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This week's top story brings the latest on space acquisition, with Frank Calvelli delivering his scorecard of space programs to Secretary Kendall.
- Five programs are underperforming, and Calvelli has spoken separately about holding accountable contractors who are not meeting cost, schedule, and performance goals.
In other space acquisition news, GAO has a new report suggesting that DoD evaluate and use more commercial data to generate space situational awareness, adding yet another call for increased integration of commercial capabilities with existing processes.
SIPRI is out with its yearly assessment of global defense spending.
- To no one's surprise, European defense spending is up substantially, as a result of the Ukraine-Russia war and the desire for European nations to protect themselves against potential Russian aggression.
Australia's Defense Strategic Review calls for increased spending on defense, more domestic production of munitions, and improvements in long-range strikes.
- The country is planning to delay or abandon $5.2 billion in defense spending to reflect new priorities, a shift that would include reducing orders for infantry fighting vehicles. Savings would go to purchase HIMARS rocket systems.
The latest issue of Armed Forces Comptroller is focused entirely on PPBE Reform, with results of several member surveys about the current responsiveness of the PPBE system in general and for IT tools and systems in particular.
Dr. Bill LaPlante is in Europe this week, where he is chairing the third meeting of the National Armaments Directors, defense leaders from 40+ countries working to "accelerate the sourcing, production and sustainment of capabilities that are vital to Ukraine's defense against Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion."
- LaPlante also signed a new administrative arrangement between the Department of Defense and the European Defense Agency. It provides for stronger transatlantic cooperation in defense in specific areas, including in the exchange of information.
You can hear more from Dr. LaPlante when he kicks off the symposium on May 10. We expect to hear about his efforts to engage with the defense industrial base, both domestically and internationally, progress on the Adaptive Acquisition Framework, and other initiatives.
Finally, in our "One more thing" section, enjoy a short surprise singing performance from the President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol during this week's state dinner with President Biden. While in DC, Yoon also met with Secretary of Defense Austin at the Pentagon.
- As part of this visit, the leaders made plans to dock U.S. nuclear-armed submarines in South Korea for the first time in more than 40 years.
20th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium
10-11 May 2023
Monterey, CA
Check out the finalized program and add sessions to your calendar directly from our event website.
This Week's Top Story
Space Force acquisition czar wraps program ‘scorecard,’ puts floundering contractors on notice
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
Frank Calvelli, the official in charge of herding space acquisition for the Department of the Air Force, has issued his first “scorecard” on program performance, Breaking Defense has learned — with five programs on the bottom rung and struggling to stay abreast of their requirements.
Calvelli “recently delivered an Annual Acquisitions Report” to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall “with a summary of the cost, schedule, and technical performance of multiple Space Force acquisition programs,” a Space Force spokesperson said in an email.
The scorecard is an internal document, and will not be released to Congress or the public as it “contains assessments of the classic cost, schedule, and technical performance of programs,” the spokesperson added.
Calvelli, in his own statement, said, “The intent of the report was to provide a portfolio-level overview on Space Force programs and track year-over-year changes in the number of programs meeting their cost, schedule, and technical performance commitments. Looking at the data, there is more work to be done to meet the desired cost and schedule results, and we continue to drive program management discipline in line with my nine acquisition tenets and simple formula for going fast in space acquisition.”
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