Programs rarely fail at delivery. They fail earlier — at the moment an unvalidated assumption became a requirement and nobody checked it against evidence.
What validation actually looks like
Requirements validation is not a review meeting. It is a structured comparison of each requirement against data: usage patterns, workload projections, cost baselines, and the documented needs of the people the program serves.
The output is a defensible line of sight from mission need to requirement to resource request — the chain that survives budget scrutiny and protest alike.
The payoff
Validated requirements shrink change orders, sharpen acquisition strategy, and give program leaders the confidence to say no to scope that does not serve the mission. The analysis pays for itself before the first deliverable ships.