Overview

Frontier Technology's Integrated Cost Estimation (ICE) software tool provides:

• Engineers, planners, and managers with no cost-estimating experience the ability to quickly and easily generate credible life-cycle cost estimates.
• A capability for cost analysts to complement detailed cost models with quick-turn analysis.
• Cost models and data sources accepted by the Department of Defense financial management community to ensure cost and return on investment methodologies are accepted.

Historically, the Department of Defense evaluated concepts and technologies for military systems based primarily on performance. Now, Air Force and DoD leaders emphasize affordable systems and technologies to increase performance, reduce operating costs, or extend an existing system's operational life. This need to create and field more affordable systems requires a set of tools to assess system life cycle cost quickly and reliably and to assess affordability before funding priorities are set by the weapon system technology development manager.

In response to this increasing need for cost estimates before or as a change is designed, FTI developed the Integrated Cost Estimation (ICE) Tool. This computer tool, unique to the cost-evaluation community, is a flexible system of DoD-accepted cost-analysis models / tools / data to enable users, with diverse backgrounds, to estimate credible, Return-on-Investment of advanced program "concepts" in a "quick-turn" fashion.