Acquisition headlines (2/28 – 3/6/2022)
Addressing DoD’s tech focus areas requires new approaches. (DoD) DIU’s Michael Brown at a Mason GovCon event: “We don’t start with requirements, which often dictates […]
Search Results for program budget
The fractured nature of accountability in defense acquisition
I was talking to someone the other day quite senior in the acquisition arm of a service who was basically saying look — my role […]
CSAF Brown’s struggle against bureaucracy and why there’s resistance to top-down plans
CSAF CQ Brown’s desire to accelerate decision making in the Air Force — “accelerate or lose” — seems to not be going as well as […]
Acquisition headlines (2/21 – 2/27/2022)
Ukraine supplies 90% of US semiconductor-grade neon (and what it means to chip supply chain). (Venture Beat) “Ukraine supplies more than 90% of the U.S.’s […]
GAO: To keep up with surging Congressional reporting, DoD should modernize
The Department of Defense is required to report to Congress on an array of national security topics each year. The number of new reporting requirements […]
Event: Securing the MRAP
My colleague James Hasik recently published his newest book, Securing the MRAP: Lessons Learned in Marketing and Military Procurement. In this episode of the Acquisition […]
Acquisition headlines (1/31 – 2/6/2022)
Change how OTAs are used to make them an essential tool against China. (Breaking Defense) “Section 824 of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization […]
Cutting contract documentation by 90+ percent
Here is Air Force general Chapman at a 1971 appropriations supplemental hearing with DepSecDef David Packard, asking for additional funds to do prototyping including funds […]
Here are the first picks on the PPBE Reform Commission
There seems to be broad agreement among most stakeholders the US needs “better, faster, affordable” development and acquisition of emerging technologies that will drive competitive […]
Acquisition headlines (1/24 – 1/30/2022)
Federal Trade Commission blocks Lockheed Martin’s acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne. (Space News) FTC statement: “Lockheed will use its control of Aerojet to harm rival defense […]
Here’s how much in-house R&D the military services did in the 1960s
That was from a congressional hearing in July 1961.* I’m actually somewhat surprised that the Air Force performed upwards of 20 percent of their RDT&E […]
Acquisition headlines (1/17 – 1/23/2022)
Kendall warns against imitating Chinese hypersonic weapon efforts. (Defense Daily) ““We don’t have the same target set that they’re worried about so we have to […]
Three steps to help defense innovation break free from its shackles
Jerry McGinn and I provide three recommendations for the congressional commission on PPBE reform in a Defense News article: Be bold in vision. The DoD’s industrial-age […]
FFG-62, DDG(X), and the future of surface combatants
Here’s RADM Mark Montgomery (ret.) talking with Vago Muradian about the new Constellation-class frigate: Historically, the Navy either changed the HME — the hull, mechanical, […]
You can’t make decisions based on 40,000 pages of paper, McNamara was wrong
MCNEIL: … the budget system got pretty complicated under [Robert] McNamara. It took them years to wake up to the fact that he was not […]