t43562,
Is "Concurrent Engineering" a well understood practise in the production of military jets that anyone could be expected to have experience in?
Yes, I would expect that would be the case. Here are a couple of papers relative to Concurrent Engineering, the first being the development leading to production of the Navy F/A-18 E/F and F414 engine that dates to 1997.
http://www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/TD/td1801/white.pdf
The second US Government report discusses the role of Concurrent Engineering in weapon systems acquisition that dates to 1988. I think there is no rigid model of Concurrent Engineering structure that every company has to follow, but there are certainly some very good control and measurement processes that need inclusion for the overall process to work its best. There must be an ironclad commitment to the process from the organization top down and the people in the process must be the most knowledgeable of the product, processes and technologies required for the program to be successful.
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA203615