Multiple criteria decision theory (MCDT) approaches to choice making are receiving increased attention due to the increasing importance society places on incorporating the non-commensurate and conflicting objectives of a situation into the choice making process. Process algorithms for multiple objective optimization theory (MOOT) and multiple attribute utility, theory (MAI5T) motivated a combined approach which utilizes, in an efficient manner, the complementary aspects of both processes. An appropriate application for the multiple criteria approach is a specific military equipment acquisition involving aircraft retrofit. The retrofit of a particular aircraft with equipment designed for a mission which the aircraft was not originally designed to fly typically requires a large systems effort. Specifically, the retrofit of an aircraft with sophisticated electronic warfare (EW) equipment has historically involved inefficiencies and inadequacies including schedule and budgetary overruns and a lack of initially specified final product performance. Development of a useful combined MOOT/MAUT process seems a logical choice to ameliorate the difficulties of current electronic warfare aircraft retrofit design (EWARD) processes. This paper generates a set of criteria for evaluation of alternative retrofit systems in the defence systems acquisition cycle and develops an efficient framework for EWARD through extension of a MCDT approach for this application.