The theme of this edition of the Defense Acquisition Research Journal is “Growing Pains,” an apt description of the problems that many defense acquisition programs face with cost and schedule.

The first research paper in this issue, “Software Productivity Trends and Issues” by David M. Tate, examines recent trends in defense software supply, demand, and productivity to estimate the severity of capacity bottleneck, then briefly discusses potential long-term actions available to the Department of Defense to mitigate that bottleneck. In the second article, “Analysis of Military Construction Cost Growth in USAF Major Defense Acquisition Programs,” the authors Capt Emily E. Angell, USAF, Edward D. White, Jonathan D. Ritschel, and Alfred E. Thal, Jr., use descriptive and inferential statistics to identify cost growth of military construction at the programmatic level, and describe how they change over time. The findings of this study may help determine allocation of resources in developing cost estimates. The third article is “Inflation and Price Escalation Adjustments in Estimating Program Costs: F 35 Case Study” by Stanley A. Horowitz and Bruce R. Harmon. It illustrates the importance of basing estimates of future program prices on historical price increases of similar systems. The authors caution that in the case of tactical aircraft, using general inflation rates to predict future aircraft prices is likely to lead to serious underestimates of future cost.

This issue’s Current Research Resources in Defense Acquisition focuses on Acquisition Reform. It contains descriptions of several key resources, along with links to the DAU Knowledge Repository sites.

The featured reading in this issue’s Defense Acquisition Professional Reading List is To Provide and Maintain a Navy: 1775–1945 by CAPT Richard L. Wright, USN (Ret.), and reviewed by Brad Martin.

Dr. Larrie D. Ferreiro
Chairman and Executive Editor Defense ARJ

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