Newsletter - Acquisition Research Program

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The Acquisition Research Program publishes a weekly email newsletter, Need to Know, in which we highlight key developments in acquisition, policy, government innovation, and research—as well as the latest news about ARP events and research. We hope you enjoy the newsletter, and let us know if you are doing work we can highlight in future issues.

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Newsletter 10.22.2021

NEED TO KNOW

October 22, 2021 Issue 75

Home Student Program Work with us Events DAIR News

This week the Senate Appropriations Committee released the remaining nine appropriations bills. The committee follows the trajectory set by the pending NDAA bills, modestly increasing funding above DoD's request. For the first time since 2010, there is no separate account for overseas contingency operations. The committee also expressed support for PPBE reform, along with $2 million in funding, admitting that "there is no doubt that the Department of Defense labors under a variety of processes that constrain efficient decision-making...."

The committee goes on to say that "Discussion of PPBE reform should first distinguish between the mechanics of a process, as opposed to the values and priorities that direct the process," and this discussion should include talk of "how to better transition technologies into the acquisition system." Our top story gives more detail on the bill's proposed appropriations and priorities, and you can find the explanatory statement in the Congress section.

On a related note, we include recent ARP-supported research from Todd Harrison and Seamus Daniels at CSIS, who studied annual differences between defense budget requests and congressional appropriations over two decades. Their charts tell some clear stories about Congress's penchant for funding major programs and missile defense and the effects of the Budget Control Act.

In acquisition news, the recent DHS multi-billion dollar cloud contract is being protested, which is not a surprise, but raises questions about how to award large-scale modernization contracts without indefinite delays of protests. The JEDI-replacement Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability contract will require providers to meet cybersecurity requirements similar to a beefed-up FedRAMP certification.

Our friend Nick Guertin testified on the Hill this week in his bid to lead the Operational Test & Evaluation Office, arguing that DoD needs the ability to conduct independent cybersecurity assessments of cloud infrastructure supporting the department. And the Q&A with Defense Business Board chair Deborah Lee James shared how the reconfigured board will operate, focusing efforts on issues related to transformation, business processes, and talent.

This Week's Top Story

Senate Committee Aims To Boost Pentagon’s Budget By $24B With Eyes On China
Justin Katz, Breaking Defense

The Senate Appropriations Committee is proposing to boost the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2022 budget by $24 billion with a focus on countering China, improving facilities and infrastructure across the services and advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The bill’s big plus ups come with $2.5 billion of additional investments with an eye toward America’s rival in Asia, such as funding specific to Marine Corps Force Design 2030 efforts, accelerating INDO-PACOM missile tracking capabilities, funding for the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii and Guam Defense System as well as $100 million to establish the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve to “accelerate real-world demonstrations of innovative technologies,” according to a summary published by the committee.

The bill also provides various increases for artificial intelligence, cyber and microelectronics capabilities which includes a $500 million program in increase adoption of AI at combatant commands.

It would provide the still nascent Space Force with $17.9 billion for military personnel, operations and acquisition accounts, a 16% increase over last year’s enacted budget.

Read more.

ARP and NPS News

Measuring Congressional Impact on Defense Acquisition Funding
Todd Harrison and Seamus P. Daniels, Center for Strategic & International Studies

This ARP-supported research assesses the role of Congress in the resourcing of defense acquisition programs. The study compares the actual funding level for procurement and RDT&E accounts with the original level proposed in the administration’s budget request and identifies patterns in which accounts are regularly adjusted by Congress. It assesses procurement and RDT&E accounts between FY 2001 and FY 2020 and conducts data cuts of acquisition funding at the account, category, military department, and budget activity levels. This analysis ultimately aims to inform defense planners, acquisition officials and program managers, and industry partners of trends in congressional appropriations for defense so they can better anticipate Congress’ impact on defense acquisition funding.

Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Samuel Paparo with NPS leaders

Pacific Fleet Leverages NPS, Silicon Valley to Advance Solutions to Key Challenges
MC2 James Norket, Naval Postgraduate School

With the constant evolution of Strategic Competition, Navy leaders must explore all avenues to master complex advanced technologies to maintain an advantage over competitors. Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Samuel Paparo traveled to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Oct. 15, to do exactly that, leveraging the university’s expertise and its proximity to Silicon Valley to engage academic and industry leaders on critical operational challenges facing the fleet in the Pacific.

Watch: Virtual SGL with Adm. James Stavridis (ret.) and Dr. John Arquilla - Oct. 12, 2021
NPS YouTube