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 program delivers, T&E will need to focus more attention on assessing experimentation and prototyping to help identify good ideas or foreclose bad ones. After a system goes into a demonstration or operations, T&E would continue to assess its utility… The main roadblock to creating a Pentagon version of DevOps is money. Today, operational and developmental T&E activities are largely funded by the programs under test. Acquisition managers and executives have no incentive to spend on new testing infrastructure that will change their programs’ T&E plans.”
Four steps the Pentagon can take to fix the munitions industrial base. (The Hill) “In fact, we should at least double spending on munitions for the next five to 10 years — and we should do so by committing to five-year block buys.”
- “First, eliminate the use of indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts with the munitions sector.
- Second, reform how the Pentagon operates munitions production facilities.
- Next, the Pentagon should stop “contracting-to-monopoly.” Over the past several decades, the Pentagon has driven manufacturers out of business by awarding large, single manufacturer contracts under the misbegotten belief that this is an efficient and effective way to procure items.
- Finally, the most important step the government can take is to set a realistic stockpile requirement.
Lawmakers seek emergency powers for Pentagon’s Ukraine war contracting. (Defense News) “The amendment, the text of which was released last week, offers multi-year contracting authorities typically reserved for Navy vessels and major aircraft. As drafted, it would let the Pentagon lock in purchases of certain munitions.”
- “The Pentagon would also be permitted to team with NATO to buy weapons for its members in mass quantities.”
- The amendment would “waive a requirement that contractors provide certified cost and pricing data, a safeguard intended to help ensure the Pentagon is paying reasonable prices.”
- “We can’t pussyfoot around with minimum-sustaining-rate buys of these munitions.”
- “Of the $6 billion Congress appropriated this year to buy equipment for Ukraine, DoD has awarded $1.2 billion, and of $12.5 billion appropriated to replace U.S. stockpiles of weapons sent to Ukraine, just $1.5 billion has been awarded.”
JADC2 spending is sprawling. DoD should keep watch, but let it go. (Breaking Defense) “In the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2023 budget request, approximately 30 JADC2 initiatives together requested somewhere between $2.2 billion and $2.6 billion, according to my [CSBA Travis Sharp’s] research. That’s roughly one-third more than in FY22.”
- The estimate above is conservative and likely underestimates, perhaps significantly, the funds flowing to JADC2, especially through classified and indirect support programs.
- Trying to control everything rarely works out the way a leader hopes. Senior Pentagon officials should let JADC2 go for a while and see what our enterprising specialists come up with.
DoD needs a pilot shortage. (MITRE) Pete Modigliani is wise: “The challenge with many pilot programs in DoD, often Congressionally directed, is the burdens outweigh the output… To effectively measure the impact of the pilot program, one would need to baseline the program before the pilot effort – and by baseline I don’t mean an APB. Then hold everything constant, except for the independent variable being piloted, and run the pilot for a year or two. Given we can’t do that, it is difficult to isolate the effect the piloted change had on the program.”
Lockheed Martin beats estimates on F-35 sales, maintains guidance. (CNBC) “The company maintained its 2022 revenue guidance of $65.25 billion despite lingering supply chain related headwinds. In July, Lockheed revised the figure down from $66 billion.”
- “in spite of sales and margin pressure, we believe that we can still deliver the same absolute free cash flow that we had talked about last year, and had guided, so that’s about $6.1 billion.”
Pentagon Must Harness Commercial Tech to Deter China in Taiwan Strait, Former Officials Say. (Next Gov) “To supercharge these efforts, both Flournoy and Brown cited the importance of accelerating the adoption of commercial technologies that can be used to successfully deter Beijing by prioritizing the most important operational challenges and needs now. “It’s like an Apollo 13 effort: shake out the bag of all the stuff on the table, see what you’ve got to work with and start putting it together in new ways to try to solve your urgent problem,” Flournoy said.”
SDA slide reveals Tranche 0 optical terminal manufacturers. (Space News) ““Across the four Tranche 0 teams (2 Transport, 2 Tracking), a total of four different [optical communications terminal] vendor solutions were carried through” preliminary design review.”
- Tournear: “I’m going to do competitions for every Tranche, every layer, every time and it’s going to be full and open,” Tournear said. “The only way we can do that is if I make sure all the satellites work together as a network. People can launch new satellites and they also plug into this network.”
Advances in hypersonics require quicker movement on talent, testing, manufacturing. (Air and Space Forces)
- “Last year, we had 482 scholars” enter the program, which pays for bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. programs in exchange for a post-graduate commitment to work in government a matching number of years. She said the Pentagon is looking for a “significant increase” in that number next year. “
- “If you think about the number of masters and PhDs we’re producing now, it’s not sufficient to replace the retiring workforce.”
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