Background

The Department of Defense acquires goods and services from contractors, federal arsenals, and shipyards to support military operations. Acq uisition is a broad term that applies to more than just the purchase of an item or service; the acquisition process encompasses the design, engineering, construction, testing, deployment, sustainment, and disposal of weapons or related items purchased from a contractor. From concept to deployment, a weapon system must go through the three-step process of identifying the required weapon system, establishing a budget, and acquiring the system. These three steps are organized as follows:
1. The Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System—for identifying requirements. The Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution System—for allocating resources and budgeting. 3. The Defense Acquisition System—for developing and/or buying the item. Generally, the defense acquisition system uses "milestones" to oversee and manage acquisition programs (see Figure 2 ). To pass a milestone, a program must meet specific statutory and regulatory requirements and be deemed ready to proceed to the next phase of the acquisition process. There are three milestones:
Milestone A—initiates technology maturation and risk reduction. Milestone B—initiates engineering and manufacturing development. Milestone C—initiates production and deployment. For more than 50 years, both Congress and DOD have initiated numerous attempts to improve defense acquisitions. DOD has also undertaken a comprehensive effort to improve the overall operation of the defense acquisition system. In November 2012, Secretary Carter's successor, Frank Kendall, launched the Better Buying Power 2.0 initiative, an update to the original Better Buying Power effort, aimed at "implementing practices and policies designed to improve the productivity of the Department of Defense and of the industrial base that provides the products and services" to the warfighters. The most recent legislation that had a significant impact on weapon system acquisitions was enacted in May 2009, when Congress passed and the President signed into law the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 ( S. 454 / P.L. 111-23 ). Key provisions in the act included
the appointment of a Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation within DOD who communicates directly with the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense and who issues policies and establishes guidance on cost estimating and developing confidence levels for such cost estimates; the appointment of a Director of Developmental Test and Evaluation who serves as principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on developmental test and evaluation and develops polices and guidance for conducting developmental testing and evaluation in DOD, as well as reviewing, approving, and monitoring such testing for each Major Defense Acquisition Program; the appointment of a Director of Systems Engineering who serves as principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on systems engineering and who will develop policies and guidance for the use of systems engineering, as well as review, approve, and monitor such testing for each MDAP; a requirement that the Director of Defense Research and Engineering periodically assess technological maturity of MDAPs and annually report findings to Congress, requiring the use of prototyping, when practical; a requirement that combatant commanders have more influence in the requirements-generation process; changes to the Nunn-McCurdy Act, including rescinding the most recent milestone approval for any program experiencing critical cost growth; a requirement that DOD revise guidelines and tighten regulations governing conflicts of interest by contractors working on MDAPs; and a requirement that a principal official in the Office of the Secretary of Defense be responsible for conducting performance assessments and analyses of major defense acquisition programs that experience certain levels of cost growth.
The Department of Defense (DOD) acquires goods and services from contractors, federal arsenals, and shipyards to support military operations. Acquisition is a broad term that applies to more than just the purchase of an item or service; the acquisition process encompasses the design, engineering, construction, testing, deployment, sustainment, and disposal of weapons or related items purchased from a contractor.
As set forth by statute and regulation, from concept to deployment, a weapon system must go through a three-step process of identifying a required (needed) weapon system, establishing a budget, and acquiring the system. These three steps are organized as follows:
1. The Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS)—for identifying requirements. 2. The Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution System (PPBE)—for allocating resources and budgeting. 3. The Defense Acquisition System (DAS)—for developing and/or buying the item.
The Defense Acquisition System uses "milestones" to oversee and manage acquisition programs. At each milestone, a program must meet specific statutory and regulatory requirements before the program can proceed to the next phase of the acquisition process. There are three milestones:
Milestone A—initiates technology maturation and risk reduction. Milestone B—initiates engineering and manufacturing development. Milestone C—initiates production and deployment.
Both Congress and DOD have been active in trying to improve defense acquisitions. A comprehensive legislative effort to improve weapon system acquisition occurred in May 2009, when Congress passed and the President signed into law the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (S. 454/P.L. 111-23). Key provisions in the act include appointment of a Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation within DOD to establish guidance on cost estimating; appointment of a Director of Developmental Test and Evaluation; appointment of a Director of Systems Engineering; and a requirement that the Director of Defense Research and Engineering periodically assess technological maturity of Major Defense Acquisition Programs.
DOD has undertaken a comprehensive effort to improve defense acquisitions, including rewriting elements of the regulatory structure that govern defense acquisitions and launching the Better Buying Power and Better Buying Power II initiatives aimed at "implementing practices and policies designed to improve the productivity of the Department of Defense and of the industrial base."
An oversight issue for Congress is the extent to which the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act and the various DOD initiatives are having a positive effect on acquisitions, and what additional steps, if any, Congress can take to further the effort to improve defense acquisitions.