The authors analyze various approaches to speed acquisition of military capabilities and keep pace with evolving threats, assess these approaches' suitability for different conditions and acquisition types, and identify implementation issues.

For every weapons system being developed, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) must make a critical decision: Should the system go forward to full-scale production? The answer to that question may involve not only tens of billions of dollars but also the nation's security and military capabilities. In the milestone process used by DOD to answer the basic acquisition question, one component near the end of the process is operational testing, to determine if a system meets the requirements for effectiveness and suitability in realistic battlefield settings. Problems discovered at this stage can cause significant production delays and can necessitate costly system redesign. This book examines the milestone process, as well as the DOD's entire approach to testing and evaluating defense systems. It brings to the topic of defense acquisition the application of scientific statistical principles and practices.

"So far, EA implementation of military space programs has produced mixed results. The capabilities and requirements definition and management processes are major challenges in all EA programs. EA programs require an evolutionary costing approach; most cost analysts interviewed expressed generally positive views about EA."--BOOK JACKET.

Through literature reviews, interviews, and case studies, researchers reviewed recent U.S. Air Force experience in using other transactions for prototype projects (OTs), identifying lessons for acquisition professionals and improvements for use.

Written for both students and practitioners, Management of Defense Acquisition Projects enables the reader to understand the broad range of disciplines and activities that must be integrated in order to achieve successful acquisition outcomes. This second edition features significant updates throughout, and totally new chapters.

The global threat landscape is constantly evolving and remaining competitive and modernizing our digital environment for great power competition is imperative for the Department of Defense. We must act now to secure our future.This Digital Modernization Strategy is the cornerstone for advancing our digital environment to afford the Joint Force a competitive advantage in the modern battlespace.Our approach is simple. We will increase technological capabilities across the Department and strengthen overall adoption of enterprise systems to expand the competitive space in the digital arena. We will achieve this through four strategic initiatives: innovation for advantage, optimization, resilient cybersecurity, and cultivation of talent.The Digital Modernization Strategy provides a roadmap to support implementation of the National Defense Strategy lines of effort through the lens of cloud, artificial intelligence, command, control and communications and cybersecurity.This approach will enable increased lethality for the Joint warfighter, empower new partnerships that will drive mission success, and implement new reforms enacted to improve capabilities across the information enterprise.The strategy also highlights two important elements that will create an enduring and outcome driven strategy. First, it articulates an enterprise view of the future where more common foundational technology is delivered across the DoD Components. Secondly, the strategy calls for a Management System that drives outcomes through a metric driven approach, tied to new DoD CIO authorities granted by Congress for both technology budgets and standards.As we modernize our digital environment across the Department, we must recognize now more than ever the importance of collaboration with our industry and academic partners. I expect the senior leaders of our Department, the Services, and the Joint Warfighting community to take the intent and guidance in this strategy and drive implementation to achieve results in support of our mission to Defend the Nation.

As of July 2008, about 75% of casualties in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were attributed to improvised explosive devices. To mitigate the threat from these weapons, DoD initiated the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) program in Feb. 2007, which used a tailored acquisition approach to rapidly acquire and field the vehicles. To date, about $23 billion has been appropriated for the procurement of 16,000 MRAP vehicles. This testimony describes the MRAP acquisition process, the results to date, lessons learned from that acquisition, and potential implications for improving the standard acquisition process. The auditor reviewed DoD's plans to buy, test, and field the vehicles and discussed the plans with department and contractor officials.

This report examines the challenges facing the DoD in acquiring information technology (IT) and offers recommendations to improve current circumstances. The fundamental problem DoD faces is that the deliberate process through which weapon systems and IT are acquired does not match the speed at which new IT capabilities are being introduced in today¿s information age. Consequently, the principal recommendation of the study is that DoD needs a new acquisition system for IT. Roles and responsibilities for those involved in the acquisition process must be clarified and strengthened and the IT system acquisition skills required in the workforce must also be strengthened. Illustrations.