Shortening the Defense Acquisition Cycle: A Transformational Imperative?
Abstract
Cycle time reduction has been a defense acquisition problem for more than 30 years. It is not a transformational imperative, but it is one piece of a defense reform puzzle that requires closer scrutiny and a genuine fix. The acquisition system is both political and complex. This Strategy Research Project paper explores the effectiveness of past policy changes to reduce cycle time, and reviews current acquisition issues or problems related to cycle time reduction. A number of concluding recommendations address this problem holistically. It is understandable that the acquisition system is viewed as dysfunctional, but changing the process every four years without fundamentally addressing other key problems and unintended consequences from past policy changes only creates greater dysfunction. The current definition of acquisition cycle time is too restrictive--it measures only SDD development time. A better measure is needed to encompass both the pre-acquisition cycle time (front end) and the production cycle time (back end). Adoption of evolutionary acquisition as the preferred strategy is a risky step; a number of serious challenges have to be addressed to avoid failure of this new strategy. The acquisition system is not a hopeless system imprisoned by time and complexity. Real opportunities are available to shorten the acquisition cycle time. (8 figures, 35 refs.)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 19, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA424071
Entities
People
- Kirk F. Vollmecke
Organizations
- United States Army War College