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 […]
Ukraine
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 […]
CSIS report on inadequate surge capacity for munitions
This table on surge capacity from Mark Cancian at CSIS has been making the rounds but I’ll repost it here because it is so important. […]
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 […]
Podcast: PPBE Reform with Ellen Lord and Michael Brown
Ellen Lord and Michael Brown joined me at the 2022 Conference hosted by George Mason University and Defense Acquisition University to discuss PPBE Reform. Ellen […]
Podcast: Getting weapons into production with USD A&S Bill LaPlante
The Undersecretary for Acquisition & Sustainment (USD A&S) Bill LaPlante joined us at the 2022 Conference hosted by George Mason University and Defense Acquisition University. […]
Tech bros vs. munitions at scale — what is helping Ukraine?
Here’s some good tweeting from Politico’s Lee Hudson on USD A&S Bill LaPlante’s keynote speech at the GMU-DAU Conference. A couple of the controversial points: […]
Has the bureaucratization of knowledge made government less effective?
Here’s an excerpt from Tyler Cowen’s conversation with Walter Russell Mead on American Foreign Policy. Tyler asks whether the State Department or the CIA understand […]
Starlink, Ukraine, and the challenges of a market economy going to war
Around 20,000 Starlink satellite units have been donated to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February, playing an important role in battlefield communication for Kyiv’s […]
Podcast: Military uses of AI/ML in China and the United States
In this cross-over episode of the Acquisition Talk and China Talk podcasts, we have Greg Allen on to discuss progress in AI/ML, the military, China, […]
500 Javelin-per-day requirement in Ukraine: Is it reasonable and what could it cost?
I want to come back to an article from the weekly headlines real quickly: The Ukrainians have submitted similar lists in recent weeks but a […]