Podcast: Mach 5 aircraft and deep tech contracting with Hermeus CEO AJ Piplica
AJ Piplica joined me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss transportation at hypersonic speeds. He is the founder and CEO of Hermeus, which is […]
Blog Posts
The problem of shipbuilding capacity in expanding the Navy’s fleet
We’ve paired our shipbuilding capacity down to the bone. You see it not just in shipbuilding but in ship maintenance. We just can’t get ships […]
Acquisition headlines (9/20 – 9/26/2021)
Air Force’s top civilian hints at changes to hypersonic weapons programs. (Defense News) ““It’s pretty clear to me what the Chinese want to do with […]
Special economic zones and PPBE reform for the Department of Defense
It is one of history’s great ironies that a major factor in defeating Soviet communism was one of the largest centrally planned economies in the […]
Navy research chief’s take on what’s slowing down the fleet’s transformation
Here is Rear Adm. Selby, chief of naval research, speaking with Vago Muradian: I’m really pushing back at the idea of requirements. I think the […]
CBO analysis of FY22 shipbuilding plan — fewer VLS cells distributed across more ships
Most cruisers and destroyers in today’s fleet carry between 90 and 122 VLS [vertical launch system] cells. Although the LCS does not carry the VLS, […]
DARPA’s Tim Grayson talks about a federated approach to interoperability, JADC2
I like to say that interoperability goes up and down the stack. A lot of the work, especially particularly in Dave’s office [Chief Data Officer] […]
Acquisition headlines (9/13-9/19/2021)
Tell us why small businesses can’t get contracts, Pentagon asks. (Defense One) “… the Defense Department received an “A” grade on the Small Businesses Administration’s annual […]
Is DoD starting to bridge the valley of death?
… funding for Advanced Components Development and Prototypes (6.4 funding) has increased from 20.4% of total RDT&E funding in 2012 to 30.2% in the enacted […]
GMU Playbook: Reduce risk with modular contracting
In this week’s blog post on Mason GovCon’s acquisition playbook study, we discuss modular contracting for software-intensive systems. The Federal Acquisition Regulation prefers modular contracting […]
Podcast: Commercial item acquisition with Phil Jasper
I was pleased to have Phil Jasper, Mission Systems President at Collins Aerospace, join me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss commercial item acquisition. […]
Risk, micromanagement, and mission command
I wish we never became so bureaucratized that we become ineffective. We need to faithfully apply mission command. And mission command, to be properly applied, […]
Acquisition headlines (9/6 – 9/12/2021)
At next Project Convergence, 7 scenarios will test American tech against adversaries. (Defense News) “By pulling in the joint force, the exercise is slated to […]
Will the Navy’s battleforce have to shrink before it grows?
I’m a big believer right now that the United States Navy is probably gonna have to get smaller before it gets bigger. Right now the […]
What does Chief Software Officer Nicholas Chaillan’s exit say about the state of acquisition?
Nicholas Chaillan has a fascinating LinkedIn post announcing his exit as DoD’s Chief Software Officer. He trumpeted a number of important accomplishments before commenting on […]