Senate leaders call for more predictability in shipbuilding, but is that the wrong lever?
Since the 1960s, 14 U.S. shipyards that construct ships for the Navy have closed, and three have left the defense industry. Only one new shipyard has […]
Industry
What’s holding back SBIR and new entrants from transforming DoD?
After proving the efficacy and competitive strength of the technology procured via a SBIR award, federal agencies are required by law to work in good […]
Can building the factory around software cut defense costs by half?
We certainly don’t think we will be disrupting Lockheed Martin or Boeing. So, buying like a 747, for example, 70% of the cost of that […]
DoD experiments with bots to automate price reasonableness
As part of a pilot project now underway, the service [US Army] is experimenting with bots that can scrape through the bills of materials (BOMs) […]
Is the US military in a bubble, unfit for attrition warfare?
If you look back historically, there are very few situations where one side has a big enough technology advantage that it actually causes a win-loss […]
Should government own the technical baseline?
GFE — which is government furnished equipment — many times has a negative connotation to it. You would think that anytime the government is furnishing […]
DoDIG finds issues in OT reporting, consortium mgmt fees, and more
There was no consistency on how to report the value in FPDS‑NG and each contracting office may report the information differently… When a contracting office […]
The MOSA challenge and the proliferation of work statements
Contrast the Army Signal Corps SOW [Statement of Work] for the Wright Brothers’ heavier-than-air flying machine in 1908 to the Air Force SOW for the […]
The investment thesis behind Anduril
Here’s Katherine Boyle from General Catalyst talking on the Venture Stories podcast about her rationale being funding Anduril in the early days: Anduril’s a company […]
A proposal for accelerating investment in dual-use tough tech
We propose the establishment of a new program in which the government directly teams with the venture capital (VC) community at the earliest stages of […]
The indecision problem of capital investment during times of crisis
One of the biggest lessons I had reading through WWII industrial mobilization literature is the waffling that goes on in the early days. Companies are […]
Is the Pentagon’s tech outreach being undermined?
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks specifically called out the “so-called valley of death” as a barrier to innovation in a virtual speech at the National […]
DoD’s attempt at rational calculus may be the height of folly
It is, therefore, an obvious and “rational calculus” to employ a pragmatic and experimental procedure – that is, a policy of redundancy which permits several, […]
Markets rewarded defense industry consolidation and exit well before the “last supper”
Of course defense companies start consolidating after World War II, and then again in the 1970s after the Vietnam War. Many observers see industrial consolidation […]
Does DoD turn out good product managers?
You mentioned intuition and I think that can be developed too believe it or not. I’ve helped many product managers develop their product sense. How […]