Acquisition Talk signing off… for now. Thank you!
It’s been a wonderful experience writing on this blog and podcasting about defense acquisition since October 2018. I’ve published over 1,400 blog posts and 160 […]
Blog Posts
Year-to-year stability of munitions procurement funding
Yesterday, I discussed how munitions procurement funding changed between the President’s Budget request, Congressional enactment, and actual execution. Today, I want to briefly touch on […]
Are munitions really “bill payers” for the rest of defense?
One of the lines often heard is that munitions accounts are “bill payers” for other lines, particularly weapons platforms like vehicles, aircraft, and ships. Former […]
Acquisition headlines (2/6 – 2/12/2023)
DoD procurement of space tech is evolving, but pace of change is slow. (Space News) “There is a major push at high levels of the […]
Are we overthinking the DoD’s valley of death problem?
Here’s an interesting exchange from the Feb 9, 2023 House Armed Services Committee hearing on the future of war between Representative Ro Khanna and Christian […]
Does DoD need a public relations campaign for mobilizing industry?
In a previous post, I discussed how Assistant Secretary for War Mobilization Louis Johnson had traveled the country prior to World War II making hundreds […]
Analysis of ammunition procurement FY 1999 – FY 2023
In a previous post, I gave an overview of Munitions and Missiles overall and dipped into a little of the data on missiles and equipment […]
An uncertain future for Middle-Tier of Acquisition
Here’s a couple slices from an interesting Breaking Defense article on Middle-Tier of Acquisition (MTA) pathway for rapid prototyping and rapid fielding. First, what’s going […]
Acquisition headlines (1/30 – 2/5/2023)
Record defense budget flunks the China test. (Real Clear Defense) Jeb Nadaner: “The 2023 budget funds just a little more than a thousand new mid-to-long range conventional missiles, […]
How today’s DoD tech is either incremental change to legacy or adopted irregularly
After a flurry of major technological advancements in the 1940-1960s period, there was talk of a “technological plateau.” Proponents of this idea believed that most […]
How commercial industry helped saved the day in World War II
In the Pacific theater of World War II, allied landings on islands were challenged by shallow coral atolls that wrecked the normal landing craft available. […]
Data on DoD munitions and missile procurement: FY 2001 to FY 2023
Below are a few charts base on DoD’s procurement data from the P-1 docs FY 2001 to FY 2023. The dollars are normalized to FY […]
Should DoD spend half as much money twice as fast?
Here are a couple slices from a short interview with Palantir’s COO Shyam Sankar on Building the Base podcast with Hondo Geurts and Lauren Bedula. […]
Acquisition headlines (1/23 – 1/29/2023)
Navy closes 4 Puget Sound submarine dry docks following earthquake risk study. (USNI News) “As a result of the findings, the Navy over the last […]
The fundamental problem with 20th century supply chains
Here’s a slice from an a16z podcast with co-CEO and founder Ryan Petersen of Flexport: The fundamental problem in supply chain is that we’re a […]