Abstract : In 2013, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland initiated a research task (RT-48) to assess the technical feasibility of creating/leveraging a more holistic Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach to support Mission-based Analysis and Engineering in order to achieve a 25% reduction in development time from that of the traditional large-scale weapon systems. The research need included the evaluation of emerging system design through computer models. The first phase of the effort created a strategy and began collecting and structuring evidence to assess the technical feasibility of moving to a complete model-driven lifecycle. The larger context of the NAVAIR mission seeks a Transformation of Systems Engineering (SE) through MBSE, where MBSE1 is used in the most general way. A key goal is to leverage virtual designs that integrate with existing systems data and simulations, as well as surrogates at varying levels of refinement and fidelity to support a more continuous approach to systems, Family of Systems (FoS), and Systems of Systems (SoS) analysis of alternative (AoA) and design refinement. Tradeoffs in this context would consider potentially non-optimal solutions that can close the gaps most rapidly to support the warfighters efforts in averting new or emerging threats. This should allow for proposing solutions to the mission/capability gaps, given both cost and time constraints and tradeoffs, but be significantly faster than using the current process while satisfying critically important safety and airworthiness requirements.