Acquisition
A Trident II D-5 breaks the surface during a performance evaluation test off the Florida coast. Today’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles depend on many of the technologies first developed in the “high velocity” Polaris program of the 1950s and 1960s. U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive
People Create High Velocity Outcomes
Commander Joel Holwitt, Proceedings
The author argues that rapid and successful ballistic missile development programs of the 1950s and early 1960s succeeded primarily because of the talented individuals involved, not the formal processes that were later codified. It contends that modern defense acquisition's overemphasis on process hinders speed and calls for a renewed focus on cultivating and empowering skilled people to achieve timely "high-velocity outcomes" needed today.
- Process Origins: Today's defense acquisition processes were formalized in the late 1950s and early 1960s based on attempts to systematize the successes of the ICBM and SLBM programs.
- People Driven: The true success of those missile programs stemmed from the caliber of the people involved: bright civilian scientists, talented uniformed scientists and engineers, and leaders who inspired dedication and shared a vision. As one source notes, "people, more than anything else, were the method".
- Expertise Decline: Military-scientific collaboration has atrophied, and while uniformed experts exist, programs are often run by "acquisition professionals" who may lack deep R&D experience.
The acquisition rule (re)writers really want you to have your say
Ross Wilkers, NextGov
Leaders of the effort to overhaul the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) are actively seeking and incorporating feedback from industry stakeholders throughout the process.
- Feedback Channel: Industry can monitor the output of the workstream, view master deviations, and provide feedback via the Acquisition.gov website, which is highlighted as an "indispensable resource". While feedback is read now, formal responses will occur during the later rulemaking stage, where each FAR part change will have a standard 45-day feedback period.
- Targeted Changes: Changes and class deviations have already begun for specific parts of the FAR, including Part 1 (the system itself), Part 34 (major system acquisitions), Part 10 (market research), and Part 52 (solicitation provisions and contract clauses).
Cut to DOD’s Test Enterprise Alarms Critics, Fearing Loss of ‘Honest Broker’
John Tirpak, Air & Space Forces Magazine
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed significant staff and budget reductions for the Pentagon's independent testing office, the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), viewing it as a hindrance to rapid weapons fielding. Critics argue this drastic cut removes vital oversight and expertise, risking the deployment of ineffective systems and undermining accountability.
- Expertise Loss: Former officials like Greg Zacharias, a former chief scientist at DOT&E, warned the cuts eliminate around 250 highly skilled testers whom he called the "cream of the crop".
- Honest Broker: DOT&E is widely viewed as a "truth-teller" and "honest broker" for Congress, primarily through its annual report on major defense acquisition programs which highlights shortfalls. Critics, including Senator Jack Reed, argue that reducing DOT&E to a "skeleton crew" means it cannot provide "adequate oversight," risking operational readiness and taxpayer dollars.
Using artificial intelligence to reduce DoD’s procurement timelines
Terry Gerton, Federal News Network
This interview with Wilson Miles of the Emerging Technologies Institute (ETI) explores the promises and challenges of integrating AI technology into the DOD acquisition process. Miles is a co-author of a recent report from MITRE and ETI on leveraging AI in acquisitions.
- Data Power: These tools are good at pulling and analyzing large amounts of data to help answer questions previously unanswerable or requiring significant human ingenuity that professionals lack time for.
- Measure Success: Measuring success quantitatively is difficult. Evaluators need clear metrics for success beyond just time savings, potentially including aspects like competition levels or retention of contracting professionals.
- Coordinate Development: There's a need for a coordinated effort, potentially a program of record, specifically targeting the development of acquisition tools and business operations systems, which currently lack sufficient attention.
- Full Report: Accelerating the Future: Leveraging AI for Transformative Federal Acquisition
Innovation
Ukrainian soldier flies a drone
Now that’s innovation: Ukrainian army units compete for weapons; start-ups compete for their business
Henry Campbell, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Ukraine's Brave1 initiative, including its e-commerce platform Brave1 Market, presents a new blueprint for defense innovation by overhauling procurement and logistics to foster a direct connection between soldiers and industry.
- Industry Transformation: Brave1 has supported a rapid growth in the number of Ukrainian defence companies, expanding from a few dozen to over 1500 since 2022. Many are small to medium-sized start-ups highly focused on integrating research and development into production.
- Feedback Loop: At its core is a triangular feedback system connecting Ukrainian military command, soldiers, and industry, linking procurement, logistics, and targeting.
- Soldier Empowerment: Based on the "Army of Drones" points program, soldiers earn points for destroying priority targets, use them to order equipment directly from manufacturers, and provide crucial real-time battlefield intelligence through kill verification videos and even user reviews.
