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 […]
Search Results for program budget
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Podcast: No time to waste for defense innovation with BMNT’s Pete Newell
I was pleased to have Pete Newell back on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss the urgency of getting innovative defense prototypes into the field […]
The need to rebalance DoD spending toward Procurement to deter China
The excellent Pete Modigliani had an interesting post recently on the proportion of RDT&E and Procurement in defense budgets. In the 1980s, Procurement was nearly […]
Acquisition headlines (1/16 – 1/22/2023)
The Navy Put Its Next Amphib on Hold. Good. (Defense One) “Unlike existing amphibious connectors that handle traditional Marine ship-to-shore movements, such as the currently […]
Acquisition headlines (1/9 – 1/16/2023)
Why DoD should get out of the R&D business: Mislav Tolusic. (Bloomberg Law) “The DOD should go back to its primary mission of running a […]
What economics and entrepreneurship can teach us about the acquisition process
Here are excerpts from a great lecture by Israel Kirzner on Economics and Entrepreneurship which focuses on economists Ludwig Von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. While […]
How to manage creative talent and lessons for DoD
Here’s an interesting conversation with Disney CEO Robert Iger on the a16z podcast: Alan Horn was the kind of studio executive that knew how to […]
How the arc of American business history frames defense acquisition
The Pentagon and defense contractors are wrapped up in a broader macroeconomic arc that is crucial for understanding where DoD is today. Rise of the […]
Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER) FY 2023 update
Matt MacGregor had an interesting post on the state of DoD innovation funds, but the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER) was a bit more difficult […]
Podcast: The next generation of defense primes with Matt Steckman and Trae Stephens
Matt Steckman and Trae Stephens joined me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss their approach at Anduril Industries to scaling up in defense. Matt […]