Role of competition in the economy and in government
In the private economy other competing firms can duplicate or take different points of view about the nature of desirable products. But there are not […]
Search Results for program budget
What’s holding DIU back from scaling technologies?
“We’re not moving in government at an agile pace that reflects the nature of the competition. It’s about speed,” the DIU director said. “When we […]
Transcripts to the Acquistion Talk episode with Steve Blank
Here are the transcripts to my discussion with entrepreneur Steve Blank. I apologize for the general lack of punctuation. ______________________ Eric Lofgren: i’m speaking with […]
The birth of the F-18 and how the Navy defied of Congress
In some ways, the institutional challenges faced by the F-16 pale in comparison to those faced by the F-18. The program faced cancellation by Congress […]
Views on US-China tensions, preparedness, and the great decoupling
Tech companies with operations in both China and the United States are increasingly struggling to comply with values and laws that are systemically in conflict. […]
Zumwalt’s advanced gun system woes
The LRLAPs [Long Range Land-Attack Projectiles] were to have been coordinate-attack weapons, guided by GPS satellite signals and inertial navigation systems to specific points ashore. […]
Acquisition headlines (7/19/2020)
Congress skeptical of Navy’s unmanned vessels plans. Navy wants $464 million for unmanned surface vessels, Congress is unimpressed. HASC agreed to just $270 million. SASC […]
Will the military aviation industry get nationalized? A battle for the industry’s future
“If our industrial base collapses any more, we’ll have to nationalize advanced aviation and maybe other parts of the Air Force that currently are competitive,” […]
Congress has a bold vision for Navy subsystem prototyping, but here’s what they’re missing
As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has documented, lead ships in new classes of naval vessels routinely fail to meet expectations… It was not always this […]
Is GPS a legacy platform that requires disruption?
Commanders in the field have increasingly been slapping DoD with “joint urgent operational needs” for equipment that does not need to rely on GPS because […]
How will Air Force and Space Force labs and test centers be organized?
David Deptula: Which parts of the Air Force acquisition organization do you see migrating to the Space Force? And are there any organizations that will […]
What’s the best way to control spiraling weapons sustainment costs?
A draft version of the National Defense Authorization Act the House Armed Services Committee will begin debating this week includes a provision requiring DoD to develop a […]
How AFWERX transitions tech with Chris Benson, Steve Lauver, and Jason Rathje
Three of the co-founders of the Air Force Ventures program at AFWERX joined me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss how they transition startups […]
Acquisition headlines
ABMS moves ahead with second round of contract awards. Adds 18 companies to 28 previously selected to compete for ABMS work. That sounds like a […]
More wish list items for space systems acquisition
In contrast to tanks, ships, and planes, a disproportionate share of the life-cycle cost in space acquisition is in the research and development phase. Indeed, […]