Acquisition headlines (10/24 – 10/30/2022)
Last chance to register for GMU/DAU Conference on Friday, November 4, 2022! Register here. Fireside Chat 1: Bridging the Valley of Death with USD A&S […]
Month: October 2022
Podcast: Industrial policy to counter China with Emily de la Bruyere
I was pleased to have Emily de la Bruyere join me on the Acquisition Talk podcast. She’s a co-founder of Horizon Advisory, a geopolitical consultancy, […]
Sources of defense tech transition funding
Here are some excerpts from the Data section of our newest report, Execution Flexibility and Bridging the Valley of Death. First, we have a figure […]
Has the bureaucratization of knowledge made government less effective?
Here’s an excerpt from Tyler Cowen’s conversation with Walter Russell Mead on American Foreign Policy. Tyler asks whether the State Department or the CIA understand […]
Bridging the “Valley of Death” in DoD does not require new laws!
Execution flexibility is DoD jargon for delegated authority to move money. It is the most direct way to increase decision speed. Since 1960, execution flexibility […]
Acquisition headlines (10-17 – 10/23/2022)
Software engineers could show the Pentagon how to end ‘innovation theater.’ (The Hill) “Instead of devoting all its resources to the testing milestone when a […]
Is French military procurement more efficient because politics stays out?
The Rand Corporation’s Thomas McNaugher, for example, has long rejected the economists’ common assertion that the root of the acquisition problem is found in a […]
Starlink, Ukraine, and the challenges of a market economy going to war
Around 20,000 Starlink satellite units have been donated to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February, playing an important role in battlefield communication for Kyiv’s […]
Was the SR-71 produced at a lower cost than the F-35?
Here is more the Hermeus Podcast episode with with former Air Force pilot and general Robert Behler on the SR-71. He provides some management lessons […]
The five big inventions of the SR-71
Here is a slice from the excellent Hermeus Podcast, with former Air Force pilot and general Robert Behler. He flew the SR-71 Blackbird, and provides […]
Acquisition headlines (10/10 – 10/16/2022)
Collins set for top GOP spot on defense appropriations panel. (Military.com) “Defense issues have long been a major concern for Collins…That is not least because […]
Acquisition must align with individual responsibility, not program lifecycles
Jumping off yesterday’s post on a mixed strategy for acquisition, Arnold Kling argues in a different post that most people, including economists, see the success […]
A mixed strategy for acquisition processes
Here is an interesting blog post from Arnold Kling on why natural selection in nature and human society always prefers heterogeneity: One question that I […]
Discovering where programs are on the productivity-to-team-size curve
Here is former China Lakes and Sidewinder missile inventor Bill McLean speaking with Congress in a 1971 hearing: Only in listening to the problem of […]
Venture Capital takes advantage of power-law distribution, should the Department of Defense?
Here is venture investor Steve Kim on data-driven insights from the Venture Stories podcast. We model that 30% of the startups that we invest in […]