US defense programs face an increasingly urgent demand: deliver more capable systems, more often, to address agile adversaries. DoD must modernize how it develops and acquires complex platforms—from aircraft, to satellites, to autonomous systems.
Software engineering has embraced agile development—meaning continuous integration, by building, testing, and refining systems. Yet hardware design remains stuck in the waterfall era— meaning linear development, where each phase is completed sequentially.
Enter SysGit: SysGit was built to change that. The platform brings the core principles of agile software development to hardware and systems engineering, enabling US defense teams to iterate faster, collaborate more closely and securely, and deliver better outcomes.
What SysGit Does
SysGit is a secure, Git-native platform designed for complex hardware development in defense environments. Built by systems engineers with lived experience at SpaceX, Slingshot Aerospace, and Procore, the software enables teams to:
- Create, refine, and review system models and requirements, using open standards and Git.
- Collaborate on design changes across highly secure environments.
- Conduct modular, iterative design reviews—like pull requests for hardware.
Built on the same Git infrastructure widely adopted for software—such as GitHub, GitLab, or Gitea—SysGit uses familiar software development functions such as version control, branching, merging and diffing to track and coordinate changes across a distributed engineering team. Rather than reinventing the wheel, SysGit extends proven workflows to support system models and hardware requirements.
SysGit also natively supports SysML v2, the new systems modeling language developed by the Object Management Group with collaboration and consensus from major primes, defense agencies, and academia. SysML v2 allows system models and requirements to be expressed in textual notation—making them machine-readable, and accessible to a broader technical audience. This is how we can treat hardware as code.
Post-Cloud: Why SysGit Works in Defense Environments
Defense programs present a unique challenge: They span dozens or even hundreds of contractors, many operating within tightly controlled, air-gapped environments. These ecosystems are inherently federated with stakeholders working across varying levels of security clearance, proprietary data formats, and legacy workflows.
Traditional tools for model based systems engineering, and requirements management, often fail to deliver true parallel path development in this setting many tools are built on vendor-locked architectures that resist integration, require complicated implementation schemes, and drive up infrastructure costs.
SysGit was built from the ground up to operate in a highly secure environment to solve these issues. It meets the standards of Modular and Open Systems Approach (MOSA), which has been codified into law for major defense acquisition programs. Rather than introducing a new, proprietary platform with its own security architecture, SysGit is designed to inherit the existing Zero Trust posture of an organization’s Git provider.
SysGit integrates with DevSecOps workflows, identity systems, and access controls that are already accredited and trusted. This means SysGit requires no user credential or data storage of its own. SysGit is post-cloud. It can be deployed flexibly across systems: in the cloud, on-premises, or even in air-gapped environments.
This approach can reduce the burden of adoption for IT teams. They don’t need to accredit a new standalone tool, or stand up parallel systems to maintain it. Instead, SysGit leverages what’s already working, by enhancing collaboration and improving visibility across the engineering lifecycle—all without increasing risk or complexity. In environments where security, traceability, and scale are non-negotiable, SysGit’s architecture provides a seamless fit.
How It’s Done Now:
How It’s Done with SysGit:
Replacing Legacy Tools with Agile Workflows
SysGit translates modern software practices directly into the hardware and system design domain. For example:
- Pull Requests = Mini Design Reviews: Engineers can propose changes to requirements or models and request review, complete with redlines and diffs—no need for massive design review meetings.
- Tagged Releases = PDR/CDR Equivalents: Just like in software, formal milestones can be versioned and tracked, or rolled back if needed.
- Branching = Parallel Development: Multiple vendors can work on overlapping subsystems without blocking each other, even when working behind different firewalls.
- Selective Sharing = Controlled Collaboration: SysGit allows programs to share top-level requirements or models while keeping sensitive or proprietary data private—enabling the vision of MOSA.
By doing all of this within a Git-native, text-based environment, SysGit supports conflict resolution, traceability, and modular reuse—all while maintaining tight configuration control.
Built for the Mission Ahead
SysGit supports the digital transformation priorities of DoD, including:
- Compliance with MOSA, and modular design. SysGit enables an innovative force, which is able to adapt quickly to advances by technologists and the adversary, innovate, and field capabilities faster.
- Adoption of an open systems modeling standard. SysMLv2 increases interoperability, promoting data sharing and increasing visibility for program managers.
- Acceleration of digital acquisitions. SysGit provides more focused and frequent milestones, laying the groundwork for rapid iteration—and reducing the need for months-long design review boards.
- Secure support for cross-organizational collaboration. SysGit allows teams to cooperate without compromising IP or security of vehicles and weapon systems, which contain some of the most sensitive data for our nation’s defense.
For systems engineers, SysGit means better workflows and less rework. For program leaders, SysGit provides shorter timelines, stronger alignment, and increased visibility across the contractor base. For IT teams, SysGit means fewer tools to manage and leverage existing security postures.SysGit is already in use for real-world defense programs. That proven experience helps teams accelerate the pace of delivery and realize continuous acquisition, even in the most complex and secure environments. Talk with us about how SysGit can be customized for your needs. Visit sysgit.io to learn more and schedule a demo.