- Market Intelligence: The system acts as an "invisible hand," providing the government and industry with real-time data on demand for equipment, guiding procurement and development decisions. Military command can also adjust point values to influence targeting based on strategic objectives.
Inside the US Army’s C2 upgrade – what industry can expect
Joseph Welch, Defense News
U.S. Army's Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative represents a fundamental transformation in how the Army acquires and delivers data-driven C2 capabilities, aiming for seamlessly integrated systems from corps down to squads using commercial technology and simplified processes.
- Commercial Tech: The Army emphasizes buying truly commercial technology rather than custom modifications to overcome obsolescence and stay on an affordable path to innovation.
- Simplify Requirements: NGC2 simplifies requirements using a four-page “Characteristics of Need” document that describes the problem rather than dictating the solution.
- Flexible Teaming: The Army will initially contract with two or more industry team leads accountable for the core program and ecosystem. They encourage non-exclusive industry teams, allowing component providers to partner across different leads and enabling direct engagement with individual team member companies.
- Continuous Solicitation: The Army intends to maintain a continuous open solicitation balanced with specific “windows” for decision points to manage competition and funding assurance.
Defense & Strategy
Even if cyborgs powered by artificial intelligence (AI) remain in the realm of science fiction, AI that assists commanders in the field and at sea is already beginning to arrive, and its capacity and reach will only grow.
What Threatens Human Control of Military AI
Lieutenant Commander Anthony Becker, Proceedings
NPS student Anthony Becker, winner of this year's Naval Postgraduate School Essay Contest, sponsored by the NPS Foundation and the US Naval Institute, examines risks inherent in advanced AI -- such as tendencies toward sycophancy, emergent misalignment, and deceptive behavior -- that challenge the Department of Defense's goal of maintaining human control over military systems. These "alignment" problems could lead to situations where commanders act on AI recommendations they don't fully understand or that subtly contradict their intent, potentially reducing human operators to passive observers.
- Becoming Ghosts: Alignment challenges create an "inexorable pull toward deference to the machine," risking that human operators become passive observers, or "ghosts in the machine," rather than maintaining the locus of battle control.
Industry
Cell guides on the Ane Maersk, A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S’s newest methanol-powered container ship, foreground, at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. (Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Allies are more than customers of America’s defense industrial base. They can help rebuild it.
Tom Corben, Breaking Defense
The U.S. needs its allies, particularly Australia, India, Japan, and South Korea, not just as customers but as partners to help rebuild its strained defense industrial base -- ultimately sharing the burden of collective security in an increasingly insecure world.
- Enable Contribution: To maximize allied help, reforms must make it easier for allies to work with the Pentagon, including actively considering allied solutions for critical technologies, revising contracting processes that disadvantage non-US firms, and fine-tuning export controls.
Implications of Russia's War on Ukraine for the U.S. and Allied Defense Industrial Bases
Alisa Laufer, Howard J. Shatz, Omar Danaf, RAND
The Russia-Ukraine war has significantly impacted U.S. and European defense industrial bases (DIBs), highlighting existing strains and prompting policy discussions on investment, procurement, and production capacities. The research analyzes the state of these DIBs before and during the war, identifying challenges and recommending responses to improve future capabilities and transatlantic cooperation.
Could an ARPA Help Resurrect US Manufacturing?
William B. Bonvillian, Issues
The United States faces significant challenges with its manufacturing sector, marked by decline, lost jobs, and an inability to keep pace with global competitors, problems exacerbated by recent supply chain shocks and conflicts. While traditional policies have fallen short, there is a growing argument that fostering technological surprise and leaps in productivity, potentially through the creation of an ARPA-like entity for manufacturing, is necessary to rebuild the industrial base.
- ARPA Proposed: An ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) model, known for fostering high-risk, breakthrough research beyond incremental advances, is one potential way to address the manufacturing sector's complex problems.
- Model Requirements: A successful manufacturing ARPA (ARPA-M) would need independence ("island-bridge" model), the ability to transition technology to the market (requiring significant funding or a link to large procurement budgets), and a culture of boldness and risk-taking.
- Location Matters: DOD has a major stake in the industrial base, understands the ARPA model, and possesses significant procurement spending that could drive technology adoption, similar to its historical role with CNC machining.
Congress & Government
A team of Department of Defense drone operators and experts test the technical capabilities of various Uncrewed Aerial Systems during a Defense Innovation Unit-led prize challenge at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., in November 2024. Defense Department / Devon Bistarkey
Bill aims to lock in DIU’s dual-use reservist corps
Patrick Tucker, Defense One
A proposed bill aims to permanently formalize the Defense Innovation Unit's (DIU) Joint Reserve Detachment, composed of tech-savvy reservists who bridge the gap between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley. This initiative seeks to ensure the military can continuously leverage commercial technology expertise to stay ahead of threats by making this dual-use capability a permanent fixture rather than a discretionary project.
