Newsletter 7.5.2024 - Acquisition Research Program

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null Newsletter 7.5.2024

Flo Zeuthen

NEED TO KNOW

Acquisition Research Program Newsletter

July 5, 2024 — Issue 204

Happy Fifth of July! We hope you fully celebrated Independence Day yesterday and feel recharged as an American and someone invested in making government better.

In the news this week:

The Office of Defense Pricing and Contracting (DPC) has been renamed and is now the Office of Defense Pricing, Contracting, and Acquisition Policy (DPCAP). The change connects contracting and acquisition, and adds a new portfolio for acquisition policy and innovation, headed by Dave Cadman.

Three senators have written to DoD asking for more scrutiny of TransDigm's recent completed and proposed acquisition of aerospace engineering companies. TransDigm is, of course, the high profile example of price gouging in defense contracting that was highlighted in a 60 Minutes episode, bringing the issue to broad public awareness.

The House passed the defense spending bill last Friday, with a topline of $833 billion. It adds 8 more F-35s than DoD requested and procures only one Virginia-class submarine.

In Navy news, the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise started last week and goes through the first week of August.

And in other acquisition news, there's a new book out about Fat Leonard, the notoriously corrupt Navy defense contractor.

In ARP news, check out our profile of recent graduate Captain Dan Lim, USMC, who spoke about his classified research on creating resilient satellite architecture, a project that involved collaboration with industry partners, senior leaders, and the program management office crafting requirements.

Enjoy the weekend and the summer! We'll be back with short newsletters in July as we enjoy some summertime over here.

This Week's Top Story

How GAO told the Air Force to redo $12B systems integration contract
Nick Wakeman, Defense One

The Government Accountability Office has sent the Air Force back to the drawing board as the branch struggles to award a $12 billion contract for systems integration support of next-generation nuclear missiles.

BAE Systems has held the Integration Support Contract since 2013, supporting the Minuteman III system.

The new contract is known as ISC 2.0 and is tied to the Sentinel missile program, which will replace the Minuteman III.

BAE first won the recompete in 2022, which Guidehouse successfully protested. GAO told the Air Force to re-evaluate proposals.

With the re-evaluation, the award went to Guidehouse in February 2024 and BAE responded with their own protest that GAO ruled in favor of. Once again, GAO told the Air Force to again re-evaluate proposals.

GAO released the decision on Wednesday, so more details are now available.

Read more.

ARP and NPS News

Student profile: Captain Daniel Lim, USMC
ARP YouTube

June 2024 graduate talks about his team's research, collaborating with industry partners, iterating with senior Navy leadership, and the importance of education in creating a culture of innovation.

Filmed at the 21st Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, May 8-9, 2024.

Watch now.

Defense Technology Exploration Continues to Thrive at JIFX
Dan Linehan, Naval Postgraduate School

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) conducted its spring Joint Interagency Field Experimentation (JIFX) event in May, with a technological focus on command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) and countermeasures.

WeatherHive, a swarming meteorological measurement system being developed by GreenSight, is a project at the event funded by DIU for the U.S. Air Force Weather Wing. By deploying 10 small quadcopter drones from a portable “hive” canister, the system can collect weather data not just for tactical weather forecasting, but for “nowcasting” – what's happening right now and in the immediate future. Read more.

Acquisition and Innovation

DOD re-names pricing and contracting office
Tony Bertuca, Inside Defense

Next-gen fighter not dead, but needs cheaper redesign, Kendall says
Stephen Losey, Defense News

Building Innovators: DIU's ICAP Fellows Share Lessons in Leveraging Flexible Acquisition Tools To Accelerate Commercial Technology Across DoD
Shaun Bright, Ralph Barnes, Christine Docker, Brittany Harris, Rebecca Lingenfelter, and Tianna Seaman | Contract Management Magazine

US wants Boeing to plead guilty to fraud over fatal crashes, lawyers say
David Koenig, Associated Press

‘Fat Leonard’: A sordid tale of dereliction and dishonor at the Navy’s highest levels
Robert H. Reid, Stars and Stripes

FedRAMP unveils new framework for prioritizing emerging tech
Alexandra Kelley, Nextgov/FCW

Alliant 3's final solicitation hits the streets
Ross Wilkers, Nextgov/FCW

Commentary: How achievable is the continuous Authority to Operate model?
Bryon Kroger, C4ISRNET

Research

AUKUS Collaboration Throughout the Capability Life Cycle: Implications for Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Processes
RAND Corporation

Secret Signals: Decoding China's Intelligence Activities in Cuba
Center for Strategic & International Studies

Events

SECNAV Space Summit
Tuesday, 9 July 2024 to Thursday, 11 July 2024
King Hall Auditorium | Glasgow Hall

The SECNAV will host the Naval Space Summit at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California from 09-11 July 2024. The Summit will re-baseline the naval space focus of efforts at the strategic and operational level and clarify the way forward in establishing a path for success against current and future adversaries.

Acquisition Training for the Real World
GSA
July 15–19 | 1–3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time | Online

Unlocking the PPBE Commission's Final Report — What Can DoD Do Now?
Baroni Center for Government Contracting and Acquisition Innovation Research Center
July 18, 2024

NPS Writers Room
19-21 July 2024
King Hall Design Lab on the NPS campus

This interactive “writers room” experience will guide students through a hands-on professional-level creative experience to build skills through developing the WIC scenario. NPS students and faculty will gain an appreciation for key elements of narrative for more compelling and powerful messaging throughout their academic journey and their careers. A compelling scenario sometimes makes the stakes clear more quickly than a series of graphs and tables in a technical report. In complex military problem spaces our warfighters need to make these stakes clear to decision makers for quick effective action so tools of narrative will be key!

NOTE: limited to government (military and civilian)

National Contract Management Association World Congress
July 21-24, 2024
Seattle, WA

2024 Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference & Exhibition
National Defense Industrial Association
August 7-9, 2024

Defense News Conference
September 4, 2024