The Defense Department’s acquisition process simply “takes way too long and costs way too much,” the Air Force’s top civilian said Tuesday.
Air Force Secretary Michael Donley testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee that DoD has become “risk-adverse” to the many different ways programs can get off track. When programs get off track, Donley said, the government tries to correct it by “putting in a new law, a new regulation, a new layer of oversight to try to prevent that from happening again.
“So I think there’s a lot of streamlining that needs to be looked at going forward and especially as resources come down after fights in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Donley said.
Donley said one way to better streamline the acquisition process would be taking some people out of the process and getting focused on the more rapid introduction of technology. He said he supports the spiral approach to acquisition, which encourages earlier feedback so program officials can work out kinks earlier in the process.
The key success factor in spiral acquisition and development is a strong risk management and identification process since the model prototypes build the high-risk items first in an intentional attempt to wring risks out of system development as early as possible.
“We’re introducing technology more rapidly and planning for changes later,” Donley said. “(We’re) not trying to build the perfect airplane right off the bat but spiraling that capability in five- or 10-year increments to improve over time.”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said during the hearing out-of-control procurement costs contribute to sequestration as they damage DoD credibility and allow elected officials to believe “haphazard” across-the-board spending cuts that “damage readiness” are the right thing to do. McCain ticked off examples like the Air Force’s $1 billion Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS), F-35 and F-22 aircraft overruns and the “criminal” KC-46 aerial refueling tanker procurement saga.