Related: Fireside Chat with DIU's Doug Beck & NPS President Ann Rondeau
Research
The Virginia-class attack submarine USS New Mexico (SSN-779) returns to Naval Submarine Base New London following their participation in the Fellowship 2012 exercise with the Royal Navy submarine HMS Astute (SSN 20). New Mexico and Astute performed various tracking, deterrence and attack scenarios to test and certify each respective submarine's capabilities. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Virginia K. Schaefer)
Case Study on Industrial Base Planning for Future Attack Class Submarines
Justin Ort, NPS
This thesis analyzes the Virginia-class submarine program to extract crucial lessons regarding industrial base planning for future attack-class submarines. By employing DOTmLPF-P and SWOT analysis frameworks, the study aims to inform future program managers involved in submarine and ship acquisition.
Identifying Novel Ways to Incentivize Industry in Defense Acquisition
Dr. John (Jerry) G. McGinn, Dr. Edward Hyatt, Acquisition Innovation Research Center
This research project explores current and emerging Department of Defense (DoD) engagement models and proposes recommendations, emphasizing that while improving engagement is important, fundamentally changing incentive structures will have a significant impact on government-industry collaboration.
OECD Supply Chain Resilience Review
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
This OECD report highlights the increasing vulnerability of global supply chains. It argues that simply bringing production home is not the answer, as this could significantly hurt economies without guaranteeing greater resilience. Instead, the report advocates for proactive policies and international cooperation to manage risks effectively and leverage the benefits of global trade, emphasizing the need for agile and adaptable supply chains that consider technological and environmental shifts.
Reauthorizing the Defense Production Act in the Era of Defense Mobilization and Supply-side Industrial Policy
Michael Hikari Cecire, Journal of Advanced Military Studies
The article argues that while the DPA has become increasingly central to the government’s industrial policy initiatives, its application has been broadly inconsistent, unevenly coordinated, and insufficiently integrated into broader strategic frameworks. Reauthorization of the DPA could include creating a more permanent and coordinated executive branch infrastructure, clarifying its use as an emergency versus routine policy tool, and identifying gaps in future deployment.
Options for Strengthening the Use of Defense Production Act Title VII
Dr. John (Jerry) G. McGinn, Ms. Olivia Letts, Acquisition Innovation Research Center
This research explores how Sections 708 and 710 of the Defense Production Act (DPA) Title VII could be used to strengthen the defense industrial base for potential major conflicts. The project identifies past uses and current status of these authorities and proposed recommendations for their future application.
Events
Spring 2025 Naval AI Summit
10-12 June 2025
Naval Postgraduate School
Virtual
AI Acquisition Bootcamp
11 June 2025
Virtual
DLA Supply Chain Alliance Conference & Exhibition
11-12 June 2025
Richmond, VA
Future Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) Industry Day
17 June 2025
Washington, DC
Training & Simulation Industry Symposium (TSIS) 2025
17-18 June 2025
Orlando, FL
Other Transaction Authority (OTA) Workshop
18 June 2025
Norfolk, VA
Advanced Manufacturing for Defense
24-25 June 2025
Los Angeles, CA
MTO Spark Tank
24-25 July 2025
Aurora, CO
MODSIM World 2025
18-20 August 2025
Norfolk, VA
2025 Emerging Technologies for Defense
27-29 August 2025
Washington, DC
I/ITSEC 2025: Optimizing Training: Ensuring Operational Dominance
1-4 December 2025
Orlando, FL
One more thing...
U.S. Marines with the United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon execute their "bursting bomb" sequence during Fleet Week New York in Times Square, New York City, N.Y., May 21, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Christopher Prelle)
Marines, Sailors, and Coast Guardsmen Connect with New York City Residents
Lance Cpl. Ellen Guo, Headquarters Marine Corps
The 37th Annual Fleet Week New York brought together U.S. Marines, Sailors, and Coast Guardsmen from May 21-27, 2025.
- 250th Celebration: This year's event was significant as the Navy and Marine Corps celebrated their 250 years anniversary.
- Showcase Readiness: The event aims for the public to see that their Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard stand ready to defend them at any moment. It showcases the readiness and capabilities of the fleet, including their lethality and presence from the sea.
- Key Activities: Events included the opening Parade of Ships, performances by the Silent Drill Platoon and 2nd Marine Division Band, the Freedom Run ending at the World Trade Center Memorial, military competitions, and public access to ship tours and aviation static displays.
- Inspire the Future: A goal for the event is to display inspiration for future generations of Marines by showcasing the Marine Corps' culture of integrity and carrying forward its 250-year legacy.
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