Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, approved and released a new Department of Defense instruction that restructures DoD’s acquisition guidance to implement the Adaptive Acquisition Framework and improve processes.
The DoD Instruction 5000.02 titled “Operation of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework” establishes policy and suggests procedures to manage acquisition programs in compliance with the relevant sections of Title 10, U.S. Code. The document also details the responsibilities of principal acquisition officials, the characteristics and purpose of acquisition pathways and program management authorities.
The AAF supports the Defense Acquisition System and seeks to deliver affordable, sustainable and effective platforms to the end user. The framework has acquisition pathways that provide program managers and decision authorities opportunities to come up with acquisition strategies and “processes that match the characteristics of the capability being acquired.”
The AAF pathways are urgent capability acquisition; middle tier of acquisition; major capability acquisition; software acquisition; defense business systems acquisition; and defense acquisition of services.
