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Happy New Year!
We start 2024 with all DoD Senate-confirmed leadership in place. Huzzah!
At the end of December, DoD issued the final proposed rule for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, which looks largely similar to previous versions that have received substantial public feedback. Requirements will flow down to all levels of the supply chain, and enforcement occurs via contracts. The proposed rule also includes estimated costs for the three tiers of security required for both large and small businesses.
DoD released an updated digital engineering guide. It points out that digital engineering should be addressed in the acquisition strategy and throughout the acquisition lifecycle.
Our top story brings an update on a pilot rapid acquisition project in Navy's PEO Integrated Warfare Systems. It highlights many successes of applying what are now generally recognized as best practices: working closely with end users to meet a need and employing technology already in use. PEO Okana shares thoughts on how fewer program elements and bigger pots of money could make this kind of rapid fielding more possible both in the Navy and across the joint force.
Defense Scoop reports that capabilities have been chosen for the Replicator initiative--but not yet specific platforms or vendors. Next step is to brief this information to Congress.
The Foreign Policy article on "The Arsenal of Democracy" opens with a description of charts on Bill LaPlante's office wall tracking production capabilities for major munitions and weapons systems currently in demand. These charts explain his incredible ability to talk specifics of where the defense industrial base stands now and where it needs to go--as well as his office's success at bringing all parties together to increase capacity for things like 155mm shells.
The New York Times points out the numbers of former DoD officials who now work for venture capital firms, creating a more appealing path for adventurous second-career seekers than the traditional transition to working for big defense contractors. The article tracks how venture capitalists are increasingly approaching DoD leadership with suggested technologies that can address current needs. Companies and organizations such as the Silicon Valley Defense Group are also engaging with Congress to shift funding to tech startups instead of traditional big contractors.
In ARP news, we bring more research from our latest cohort of graduates. Air Force Captains Ryan Tagatac and Chad Hedgepeth surveyed defense acquisition professionals to assess perceptions of AI-generated source selection evaluation factors and offer suggestions for how to help increase trust in this still emerging technology.
This Week's Top Story
Navy pilot program seeks rapid development and better funding approach
Megan Eckstein, Defense News
One of the U.S. Navy’s program executive offices is a few months into a pilot program aimed at enabling rapid acquisition, which could pave the way for a larger change in how the military branches develop and buy weapons systems.
Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems Rear Adm. Seiko Okano was tapped this fall to lead a pilot program centered on two efforts: finding creative solutions to warfighter problems that can be tested and fielded quickly, and then considering how to change the budgeting process so these new capabilities can be quickly purchased.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced the pilot program around the same time he signed off on the establishment of the Disruptive Capabilities Office and the Department of the Navy Science and Technology Board, with all three efforts acknowledging technology and global threats are moving much faster than the traditional acquisition system.
“We have to get capability out faster,” Okano told Defense News in a Dec. 15 interview. “People are kind of like, okay, well, how do you do this? Because our whole system is rigged to get capability out in the five- to 10-year timeframe.”
To address the first goal of the pilot program, Okano said, PEO IWS established a Rapid Capabilities Office to talk to fleet operators about the problems they face and identify what existing technology could solve those problems.
An early case was a requirement for more Standard Missile-6 launchers at sea. The SM-6 is launched from ships and can be used against enemy aircraft, incoming cruise and ballistic missiles and even ships, making it a flexible option fleet commanders want more of.
Within months, PEO IWS led an effort to install a virtualized Aegis Combat System and containerized launcher cells onto littoral combat ship Savannah, culminating in a successful October test event.
Through this bolt-on solution, the Navy could quickly put more missile launchers out to sea without paying for expensive modifications to its ships.
Okano said this months-long effort would have taken years if not for the pilot program, which rapidly engineered and tested the capability.
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