Did you know that employment of performance-based acquisition strategies is a foundational overarching policy governing the Defense Acquisition System (DAS)? As is focusing on affordability? Planning for product support? Implementing reliability and maintainability by design? Implementing effective life-cycle systems management, including performance based life-cycle product support (PBL)? Encourage you to read through the principal DoD Directive 5000.01 policy which provides a series of concise “…overarching policies (that) will govern the DAS” (with emphasis added), including:

• Employ Performance Based-Acquisition Strategies. To maximize competition, innovation, and interoperability, acquisition managers will consider and employ performance-based strategies for acquiring and sustaining products and services. “Performance-based strategy” means a strategy that supports an acquisition approach structured around the results to be achieved as opposed to the manner by which the work is to be performed. This approach will be applied to all new procurements and upgrades, as well as re-procurements of systems, subsystems, and spares that are procured beyond the initial production contract award.

• Plan for Product Support. Product support strategies (PSSs) will be informed by a business case analysis conducted pursuant to Section 2337 of Title 10, U.S.C. The PSS is designed to facilitate enduring and affordable sustainment consistent with warfighter requirements. Support metrics will be established, tracked, and adjusted where needed to ensure product support objectives are achieved and sustained over the system life cycle. PSSs include the best use of public and private sector capabilities through government and industry partnering initiatives, in accordance with statutory requirements.
• Implement Effective Life-Cycle Management. The PM is accountable for achieving program life-cycle management objectives throughout the program life cycle. Planning for operations and support will begin at program inception, and supportability requirements will be balanced with other requirements that impact program cost, schedule, and performance. Performance based life-cycle product support implements life-cycle system management.
• Implement Reliability and Maintainability by Design. DoD Components, MDAs, and acquisition leaders must implement fundamentals of design, manufacturing, and management that result in reliable and maintainable systems. These key fundamentals must be established early in the acquisition process and improved over the service life of the system.

Life cycle systems management, the program manager as the life cycle manager, early and up-front sustainment planning, performance-based acquisition and product support strategies, best capabilities of the public and private sectors, designing reliable and maintainable systems. If these sound familiar, it’s probably because they are. These foundational tenets have undergirded defense acquisition for decades, which is what makes them…wait for it…foundational!