
3.1 Definitions . 4
3.2 Acronyms and abbreviations . 5
4. Overview of technical reviews and audits . 9
4.1 Technical reviews and audits defined . 9
4.2 The role of technical reviews and audits in the US DoD acquisition life cycle . 9
4.3 Technical reviews and audits in the context of Technical Management processes . 9
4.4 Key participants for technical reviews and audits .10
4.5 Program considerations for technical reviews and audits .11
4.6 Media selection for products discussed in this standard .17
5. Requirements for technical reviews and audits .17
5.1 General .17
5.2 Alternative systems review (ASR) .19
5.3 System requirements review (SRR) .21
5.4 System functional review (SFR) .24
5.5 Preliminary design review (PDR) .26
5.6 Critical design review (CDR) .29
5.7 Test readiness review (TRR) .32
5.8 Functional configuration audit (FCA) .34
5.9 System verification review (SVR) .36
5.10 Production readiness review (PRR) .38
5.11 Physical configuration audit (PCA) .40
6. Detailed criteria to be addressed for each technical review and audit .43
6.1 General .43
6.2 Alternative systems review (ASR) detailed criteria .43
6.3 System requirements review (SRR) detailed criteria .48
6.4 System functional review (SFR) detailed criteria .55
6.5 Preliminary design review (PDR) detailed criteria .60
6.6 Critical design review (CDR) detailed criteria .69
6.7 Test readiness review (TRR) detailed criteria .77
6.8 Functional configuration audit (FCA) detailed criteria .83
6.9 System verification review (SVR) detailed criteria .87
6.10 Production readiness review (PRR) detailed criteria .92
6.11 Physical configuration audit (PCA) detailed criteria .98
7. Technical review and audit application guidance for defense programs .103
7.1 General .103
7.2 Alternative systems review (ASR) application guidance.103
7.3 System requirements review (SRR) application guidance .104
xiii
© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

7.4 System functional review (SFR) application guidance .105
7.5 Preliminary design review (PDR) application guidance .105
7.6 Critical design review (CDR) application guidance .106
7.7 Test readiness review (TRR) application guidance .107
7.8 Functional configuration audit (FCA) application guidance .110
7.9 System verification review (SVR) application guidance .111
7.10 Production readiness review (PRR) application guidance .112
7.11 Physical configuration audit (PCA) application guidance .113
Annex A (informative) Software requirements and architecture review (SAR) .115
A.1 General .115
A.2 Annex A purpose .115
A.3 Annex A tailoring .115
A.4 Application of Annex A content .115
A.5 Requirements for a SAR .115
A.6 SAR detailed criteria .118
A.7 SAR application guidance .124
Annex B (informative) Software specification review (SSR) .126
B.1 General .126
B.2 Annex B purpose .126
B.3 Annex B tailoring .126
B.4 Application of Annex B content .126
B.5 Requirements for an SSR .126
B.6 SSR detailed criteria .129
B.7 SSR application guidance .134
Annex C (informative) Integration readiness review (IRR) .135
C.1 General .135
C.2 Annex C purpose .135
C.3 Annex C tailoring .135
C.4 Application of Annex C content .135
C.5 Requirements for an IRR .135
C.6 IRR detailed criteria .138
C.7 IRR application guidance .143
Annex D (informative) Flight readiness review (FRR) .145
D.1 General .145
D.2 Annex D purpose .145
D.3 Annex D tailoring .145
D.4 Application of annex D content .145
D.5 Requirements for an FRR .145
D.6 FRR detailed criteria .148
D.7 FRR application guidance .152
Annex E (informative) Bibliography .154

xiv
© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews
and Audits on Defense Programs
IMPORTANT NOTICE: IEEE Standards documents are not intended to ensure safety, security, health,
or environmental protection, or ensure against interference with or from other devices or networks.
Implementers of IEEE Standards documents are responsible for determining and complying with all
appropriate safety, security, environmental, health, and interference protection practices and all
applicable laws and regulations.
This IEEE document is made available for use subject to important notices and legal disclaimers.
These notices and disclaimers appear in all publications containing this document and may
be found under the heading “Important Notice” or “Important Notices and Disclaimers
Concerning IEEE Documents.” They can also be obtained on request from IEEE or viewed at
http://standards.ieee.org/IPR/disclaimers.html.
1. Overview
1.1 Scope
This standard establishes the requirements for technical reviews and audits to be performed throughout the
acquisition life cycle for the US Department of Defense (DoD) and other defense agencies. This standard
provides the definition, description, and intent, as well as the entry, exit and success criteria, for each
technical review and audit. It is to be used to establish agreement between acquirers and suppliers on the
technical reviews and audits that are needed for the project, as well as the focus and expectations of each
technical review and audit.
1.2 Purpose
This standard is intended to elaborate the technical review and audit clause of ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288,
System life-cycle processes, for use by the DoD and other defense agencies in acquiring systems (and parts
thereof) or services. It amplifies ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, subclause 6.3.2.3.a, for selection, negotiation,
agreement, and performance of the necessary technical reviews and audits, while allowing tailoring
flexibility for the variety of acquisition situations/environments when the technical reviews or audits are
conducted. While primarily supporting the acquirer-supplier agreement mode, this standard also can be
used to support the other modes such as use by organizations, projects, and process assessors.

© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

IEEE Std 15288.2-2014
IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews and Audits on Defense Programs
NOTE—The acquirer-supplier mode is not necessarily limited to a government acquirer and corporate prime contractor
supplier situation. For example, a service component program executive officer (PEO) might be considered the
acquirer, and the applicable government program office/manager the supplier for internal government reviews.
Depending on how a given service or other DoD agency operates, the government might be the acquirer and their
systems engineering and technical assistance (SETA) contractor might be responsible for the conduct of a subset of the
reviews in this standard. Similarly, a defense contractor could be the acquirer and a key subcontractor could be the
supplier. In the case of a contractor’s internal research and development (R&D), corporate management could be the
acquirer and the company’s R&D organization could be the supplier.
1.3 Field of application
This standard addresses the needs of the defense community with respect to the incorporation,
implementation, and execution of technical reviews and audits. IEEE Std 15288.1-2014, the standard that
implements ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 for application on defense programs, provides the defense-specific
language and terminology to ensure the correct application of acquirer-supplier requirements for technical
reviews and audits on a defense program, while this standard provides the implementation details to fulfill
those requirements.
1.4 Organization of this standard
Subclause 1.5 defines what it means for an organization, project, or other users such as process authors and
assessors to claim conformance with this standard.
Clause 2 defines normative references, i.e., documents that are indispensable in the application of this
standard.
Clause 3 provides definitions of terms peculiar to this standard, as well as acronyms and abbreviations used
in this standard.
Clause 4 provides an overview of technical reviews and audits. It defines them, discusses their role in the
US DoD acquisition life cycle, and their support of specific ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 processes. It answers
questions such as: “What are technical reviews and audits?” “Why perform them?” “Is there a standard set
of them, and if so, what are they?”
Clause 5 specifies the minimum set of required properties for each technical review and audit that form the
basis for agreement between defense program acquirers and suppliers.
Clause 6 provides the detailed criteria to be addressed for each technical review and audit contained in
Clause 5.
Clause 7 provides, for each technical review and audit contained in Clause 5 of this standard, detailed, best-
practice guidance for applying the detailed criteria of the corresponding portion of Clause 6 of this standard
to various kinds of defense programs.
Annex A, Annex B, Annex C, and Annex D contain examples of other technical reviews that DoD
acquisition programs may find useful, based on the complexity, nature, and domain of the systems that are
being developed or acquired by those programs.
Annex E contains a bibliography.
Notes in text, tables, and figures of a standard are given for information only and do not contain requirements needed to implement
this standard.
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© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

IEEE Std 15288.2-2014
IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews and Audits on Defense Programs
1.5 Conformance
1.5.1 General
The requirements in this standard are contained in Clause 5 and Clause 6. This standard provides
requirements for a number of technical reviews and audits to be conducted throughout the acquisition life
cycle of a system. Since particular projects or organizations may not need to use all of the reviews and
audits provided by this standard, implementation of this standard may involve selecting a set of reviews and
audits suitable to the project or organization. There are two ways that an implementation can be claimed to
conform to the requirements of this standard. Any claim of conformance is cited in only one of the two
forms below.
NOTE— Evidence of conformance can be as simple as including traceability from the requirements in this standard to
the conforming policies, processes, and procedures. This could be provided by various means, including as a separate
section in the traceability documentation for the system requirements or in the Systems Engineering Management Plan
(SEMP).
1.5.2 Full conformance
A claim of full conformance declares the set of technical reviews and audits for which conformance is
claimed. Full conformance is achieved by providing evidence that all of the mandatory requirements of the
declared set of reviews and audits have been satisfied.
1.5.3 Tailored conformance
When this standard is used as a basis for establishing a set of technical reviews and audits that do not
qualify for full conformance, the reviews and audits in this standard are selected or modified in accordance
with the tailoring process defined in 5.1.1.2.
NOTE 1— In this document, the word shall is used to indicate a mandatory requirement. The word should is used to
indicate a recommendation. The word may is used to indicate a permissible action. The word can is used for statements
of possibility and capability.
NOTE 2— When this standard is used to help develop an agreement between an acquirer and a supplier, the contents of
Clause 5 and Clause 6 can be selected for incorporation in the agreement with or without modification. In this case, it is
more appropriate for the acquirer and supplier to claim compliance with the agreement than conformance with this
standard.
NOTE 3— The acquirer request for proposal includes the intended tailoring of the requirements in this standard.
However, the supplier may propose additional changes or alternatives during the steps to finalize the agreement.
Conformance to this standard can be claimed by a project or organization independent of a claim of
compliance to a specific agreement.

© IEEE 2015– All rights reserved

IEEE Std 15288.2-2014
IEEE Standard for Technical Reviews and Audits on Defense Programs
2. Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document (i.e., they must
be understood and used, so each referenced document is cited in text and its relationship to this document is
explained). For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For unda
...