More inklings that OSD will be taking power back from the services
For the past few years, acquisition reform has brought with it a delegation of decisions from the Office of the Secretary of Defense down to […]
Blog Posts
GMU Center for Govt Contracting fills an academic void
George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, officially kicked off the Center for Government Contracting to fill an academic and research void. “The vision of […]
Why are OTAs plagued by references to FAR clauses?
One of the biggest failures of FAR 12 [commercial] contracting has been DoD’s unwillingness to proactively use these commercial of a type procedures because of […]
Is it a paradox for leadership to protect the innovators?
… the leader has always to be doing two apparently incompatible things. He has to encourage his administrators to promote order, to maintain established routines. […]
How should cost estimators respond to rapid acquisition?
As the Department of Defense keeps up the pressure on rapid acquisition, all functional areas are wondering how they can best support the policies. Cost […]
EVMS is not well suited to an Agile environment
Problem: DoD established use of EVM as a requirement for periodically measuring linear programs with firm baselines established prior to starting development. EVM is not […]
Acquisition headlines
Powerful Example: F-22 Program Office uses DevOps on a Hardware Platform. Recommended. On agile = level of effort: “To properly match the contractor effort with […]
F-16 running on Kubernetes and the challenges of a disconnected environment
Just like almost everything else, military organizations increasingly depend on software, and they are turning to an array of open source cloud tools like Kubernetes […]
New policy may put the breaks on rapid acquisition
USD(A&S), however, can still disapprove any MTA [Middle Tier Acquisition] program, whether major or non-major. With advisers from all around the Office of the Secretary […]
How the F-15 avoided a disastrous design
Here is a part of Jack Neufeld’s history of the F-15 development, “The F-15 Eagle: Origins and Development 1964 – 1972.” Indeed, the emphasis on […]
Proof that government is an unattractive customer
Even sticker-shock prices don’t always motivate companies. According to our estimates, more than 10,000 parts requests are delayed or unfilled each year despite our reluctant […]
Palmer Luckey talks defense industry and China
I think the West has created something incredible. We’ve had a period of unprecedented peace and unprecedented human rights. It’s not perfect, but it’s better […]
Space Force may have significant autonomy, except in the budget process
The program acquisition strategies developed under a dedicated Space Force SAE [service acquisition executive] will then get fed into the planning, programming, budgeting and execution […]
Acquisition headlines
Chinese Navy Sets New World Record, Launching 23 New Surface Warships In One Year. Lots of pictures. Meanwhile, back in the US… Pentagon proposes big […]
The disease of restricting competition isn’t limited to Europe
I have been repeatedly impressed in putting this paper together by how often unexpected and great discoveries and progress came about during or as the […]