Management of Operational Usability Requirements: The Key to Saving Resources and Good Performance of Military Materials

The development of all systems, including their subsystems and component parts, is guided by the requirements. With this in mind, this paper aims to investigate the extent to which the Brazilian Army considers usability in the development of military material systems and to propose a plan of action to better equip officers in military warfare education with knowledge of the materials lifecycle. The article provides an overview of Technology Readiness Level, which includes operational requirements, prototype testing, and modification costs. The structure of the Brazilian Army's teaching curriculum was analyzed based on normative and curricular documents available online. Additionally, operational requirements from the last five years (2018–2022) were obtained by analyzing the Army Publications List and each individual operational requirement. After analyzing the operational requirements sets from the past five years, it was found that the Brazilian Army incorporates usability requirements in 48% of its requirements, with only 19% explicitly mentioning usability. This lack of attention to the human–machine interface can result in inadequate system performance. In conclusion, a proposal is presented that would save resources and improve equipment usability by including a mandatory discipline focused on the lifecycle of military material systems in AMAN, EsAO, and ECEME, with a tailored approach for each target audience. Given that resources are scarce, it is important that decisions are made with knowledge of the facts, to ensure the optimal use of resources and improved performance of military materials.