Defense contracting innovation in state of flux.

AuthorSweeney, Brian E.
PositionViewpoint

Over the last few years, both the Department of Defense and Congress have been pursuing innovation in defense-related technologies, processes or methods--including research and development--from a variety of sources and through a variety of procurement techniques and strategies.

In the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by then-President Barack Obama Dec. 23, Congress continued its expansion of acquisition authorities designed to promote contracting for defense innovation.

At the same time, however, Congress also directed a significant reorganization of the office of the secretary of defense, abolishing the position of undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics and creating two new positions, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and the undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, in order to further emphasize the need for defense innovation.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a Nov. 30 statement declared that the NDAA "firmly establishes innovation as a primary mission of the Department of Defense."

At the same time, however, the NDAA put the brakes on outgoing Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's fledgling Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental, or DIUx, which was created to target innovation efforts with commercial companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere--pending further review of DIUx's activities in comparison to other organizations that are also pursuing defense innovation technologies.

So while contracting for defense innovation has arrived under the law, it is not yet clear exactly who will be in charge of pursuing and procuring innovation, at least in the near term.

While the outgoing Obama administration objected to the congressionally mandated reorganization and limits on DIUx, Secretary of Defense James Mattis has apparently embraced the reforms called for in the NDAA. In a Feb. 17 memorandum for the acting deputy secretary of defense, Mattis declared that he was "firmly committed" to addressing congressional concerns and "aggressively exploring and implementing reforms" to "improve the department's ability to be innovative and responsive."

Mattis also called for a recommendation on the designation of a chief innovation officer, and options for the treatment of "innovation organizations" within the department. In the coming months the department will reveal how it plans to implement and execute the new...

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