Acquisition Research Program at Naval Postgraduate School’s Post

Notable Reports | “DIU 3.0”: Scaling Defense Innovation for Strategic Impact https://lnkd.in/duhfr34k DefenseInnovationUnit Director Doug Beck’s new report, "DIU 3.0: Scaling Defense Innovation for Strategic Impact,"focused on how the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) can leverage the best commercial tech at the speed and scale necessary. Published in partnership with Center for a New American Security - CNAS in policy publication on rapid technological change. Read the collection here: https://lnkd.in/dydeHyTH

#infor #aerospaceanddefense #defensecontractors The US Department of Defense's compliance requirements have undergone a major shift with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (#CMMC). Come join us Jan 24th at 1pm EST to learn more

This week in Defense Tech: 1️⃣ DoD Chief Information Officer announced the official release of DOD’s new Fulcrum: IT Advancement Strategy, a plan to guide military and civilian components’ sprawling information technology activities and objectives in fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 2️⃣ U.S. Army PEO EIS releases its latest PEO Perspective, covering leadership changes, ATIS, AEISP Hub, and AIE Industry Day. 3️⃣ Is NGAD slipping off the table? United States Air Force chief declines to confirm plans to build next-gen fighter. “We're going to have to make those choices” in the next few years, Gen. Allvin says at an AFA event. 4️⃣ Honeywell is beefing up its defense business by buying advanced electronics firm CAES for $1.9 billion. The all-cash transaction deepens Honeywell's push into aerospace tech months after announcing it would acquire aircraft component maker Civitanavi Systems. 5️⃣ The UK Ministry of Defence is overhauling its internal cloud with a secure by design approach. With the goal of consolidating its internal network, the MoD has turned to automated threat detection and questioning the effectiveness of practices such as air gapping. 6️⃣ More on NGAD... Air Force likely weighing several factors as it contemplates its future. Analysts told DefenseScoop that a number of variables are likely shaping the Air Force's decision on the fate of its sixth-generation fighter jet, including new technologies, budget constraints and more. 7️⃣ US Army is embarking on a strategy to implement a digital engineering environment meant to speed the pace, lower the cost and reduce risk in weapons systems development, according to DASA (DES). 8️⃣ United States Air Force Force is evolving how it does capability development as part of its effort to reoptimize for great power competition, prioritizing the underlying systems rather than the platforms carrying them. 9️⃣ United States Department of Defense working on continuous assessment process for deployed zero-trust solutions. “What we need is a tool … that is constantly going after [zero trust] infrastructures, that is constantly testing against that configuration that was passed,” Randy Resnick said. 🔟 The Pentagon wants to make it easier for its organizations to use data analytics, so it’s overhauling its Advana platform to pull data from disparate sources instead of pooling it in one place. 🔗 Links in comments below 👇 #DoD #defenseinnovation #defense #defensetechnology #technology #tech #nationalsecurity #jadc2 #army #navy #airforce

Interesting article on Forbes on the US DoD challenge around accelerating R&D into capability that can be deployed to the warfighter. Highlights the disconnect between agencies such as DARPA with a technology push model, yet end warfighter capability is delivered through traditional acquisiton agencies. This challenge is not new or unique to Defence. For me we need a new model of rapid technology maturation with intimate involvement from end users from the get go taking a leaf out of the world of DevSecOps in software. #r&d #innovation https://lnkd.in/ex5FjuMR

The Pentagon's Targeted Approach to CJADC2 is Paying Off - The United States Department of Defense has taken a more targeted approach to achieving Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) in recent years, and it's starting to yield results. - Rather than trying to fully interconnect all military services and domains, the Pentagon is addressing the most urgent operational problems through joint and service-level experimentation campaigns. - Initiatives like the Army's Project Convergence, the Navy's Project Overmatch, and the Air Force's Advanced Battle Management System are driving progress on key CJADC2 capabilities. - The DoD Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office's Global Information Dominance Experiment events also bring together the services, combatant commands, and international partners to test CJADC2 technologies. - This more targeted, bottom-up approach has highlighted critical sensor-to-shooter connections and improved interoperability, with tangible outcomes seen in recent exercises. - Experts say this pragmatic approach is more achievable than the initial broad vision for full interoperability across all domains and services. #CJADC2 #MilitaryTechnology #PentagonInnovation #JointExperimentation #ServiceInnovation #OperationalPriorities #SensorToShooter #DataInteroperability

