Report Of The Defense Science Board Task Force On Defense Acquisition Reform PDF Download

The current defense environment is such that acquisition budgets are low and likely to remain so, weapons system costs are high and rising, the traditional defense industrial base is steadily shrinking in both size and number of participants and military threats around the world are unpredictable and varied. Nevertheless, there are still compelling reasons to invest in force modernization and in affordable defense systems featuring technological superiority. In order to make this possible, more efficient use must be made of acquisition resources. A new weapons research and development process is required, able to supply effective hardware in small quantities, producible and supportable at affordable cost, with reduced cycle times. As an integral feature of the new process use must be made of world-class commercial suppliers. The advanced technology and efficiencies typical of commercial operations must be incorporated into the development process. In changing to and implementing the new system, the public trust must be retained throughout. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate this background to the DoD acquisition reform effort.