Panel urges acquisition system reform.

• Author: Hoe, Sandy
• Position: Government Contracting Insights

The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act established the Section 809 Panel to address fundamental problems with how the Defense Department acquires goods and services to support its warfighters.

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It recently released an interim report and supplement advocating in broad strokes for a host of improvements to the acquisition system to better streamline the process and increase industry offerings to the government.

In meeting with over 200 government and industry representatives, the interim report found that the acquisition system creates obstacles that make it unattractive for small and large businesses alike to offer their goods and services to the government. It explained that "the United States' ability to maintain technological, military and economic superiority is being challenged," as our adversaries are recognizing vulnerabilities in our forces and the ability to respond through modernization.

Thus, the Pentagon's acquisition procedures must be improved to achieve "a degree of agility that DoD is not currently able to deliver," it said.

To achieve this agility, the interim report recommended several improvements.

One is to improve the adaptability of the acquisition system. The panel observed that the strategic threat has evolved over the years and is currently focused on "peer competitors, mid-tier regional adversaries and non-state actors capable of threatening U.S. interests." In particular, "Russia and China have embarked on rapid modernization efforts and are aggressively challenging U.S. interests around the world."

This threat, combined with the fluid and interconnected nature of world markets, requires an acquisition system that can adjust quickly to evolving threats. This agility requires the ability to procure "fundamentally different capabilities on different timelines." For instance, the acquisition system must allow for rapid procurement of existing technologies to support the warfighter in theater, while also allowing for acquisition of research-and-development services to ensure the department has access to the latest technology. These different types of acquisitions require greater nimbleness in Pentagon procurements.

The report also called for improving Defense Department and commercial customer relationships. "The era of the traditional defense industrial base is over" and, unlike in the past, the DoD is increasingly dependent on "boutique" defense companies and non-defense companies, it said...