Learning Lessons from MRAP, Operation Warp Speed.

• Author: Driggers, Tom

When it comes to procuring defense weapon systems, there seems to be the same discussion: the defense acquisition process, even with all its reform efforts, is filled with inefficiencies. Due to its protracted timelines,

bureaucracy and other barriers, the process is frequently criticized for its inability to deliver critical technologies to the warfighter in a timely manner. The current process is hindering the Defense Department's ability to keep pace with technological advancements and outpace near-peer competitors.

Yet, when faced with a crisis, it seems to get all the resources aligned in support of delivering emergent capabilities more rapidly. The National Defense Industrial Association's Emerging Technologies Institute set out to identify what attributes and barriers lead to these inefficiencies and determine what lessons learned can be adopted from crisis-time efforts that might be replicable in peacetime.

To do so, ETI is examining efforts like Operation Warp Speed, the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicle program and other key acquisition success stories to identify any repeatable attributes and provide recommendations to create a sustainable framework for consistent, swift and successful adoption of new technologies.

Acquisition reform is not new to the department, with repeated attempts made over the decades. The multitude of episodic reform efforts have pointed out the potential value of continual and flexible reform, rather than broad overhauls. These initiatives have often produced ineffective solutions to address the longstanding inability to develop key technologies and capabilities and rapidly deliver them to the warfighter.

While several of these reform initiatives have successfully reduced program costs and shortened program schedules, they failed in their main goal: developing repeatable processes allowing for programs to acquire and deliver capabilities with speed.

Both Operation Warp Speed and the MRAP program proved extremely successful across all phases of the acquisition process from development to deployment, but can their models be applied across other non-crisis acquisition efforts, especially when trying to deliver new, emerging capabilities to the warfighter?

Operation Warp Speed was a joint effort between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense Department--along with several other partners--which supported the safe development and delivery of 300 million vaccines in less than...