What’s the secret sauce in AFRL’s Space Vehicle Directorate?
… our secret sauce is that we have some organic capability to do things. What I mean by that is we have actual scientists and […]
Month: April 2021
DoDIG finds issues in OT reporting, consortium mgmt fees, and more
There was no consistency on how to report the value in FPDS‑NG and each contracting office may report the information differently… When a contracting office […]
Podcast: China’s military, EVE online, and the future of combat with Thomas Shugart
Thomas Shugart joined Jordan Schneider and I on another cross-over episode of the China Talk and Acquisition Talk podcasts. Thomas spent 25 years in the […]
Will the F-35A make it to the $25K cost per flying hour target?
The well-known goal for the US Air Force’s F-35A variant is to become affordable by meeting the $25,000 cost per flying hour (CPFH) target. We […]
Acquisition headlines (4/18 – 4/25/2021)
China’s new stealth drone “Feilong 2′ already ahead of US’ B-21 stealth bomber — Chinese Experts. (The EurAsian Times) “… the Xian-based drone maker’s multirole […]
Acq Talk blog update
A few Acquisition Talk updates for you: Weekend posts will be discontinued (at least for now). Don’t worry, I’m not taking a holiday. I’m reinvesting […]
The effect of the “weapon systems” concept on the defense supplier base
In 1955, for example, Fortune magazine reported that United Aircraft dealt directly with as many as 7,000 subcontractors and suppliers and North American with 10,000. […]
The MOSA challenge and the proliferation of work statements
Contrast the Army Signal Corps SOW [Statement of Work] for the Wright Brothers’ heavier-than-air flying machine in 1908 to the Air Force SOW for the […]
Talk about capabilities, not about numbers
I haven’t gone off on my numbers rant yet. The whole 355 ship Navy — 500 ship Navy — you know, it just drives me […]
There isn’t enough freedom for our program managers, HASC Chair Adam Smith says
When we’re looking at regulating how we do these contracts with the programs of record, it’s too much in a box. There isn’t enough freedom […]
Event: Measuring R&D productivity
R&D is an easy target for cuts when firms face pressure from quarterly earnings. One problem is that firms don’t have a metric to benchmark […]
Acquisition headlines (4/11 – 4/17/2021)
Deterring great power conflict through software development. (US Army) “It’s been an interesting two-and-a-half years of getting this organization stood-up,” said Gen. John M. Murray, […]
JK Galbraith and getting the wrong answers to all the right questions
I have argued that with industrial development — with advanced technology, high organization, large and rigid commitments of capital — power tends to pass to […]
The birth of automated targeting and the modern computer
We’ve been wrestling with information as a medium for negative feedback ever since Norbert Wiener published Cybernetics in 1949, and Wiener himself had been thinking […]
Podcast: Hacking 4 Defense with Steve Blank and Pete Newell
I was pleased to have Steve Blank and Pete Newell return on the Acquisition Talk podcast to talk about the five-year anniversary of the Hacking […]