10 U.S.C. § 4401 - U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 10. Armed Forces § 4401. Requirement for modular open system approach in major defense acquisition programs; definitions

(A) employs a modular design that uses modular system interfaces between major systems, major system components and modular systems;

(B) is subjected to verification to ensure that relevant modular system interfaces--

(C) uses a system architecture that allows severable major system components and modular systems at the appropriate level to be incrementally added, removed, or replaced throughout the life cycle of a major system platform to afford opportunities for enhanced competition and innovation while yielding--

(D) complies with the technical data rights set forth in sections 3771 through 3775 of this title.

(A) means a high level subsystem or assembly, including hardware, software, or an integrated assembly of both, that can be mounted or installed on a major system platform through modular system interfaces; and

(B) includes a subsystem or assembly that is likely to have additional capability requirements, is likely to change because of evolving technology or threat, is needed for interoperability, facilitates incremental deployment of capabilities, or is expected to be replaced by another major system component.

(A) is able to execute without requiring coincident execution of other specific weapon systems or components;

(B) can communicate across component boundaries and through interfaces; and

(C) functions as a module that can be separated, recombined, and connected with other weapon systems or weapon system components in order to achieve various effects, missions, or capabilities.