Acquisition & Procurement

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 …

The U.S. Army has released new details about a family of manned and unmanned helicopters that the service branch intends to procure for future battlefield operations, Military.com reported Tuesday. The report noted the Army’s Future Vertical Lift fleet will consist of an unmanned aerial system, an attack reconnaissance aircraft and a …

The Defense Department received 1,089 comments from 46 companies, three government agencies and two associations in response to the initial draft request for proposals for a cloud procurement contract. A FedBizOpps notice posted Saturday says DoD plans to issue responses to questions and comments and the second draft RFP for the Joint …

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, told SpaceNews in an interview posted Wednesday he believes Defense Department leaders such as Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, and Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan understand the need to accelerate the space procurement process. Hyten and Griffin are …

The Royal Australian Air Force’s P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, built by Boeing, has reached initial operating capability status five months ahead of schedule. Australia has received six of 12 P-8As on order to date, RAAF said Tuesday. The Number 11 Squadron operates the delivered units at a military airbase in Edinburgh, South Australia. Marise Payne, …