Title: A Strategy for Defense Acquisition Research
Abstract: Abstract : Fifteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world is again experiencing a major shift in the geopolitical landscape. As the September 11th attacks demonstrated, new deadly challenges have emerged from terrorist networks and rogue states. Although none of these threats equal the destructive capabilities of the Soviet Union, their determination to obtain weapons of mass destruction creates a more complex and dangerous security environment. The Department of Defense (DoD) also has entered a transformative period -- leveraging emerging technologies to develop a net-centric warfare capability -- while actively conducting military operations throughout the spectrum of conflict in support of the global war on terrorism. As a result, DoD is struggling to meet these competing requirements and reconcile the spending between traditional and new programs. Therefore, creating a more efficient acquisition system is a top priority. High-quality research in the area of acquisitions is necessary to catalyze positive and lasting changes to improve performance, reduce acquisition cycle times, and reduce the costs of DoD acquisitions, even as the Department confronts rapidly changing external and internal environments. This report highlights some of the forces that are acting to change the environment (e.g., budget constraints, a changing threat environment, technological innovations, force transformation, human capital management, a shrinking industrial base, ethics) and then develops a strategy for acquisition research. Allocating a minute percentage of the over $250 billion annual defense acquisition budget to original, rigorous, and replicable acquisition research could have an immeasurable impact on the Department. Such an investment could provide improvements in both qualitative and quantitative measures, while better equipping forces to effectively respond to changing economic, technological, geopolitical, and threat environments.
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 23
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