HOW NEW ACQUISITION RULES EMPHASIZE HOW A GOV PROGRAM MANAGERS RESPONSIBILITY

Revised DoD Acquisition Policies Analyzed For Substantive Change Publication info: Defense Daily ; Potomac  Vol. 218, Iss. 34,  (May 16, 2003): 1.

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ABSTRACT (ABSTRACT) So far, Pentagon leaders have all but concluded their defense of the FY '04 Defense Authorization and FY '04

Defense Appropriation legislation in the absence of formal acquisition regulations. Outgoing defense acquisition

chief Pete Aldridge and [Paul Wolfowitz] last fall approved interim acquisition guidelines in the wake of the original

5000-series having been cancelled last year (Defense Daily, Sept. 5). Formal revised acquisition regulations were

expected to have been signed in February but that was delayed, possibly by Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The significance of the revision to the 5000-series regulations-- DoD Directive 5000.1, the Defense Acquisition

System, and DoD Instruction 5000.2, the Operation of the Defense Acquisition System- -resides in whether the new

rules would deliver on the promise of promoting more rapid and flexible acquisition of products and capabilities for

use by operational forces, the senior congressional staffer noted. FULL TEXT By Hunter Keeter

With Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on May 12 having approved the new DoD 5000-series acquisition

management regulations, Hill and industry sources are asking whether real change has been achieved.

"An important question is exactly how much change there has been over the previous DoD 5000-series; some

reporting before they were released indicated that there may not be as great a difference," according to a senior

congressional staffer.

So far, Pentagon leaders have all but concluded their defense of the FY '04 Defense Authorization and FY '04

Defense Appropriation legislation in the absence of formal acquisition regulations. Outgoing defense acquisition

chief Pete Aldridge and Wolfowitz last fall approved interim acquisition guidelines in the wake of the original 5000-

series having been cancelled last year (Defense Daily, Sept. 5). Formal revised acquisition regulations were

expected to have been signed in February but that was delayed, possibly by Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The significance of the revision to the 5000-series regulations-- DoD Directive 5000.1, the Defense Acquisition

System, and DoD Instruction 5000.2, the Operation of the Defense Acquisition System- -resides in whether the new

rules would deliver on the promise of promoting more rapid and flexible acquisition of products and capabilities for

use by operational forces, the senior congressional staffer noted.

Under the last revision of the 500-series, dated Oct. 23, 2000, the defense acquisition system emphasized

"evolutionary acquisition strategies" to shorten the time from concept development to product procurement.

Nevertheless, industry and the military services have noted the usual 5-10 year or more cycle time on development

of new systems. In the case of major platforms, the process has historically been measured in decades.

Whereas the older regulations had promoted the concept of block upgrade to achieve capability improvements as

new technologies became available, the revised acquisition regulations emphasize "spiral development," a similar

concept that argues for putting less that perfect solutions to operational needs into the field, with the emphasis on

getting products to the operational forces without delaying to gain 100 percent compliance with all requirements

in the initial system iteration.

Spiral development could have important implications to the relationship between DoD and its contractor

community, in terms of its effect on prime contractor relationships, system development competition and the

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science and technology base investments made by the government and the private sector, according to an

industry source.

From the previous "preferred approach" of "evolutionary acquisition," the Pentagon has now made a case for

considering "multiple concepts and analyz(ing) possible alternative ways to satisfy the user need," according to

the May 12 document.

The new acquisition rules emphasize a government program manager's responsibility to "conduct market research

and analysis to determine the availability, suitability, operational supportability, interoperability, safety, and ease of

integration of the considered and selected procurement solutions," not necessarily relying on a prescribed "block"

upgrade approach, and therein may lie the key difference between the older system and the revised one, the

industry source said.

Additionally, the new regulations list priorities in facilitating the more widespread use of commercial technologies

in military applications, including deepening relationships with other nations' industrial bases.

"The procurement or modification of commercially available products, services, and technologies, from domestic

or international sources, or the development of dual-use technologies; the additional production or modification of

previously-developed U.S. and/or allied military systems or equipment; and a cooperative development program

with one or more allied nations," are key priorities in the new regulations.

(Copyright 2003 PBI Media, LLC. All rights reserved.) DETAILS

Publication title: Defense Daily; Potomac

Volume: 218

Issue: 34

Pages: 1

Number of pages: 0

Publication year: 2003

Publication date: May 16, 2003

Publisher: Access Intelligence LLC

Place of publication: Potomac

Country of publication: United States

Publication subject: Military, Aeronautics And Space Flight

ISSN: 08890404

Source type: Trade Journals

Language of publication: English

Document type: PERIODICAL

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Copyright: Copyright Phillips Business Information, LLC May 16, 2003

Last updated: 2010-06-11

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