Naval Systems Engineering Technical Review Handbook

The SETR process is integral to naval systems engineering, and it is consistent with existing and emerging commercial standards. These SETRs provide program management with assessments of program technical health and maturity at key points in the development life cycle. The SETR process consists of several technical assessments. Each SETR assessment is focused on verifying technical health and maturity by examining objective products representing the program work accomplishments to date. Each technical assessment culminates in a formal meeting that documents recommendations to program management concerning the continuation of work into the next stage of development. SETRs formally review and evaluate whether required systems engineering tasks have been completed successfully before proceeding beyond critical events.

The Milestone Decision Authority (MDA) can allow their Program Managers have flexibility to tailor the SETR to match their program circumstances. The SETR must be described and updated in the Systems Engineering Plan (SEP), which is approved by the Milestone Decision Authority (MDA). Tailoring of SETRs is expected to match the complexity and risks of the program. The tailored SETR must have sufficient technical breadth and depth to assess the maturity of technical work to date and to identify risks associated with continuing the development efforts.