The acquisition process for typical programs of record is drawn out but has proven successful yet for the Defense Department to take advantage of advances in digital technologies that evolve rapidly the Pentagon needs to establish a “separate and parallel path” be able to insert these technologies quickly and regularly into its physical platforms, Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] top executive said on Wednesday.
New digital technologies are introduced in weeks and months and that constant cycle cannot be matched by the requests for information and proposals that are part of multi-year competitions, Jim Taiclet, chairman, president, and CEO of Lockheed Martin, said at an event hosted by the Hudson Institute.
A parallel acquisition process would give DoD an effective way to acquire these constantly updated digital technologies, Taiclet said. Moreover, a separate acquisition lane could also accommodate the way companies that provide digital products and solutions typically go to market, which is through subscription services, he said.
These services could be purchased monthly, quarterly, or annually for mission capability, Taiclet said. This is not something the government is used to doing, he said.
Taiclet last month before a House panel outlined his vision for a dual-track acquisition approach to digital systems and large capital assets.
“This will enable DoD and Congress to continue its proven procurement system for ships, jets and other assets that require long development cycles, while harnessing commercial digital technology advancements at speeds commensurate with the much more rapid development cycles in the digital world,” he told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation.
Traditional defense contractors can help ease the way for commercial companies to enter or expand in the defense space by working with them, something defense companies are not used to doing, he said at the Hudson event.
Lockheed Martin for the past few years under Taiclet’s leadership has begun partnering and teaming with commercial technology vendors such as IBM [IBM], Intel Corp. [INTC], Microsoft [MSFT], and Verizon [VZ] to begin integrating cutting edge digital technologies like artificial intelligence, 5G communications, and cloud computing used commercially for defense systems.
This kind of collaboration with large and small businesses provides a “bridging of potential or opportunity” that can help these companies be successful with the government, he said.
As an example of how traditional platform providers could work with commercial vendors to the benefit of the DoD, Taiclet said aerospace companies already provide know-how to get data off a satellite and distribute to an aircraft cockpit securely and at the right classification level, while a digital company would manage the data flows between the satellite and aircraft.
“We have to get our expertise together in a way that the DoD can purchase it,” he said. “The way the way the DoD should be able to purchase that is a subscription to the link between SCI (sensitive compartmented information) satellite data and frontline U.S. aircraft squadrons.”
Teaming with companies like Lockheed Martin is an effective way for new defense companies, which are being backed by private equity and venture capital, to break into the defense market and for the investors to enjoy a quicker return on their investments, Taiclet said.
“And so, what we’re working with a number of large investors on is the notion that, ‘Yes, you can back a new entrant into the defense space, but your investment is likely to return much more quickly and more effectively if we team up together, because until you get into platforms and existing command and control systems with whatever software you think you’re developing here in this, startup, it’s probably going to have a hard time getting into the DoD in a way that’s meaningful for your investment, not for your company, but for your investment,’” he said. “Because these investors have other places that they can put their money versus DoD missions if there’s not going to be a return there.”