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The Pentagon’s new acquisition chief on Wednesday offered his support for the House Armed Services Committee’s wide-ranging proposal for defense acquisition reform, while the panel pressed for DoD to improve its communication with lawmakers as it pursues the initiative.
“We cannot get meetings. We cannot have these consistent conversations. And that’s going to be a problem in getting to the acquisition reform that we need. So I hope that improves,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the HASC ranking member, said during the hearing. “The basic communication has to happen and it is not happening at an unprecedented level.”
Michael Duffey, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, cited HASC’s wide-ranging Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery (SPEED) Act as a “unique opportunity to drive meaningful change within the department,” with the hearing covering pursuit of “right to repair” authority and more co-production opportunities with international partners.
“What once took a decade must now be delivered in months or weeks to stay ahead of the threat. The urgency is reflected in the SPEED Act’s central objective, shortening the requirements to delivery timeline and accelerating production at scale,” Duffey said.
Acquisition reform proposals in the SPEED Act, which HASC Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) noted is the “cornerstone” of the the panel’s recently-approved National Defense Authorization Act, include overhauling the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, providing the military services more ability to flexibly budget around portfolio areas and establishing new offices to support more rapid decision making (Defense Daily, July 16).
“The reality is that our defense acquisition system is failing the American warfighter. That’s not just my view. Nearly every combatant commander who’s testified before this committee this year has said the same,” Rogers said on Wednesday. “Moreover, defense companies of all sizes tell us they face a maze of red tape, bureaucratic delays, and a risk-averse culture at the department that deters innovation.”
“The SPEED Act will cut through layers of red tape and deliver for the warfighter at speed and scale. It accelerates the requirements process from nearly three years to as few as 90 days. It empowers Program Executive Officers and gives them greater budget flexibility. It prioritizes commercial solutions and fosters an environment where innovation can flourish by removing barriers to entry and bridging the Valley of Death. It modernizes outdated and overly burdensome regulations that slow delivery and inflate costs,” Rogers added.
Smith said both Democrats and Republicans on HASC “struggle to get basic information from DoD.”
“The one big problem here is DoD and Congress are going to have to work together to get this [acquisition reform] done…and this administration, this DoD has shut out Congress more than any other DoD and administration I’ve ever dealt with. It’s stunning,” Smith said. “I’ve sought out meetings with the under secretary [of defense] for policy. I’ve basically been told to piss off.”
Rogers said he agreed with Smith on DoD’s lack of communication with HASC, while adding that he’s discussed the issue with Duffey recently and received assurance the department will have “much better communication” with the committee.
“This has been disappointing but I’m optimistic that we’re going to have a better path forward with Mr. Duffey,” Rogers said.
Rogers pressed Duffey on how DoD is approaching “right to repair” to allow the military services greater ability to fix their own equipment and ensure contractors provide the necessary data to enable such work, noting the HASC NDAA pushes DoD to find the right balance when it comes to protecting intellectual property rights.
“It still needs some love and attention so we would urge your participation in that process. I think we have the attention of the private sector now, our industry partners,” Rogers said.
Duffey noted the SPEED Act’s data-as-a-service proposal is a “unique innovative approach” that could help bolster an embrace of right to repair authority.
“Because there is a need for us to have access to the technical data that we need in order to maintain the ability to sustain these systems organically. God forbid we’re in a place where the sustainment exceeds the industrial capacity because we’re engaged in conflict, we must have an organic industrial base that understands how to leverage the technical data of these systems in order to repair them,” Duffey said. “Finding a balance between preserving the intellectual property and providing the department with the access we need to [the] data is a challenge that we’re undertaking now. We look forward to working with you and the committee to identify what is the sweet spot of balancing both those needs.”
Brent Ingraham, nominee to be the Army’s next acquisition chief, has said he supports having “right to repair” language written into all all the service’s equipment contracts (Defense Daily, June 27).
Smith also pressed Duffey on his approach to pursuing co-production opportunities with international partners as a means of helping to bolster manufacturing capacity.
“We want to obviously maintain our own industry, but we’re not going to get there on our own,” Smith said. “I think it’s going to be crucial to build up our capacity collectively as an alliance. When you look at all of the needs we have, drones, missiles, ships, we’re not going to be able to do it all on our own, so we really want to emphasize those partnerships.”
Duffey said he’s received “considerable interest” from his counterparts in other countries about exploring such opportunities, noting DoD senior leaders are working to assess the “holistic demand” across all allies and partners.
“My sense is this is really a new area. We do have some co-production agreements but we don’t have it quite as expansively as it could be,” Duffey said. “Understanding the demand helps on the development side and the supply side, to say, okay, we understand that holistic supply, now let’s look at the constraints that we face domestically to provide an industrial base that can produce at the capacity that we need and then how do we look at extending that in ways that our [international partners provide] a value added.”
Expanding co-production opportunities was a key focus of Bill LaPlante, Duffey’s predecessor in the Biden administration (Defense Daily, August 9 2024).
