FFG(X) update — and then there were four
The FFG(X) program is a Navy program to build a class of 20 guided-missile frigates (FFGs). The Navy wants to procure the first FFG(X) in […]
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Acquisition Headlines
New U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Can’t Launch F-35s Until 2027: Report. Lockheed Martin Continues To Impress (impress investors, that is, not the weapon systems users). […]
Lessons from France on fixed-price contracting
There is much to like about how the French do weapon systems acquisition, and we in the US need to pay more attention: In the […]
DIB recommends new appropriation to meet software challenges
The following is a lengthy excerpt from the Defense Innovation Board’s Software Acquisition and Practices (SWAP) appropriations subgroup. I think it is an excellent expression […]
Interpreting the Navy’s FY 2020 shipbuilding plan
Overall inventory will reach 314 ships by FY2024 and 355 ships in FY2034. The DDG 51 class-wide extension was the principal driver of the 20-year […]
Problem areas of Earned Value Management
This is from a March 1969 article that discusses the Air Force’s implementation of the C/SCPS, which later became known as Earned Value Management: AFSC […]
Contracts delayed by too many cooks in the kitchen
The larger the acquisition involved, the more people get involved. Just to get the RFP [Request for Proposal] out the door on the government side, […]
Acquisition Headlines
The (apparent) winner-take-all JEDI cloud contract creates tension — and micromanagement: “The House Appropriations Committee’s version of the 2020 Defense spending bill would prohibit DoD […]
The Air Force’s eternal reluctance for attack aircraft
But while the Air Force considers whether it needs a light-attack capability, SOCOM Commander Gen. Richard Clarke said a light-attack platform is essential for its […]
Acquisition Headlines
“Hours after top Navy officials explained to skeptical lawmakers why they would retire the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier 25 years early, Vice President Mike […]
I beseech you, Norm Augustine, to think it possible you be mistaken
Defense acquisition in the United States is quite unique. It is a monopsony that has monopolies embedded within it. People’s lives — even our nation’s […]
Acquisition Headlines
1 Marine dead, 6 injured after training accident at Camp Pendleton (LAV rolled over). “The system can combine the speed, rapid fire and depth of […]
The more things change, acquisition reform remains the same
History offers little to suggest that today’s acquisition reform will succeed where its predecessor efforts failed… Behavioral change is needed to effect any transformation. Acquisition […]
France finds value in acquisition expertise
Here are some findings from a 1989 Congressional study on French and British acquisition policies: Armament Engineers complete their seven year educational program at about […]
Army acquisition and the Goldwater-Nichols Act
In 1986, the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management (Packard Commission) published A Quest for Excellence, Final Report to the President. Subsequently, National Security […]