Military Acquisitions: DoD is Taking Steps to Address Challenges Faced by Certain Companies
Abstract
Private industry investments in research and development have significantly outpaced DOD's own spending in this area over the past three decades. Recognizing that this situation is likely to continue, Congress has passed legislation aimed at enabling DOD to leverage technologies made by companies that do not typically do business with it, referred to in this report as non-traditional companies. A Senate report included a provision for GAO to review DOD efforts to attract non-traditional companies that could potentially develop their commercial products for DOD's use. This report describes (1) key challenges identified by non-traditional companies when trying to do business with DOD and (2) actions DOD is taking to address them. To perform this work, GAO conducted interviews with 12 non-traditional companies. Companies were selected based on size, the amount of business they had with DOD, and the type of technology they produce. GAO discussed the nature of the challenges identified with the companies. In addition, GAO obtained information from DOD on steps it is taking to mitigate identified challenges through document reviews and interviews with military service and Office of the Secretary of Defense officials.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1163995
Entities
People
- Alexandra Stone
- Chery Andrew
- Emily Bond
- Jeff Hartnett
- Joe Hackett
- Kurt Gurka
- Michael J. Sullivan
- Michelle Vaughn
- Nate Vaught
- Robin Wilson
- Sameena Ismailjee
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office