Acquisition & Procurement

The Defense Department is considering security, cost, interoperability and user friendliness as key factors in the procurement of a cloud-based information technology platform, DoD News reported Thursday. Dana White, Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, told reporters Thursday the department will conduct a full and open competition for its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure acquisition …

Betty Sapp, director of the National Reconnaissance Office, has said she expects NRO to assume responsibility over a commercial satellite imagery acquisition program currently assigned to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in September, SpaceNews reported Tuesday. She told the publication both agencies work to ensure a smooth transition of the EnhancedView contract management …

Senior officials at the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force have informed House Armed Services Committee members of the service branches’ programs to buy combat aircraft and weapons systems, DoD News reported Friday. Vice Adm. Paul Grosklags, commander of Naval Air Systems Command, said at an HASC hearing Friday the Marine …

Rear Adm. Dean Peters, a U.S. Navy program executive officer, has said the service branch’s air anti-submarine warfare, assault and special mission programs office plans to increase its aircraft purchases through fiscal 2023 as a result of increased budget. PEO(A) looks to procure 75 units during fiscal 2018 and another …

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson has detailed a strategy for the U.S. Navy to procure its next surface combatant ship that will build on the service branch’s ongoing FFG(X) frigate program, Defense News reported Thursday. “I’d like to do the whole thing, well, as fast as possible but …

Bruce Jette, assistant secretary of the U.S. Army for acquisition, technology and logistics, told Defense News in an interview published Monday how the new Army Futures Command will work with the acquisition community. The new command will consist of cross-functional teams that will work to accelerate the technology requirements development process and …

The State Department has granted approval for U.S. companies to market technology offerings to a Taiwanese submarine construction project, Reuters reported Monday. Reuters cites Taiwan’s Central News Agency that says defense ministry spokesperson Chen Chung-chi confirmed the marketing license issuance by DOS. Defense News reported Liao Yen-fan, a Taipei-based defense analyst …

Army Secretary Mark Esper has said the service has begun to evaluate programs that could be slowed down or eliminated in order to funnel funds into its top six modernization priorities, Breaking Defense reported Thursday. Those modernization priorities are air and missile defense; artillery; networks; soldiers; armor; and aviation. “We have …

The Defense Department’s cost estimates for the acquisition of major weapons platforms rose from $1.74 trillion to $1.92 trillion in 2017, Defense News reported Tuesday. The figure represents a 10 percent increase from the previous year’s projections, according to the annual Selected Acquisition Reports on 83 major defense procurement initiatives …

Emily Murphy, administrator of the General Services Administration, has said GSA aims to transform the acquisition process through shared services, e-commerce portals and innovation identification, FedScoop reported Wednesday. Murphy, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, said Tuesday at the Acquisition Excellence conference that GSA has begun to implement a 10-year plan to establish …