Acquisition headlines (4/4 – 4/10/2022)
DoD seeks $100M for valley of death bridge fund. (Defense News) ““The $100 million I am asking for is to help multiple small companies, especially […]
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Congress needs introspection for PPBE Reform to work, for DoD to innovate at scale
There are several ways in which Congress is a major impediment to an improved defense investment process. First, congressional committees are loath to shed their ability […]
Can defense acquisition become highly reliable? Yes! Just add redundancy.
Is it possible to take a set of individually unreliable units and form them into a system “with any arbitrarily high reliability”? Can we, in […]
Acquisition headlines 3/28 – 4/3/2022
Navy’s shipbuilding request may be violation of law, Inhofe warns. (Breaking Defense) Inhofe’s tweet: “The @USNavy says we need at least 355 battle force ships […]
DoD exported PPBE to Eastern Europe after the Cold War. Here’s how it went.
he budgeting method that has come to be known as the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System (PPBS) – or Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) […]
In the economics of acquisition, who is in the best place to make choices?
Economist Arnold Kling recounts an argument from Milton Friedman about whether people make rational decisions on behalf of other people: If you buy a coat […]
Takeaways from Bill LaPlante’s confirmation hearing for USD A&S
Here are some notes on William LaPlante’s confirmation hearing to become USD Acquisition & Sustainment — courtesy of the excellent Pete Modigliani. Congress gave DoD […]
Acquisition headlines (3/21 – 3/27/2022)
Stinger and Javelin production can be boosted, says Army acquisitions chief. (Defense News) “Speeding or increasing production of the anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, though, involves […]
Is the Air Force heading back to paralysis by analysis in weapons choice?
Here’s Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall quoted in a recent Space News article, speaking about problems in current acquisition: “Overall, we start more […]
Acquisition headlines (3/14 – 3/20/2022)
Cyber Command prepares to gain significant budget control. (Fed Scoop) “The fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act gave the commander of Cybercom responsibility for direct control […]
Other Transactions continued growing in FY21, but will it soon level off?
Contracts using other transaction authority saw another year of growth in the Department of Defense, but only when excluding awards for COVID-19. Obligations unrelated to […]
Acquisition headlines (3/7 – 3/13/2022)
Show, don’t tell: Navy changes strategy to sell unmanned systems to skeptical Congress. (Breaking Defense) “Public discussions between the Navy and Congress over unmanned technology […]
When acquisition theory runs into funding realities
In unmanned maritime systems, the Navy’s learning curve and operational experience is rapidly accelerating… For example, Task Force 59 is challenging the process in which […]
How weapons become overoptimized to the point they become brittle
Here is Roland McKean, one of the founders of the DoD’s Planning-Programming-Budgeting system, who later in the 1960s saw the errors of what he helped […]
Space Force acquisition reorg moves in the right direction
Following a 90-day review, the head of Space Systems Command Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein proposed a new structure built around five program executive offices: Assured Access […]