Modelling enabling capabilities

Reforms to UK Ministry of Defence acquisition organisations demand greater coherence and coverage in Operational Research (OR) based assessments of equipment capability. Core capabilities that enable other capabilities to function, which we have termed enabling capabilities, have proven especially difficult to assess. This article describes a structure of metrics, with quantitative assessments at the higher level derived from individual lower-level assessments according to an explicit systems-level organising model. It suggests an effective methodology for assessing one of these enabling capabilities, the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) defence.