The United States’ Department of Defense (DoD) has released the National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS). The DoD is seeking to catalyze major, generational change in the US’ industrial ecosystem. The NDIS’ goals are to make the industrial ecosystem dynamic, responsive, state-of-the-art, resilient, and be a deterrent to adversaries. Here is the full strategy: https://lnkd.in/eCV73y9S But, here is a TLDR of the NDIS for quick reading! 📖 Some of the challenges that the NDIS highlights are: 🖥 New Tech is Needed: New technologies can be adopted faster and existing technologies can be identified from technologies not originally designed for military use. Let's go dual-use technology! 🥊 Nasty Non-Competitive Landscape: Over the past forty years, adversaries implemented policies to restrict competition for critical technologies and components. Additionally, domestic and allied countries’ defense synergies are inefficient. 🐌 Snail-Paced Procurement: Uncertainty over quick and stable procurement by the DoD results in less production output. 🌪 Evolving Workforce: From 1985-2021, the workforce at defense-oriented companies in the U.S. shrunk by two-thirds! On top of this, baby-boomers are retiring. A modern and skilled workforce is needed. 💰 Who’s Going to Pay?: Politics greatly influences the funding available in the defense economy. Would you feel comfortable if your continued operations depend on Congresspeople regularly agreeing with each other? The DoD will focus on four priorities to address these challenges: 1) Modernize, build, and maintain resilient supply chains, domestically and internationally, to produce needed products and services at speed, scale, and cost. 2) Achieve a sufficiently-staffed, modern workforce – that is representative of the U.S. – to be ready for current and future defense industry needs. 3) Update acquisition strategies to be flexible and dynamic by prioritizing interoperability, supporting off-the-shelf acquisition, and reforming contracting methods. 4) Promote fair and effective market mechanisms among the U.S. and its close international allies to contribute to economic reliability and stability, and FOMO for adversaries! While this is a step in the right direction, do you think that the NDIS is missing anything? 🔎

United States Department of Defense (DOD) - Report on Defense Spending by State in FY 23 On October 15th, the DOD’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation released its FY 2023 Defense Spending by State report to help states and communities better understand how Defense procurement, personnel, and grant spending impact their economies. The report's graphs, maps, and tables present a range of findings, such as total spending figures, categories of contracted goods and services, major defense vendors, numbers and types of defense personnel, and grants awarded by the Department of Defense (DOD). This snapshot provides public and private leaders with a starting place to assess how defense investments across installations, communities, and the private sector can be optimized by supporting regional innovation, industrial capability and capacity, supply chain resilience, and cultivating a skilled workforce. https://lnkd.in/e4aJy2pk

Very promising news for defense modernization. “Our focus needs to be not just exquisite systems, but how do we get capability and capacity quickly? How do we get expendable platforms? We see that happening in Ukraine, those are incredibly effective. How do we get to attritable platforms that are also great conduits to use technology that leverage what we can do quickly? We can generate mass, we can increase the risk calculus for China. All those things are incredibly important,” Wittman, the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said.

🔹Transforming for a Complex World: AUSA 2024 Annual Meeting🔹 The Association of the United States Army - AUSA recently came out with its Annual Meeting theme, "Transforming for a Complex World," an apt description of where the Defense industry stands today. Here's why we're going to the conference. As global challenges evolve at an unprecedented pace, we believe military capabilities must adapt as well. Today's defense landscape is being reshaped by AI-driven battlefield decision-making, advanced cybersecurity measures for critical infrastructure, autonomous systems, and next-generation communication networks. Even so, successfully navigating the complex federal landscape requires more than cutting-edge solutions. It demands strategic insight, deep market understanding, and the ability to align innovative technologies with military needs. We're proud to be at the forefront of this transformation. We guide innovative defense tech companies through the federal marketplace, facilitating crucial connections between industry pioneers and key decision-makers, and providing strategic advice to bridge the gap between next-generation capabilities and military requirements. AUSA 2024 is a nexus for partnership, connection, and transformation for an increasingly advanced technological landscape. Join us at the conference October 14-16:  https://lnkd.in/eqnw6tNJ #AUSA2024 #DefenseTechnology #FederalSales #TransformativeStrategy #VictorySix #AdvisoryFirm #BusinessStrategy #GovernmentRelations #GovernmentAffairs #DealFlow #DueDiligence #ManagementAdvisory #InvestmentAdvisory #BusinessAdvisory #DoD

Government agencies, meet your new ICAM resource. #PingIdentity’s latest updates are FedRAMP High & DoD IL5 ready, built for flexibility, and tailored to your mission. Ready to upgrade? Check out the blog to learn more! https://ow.ly/AJnc30sGjQ1