By Marina Malenic
The Air Force’s acquisition chief has issued new guidelines aimed at curtailing wasteful spending by adding another layer of oversight to the process by which potential weapons programs are approved to enter development.
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition David Van Buren has ordered that all new weapon programs be evaluated by the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB), Information Technology Acquisition Board and Air Force Review Board under a new process called the Materiel Development Decision (MDD).
“The MDD is the formal entry into the acquisition process substantiating the need for a materiel solution based on a validated capability gap,” Van Buren writes in an Aug. 28 letter to all major Air Force commands, program executive offices and policy directorates. The letter states that the new approval methodology is meant to ensure that proposed Air Force programs be evaluated in accordance with the Defense Department’s new 5000.02 acquisition guidelines.
The MDD “precedes entry into any phase of the acquisition management system,” Van Buren writes. He adds that the MDD is designed to make certain that Air Force officials examine all alternatives to developing a new weapon before proceeding.
In order to reach the MDD phase, according to the letter, a program’s sponsor must produce a thoroughly developed initial capabilities document “or other document that validates the capability gap,” as well as a draft analysis of alternatives. The sponsor must then identify a requirements manager and notify the Secretary of the Air Force’s acquisition directorate to schedule a DAB meeting to review the effort.
The letter emphasizes the need to avoid proceeding with technologically immature programs that frequently suffer from cost overruns and schedule delays.