Joint Strike Fighter Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Joint Strike Fighter - Term Paper Example Most systems share common characteristics that include; maintenance of an  internal  steady state, presence of inputs, processing, output and feedback mechanisms, display emergent properties that are peculiar to the whole, and  have  boundaries defined by the system observer. Systems do not  operate  in a vacuum; they comprise of smaller units called subsystems. The subsystems  interconnected, transfer  knowledge from a system to the next. A system can only operate within its boundaries (Blanchard, Benjamin & Wolter 5). The  system  observer  defines the boundaries, and outside these boundaries lies the  environment  (Blanchard, Benjamin, and Wolter 5). The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program  is a  growth  and acquisition plan  intended to restore a wide array of existing  strike, fighter and land attacks for the United States and her allies. The main competitors for the program were Lockheed Martin X-35 and Boeing X-32 of which the former; Lockhee d X-35’s  prototype  won the tender. The  firm  came up with the F-35 Lighting II to replace various tactical planes such as the Canadian CF-18, British Harrier GR7 and the US F-16.  The X-35 portrayed the most  persuasive  demonstration  by taking off in less than 150 meters. ... After data  collection and conversion into appropriate  medium  for input, its processing follows; manipulation into information using  input  procedures. Output marks the end of the data processing function of the system. It communicates the information derived from the processing function to the recipient users or another  data  processing  function. System  control  is  vital  in all data processing systems (Blanchard, Benjamin & Wolter 8). System  controls  refer to a  gadget  or  set  of systems that direct,  command  or  regulate  the workings of a system. The elements of  control  include a feedback mechanism that offers descriptive and  comprehensive  information on the input,  output  and processing aspects of the system. Feedback describes a  check  within a  system  that ensures the overall achievement of system goals. It denotes a situation when the output from a  past  process  influences the recurrenc e of the same result in the  present  or future  process. Feedback mechanism  performs controls through a loopback. Positive and negative feedback mechanisms are the two broad divisions of feedback mechanism.   A positive going  wave  on the output amplifies the input signal resulting in the same output  production.  Contrastingly, a signal  inversion occurs leading to a negative going change in the output.  Interfaces are areas of intersection or interactions of different systems that exchange information or  energy. The final element of a system is the  environment. This is that  area  outside a system. A system can interact either with its environment or with not (Blanchard, Benjamin, and Walter 13). Based on their interaction with the surroundings, systems are either  open or closed systems. An open