LaPlante, Shyu, Lord, and others will be at GMU/DAU Conference 2022!
We got a killer line up at the annual GMU/DAU conference including USD A&S Bill LaPlante, USD R&E Heidi Shyu, PPBE Commissioner Ellen Lord, former […]
Month: September 2022
What’s the proper role of the Chief of Naval Operations?
Here is a good piece on the organizational design of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations from Admiral Hyman Rickover’s 1974 speech, The […]
Consortia-based OTAs larger, but slower growing than stand-alone OTA
The same day I dropped the podcast on Stephanie Halcrow and Moshe Schwartz’s event on industry consortia, the GAO released its own report Other Transaction […]
Acquisition headlines (9/19 – 9/25/2022)
SDA a ‘model’ that could shake up all space acquisition: Calvelli. (Breaking Defense) ““They are building small, they are doing things on two-year [cycles], and […]
Rickover defends the parochial viewpoint
One common complaint about defense acquisition is that the services won’t coordinate their needs and consider the bigger, “joint” picture. Certainly there is something to […]
DoD’s end-to-end budget cycle must be compressed to one year, max
Here’s a lengthy slice from the recently exited DIU director Michael Brown on the Venture Stories podcast discussing a major barrier to military innovation. I’ll […]
Origins of the Milestone acquisition process
One of the foundations of the defense acquisition system is the DoD Directive 5000.1, which defines how military systems progress from an idea to production. […]
Podcast: The power of the industry consortium with Stephanie Halcrow and Moshe Schwartz
In this episode of the Acquisition Talk podcast, we listen in an event hosted by the Center for Government Contracting to discuss a recent paper […]
Acquisition headlines (9/12 – 9/18/2022)
DoD must move faster to leverage commercial technology. (Real Clear Defense) Rep Mike Gallagher: “First, the Pentagon needs to think outside the box when it […]
Will inflation cause a $110 billion loss in DoD buying power between FY21-FY23?
A new paper from recent AcqTalk guest John Whitley and two PPBE Reform commissioners David Norquist and Lisa Disbrow has been released: “How Inflation Hurts […]
DoDIG report on Other Transactions sends mixed messages
DoD Inspector General has a new report: Audit of DoD Other Transactions and the Use of Nontraditional Contractors and Resource Sharing. Here are the findings: […]
Three reasons military programs shouldn’t start with requirements
Here’s a slice from Ron Westrum’s excellent book, Sidewinder: Missile Development at China Lake, citing Bill McLean’s arguments against the “requirements” process. As you read, remember […]
How AI/ML margins differ from traditional software
Here’s a good segment from the a16z podcast discussing how AI/ML companies are different than traditional software in terms of margins. Ultimately, what matters most […]
Acquisition headlines (9/5 – 9/11/2022)
Naval research boss wants ‘experimentation czar’ powers. (Defense News) “Rear Adm. Lorin Selby said the change would amount to an additional responsibility for him, or […]
Two good points on the state of Defense Innovation Unit
Here’s an article from Bill Greenwalt in Breaking Defense which cuts through the go-along-to-get-along commentary on defense innovation ecosystem. Here’s point number one: Established by […]