New CSIS Defense Acquisition Trends 2021 Report
Of potential interest to the defense acquisition workforce and life cycle logistics functional area community members is a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group (DIIG) entitled “Defense Acquisition Trends 2021”.
According to the Executive Summary, “this report analyzes trends in U.S. defense acquisition drawing on data through FY 2020. FY 2020 marked the peak of a half-decade increase in defense contract spending, topping out at $421.3 billion. This report analyzes this record spending through the context of the 2018 National Security Strategy and a return to great power competition, as the Department of Defense (DoD) adjusts spending within and among DoD components in an effort to refocus the force toward near-peer competition. As part of this analysis, this paper examines recent efforts by the DoD to leverage innovative acquisition approaches, aiming to deliver technologies to the warfighter at the “speed of relevance.” Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contracts, the establishment of the Defense Innovation Unit, and the implementation of the Adaptative Acquisition Framework (AAF) are all examined as part of the department’s larger strategy. OTA contracts are given special focus, due to their ever-increasing size and prevalence as a tool to enable research and development (R&D) and rapid acquisition. Finally, this paper examines the consolidation of the defense-industrial base, as indicated by vendor size and count.”
For those not familiar with CSIS, “...the Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges…. CSIS does not take specific policy positions; accordingly, all views expressed herein should be understood to be solely those of the author(s).”
Note: This information is provided with permission. Inclusion in this life cycle logistics blog post is for defense acquisition workforce professional development informational purposes only and does not imply either DoD or DAU endorsement of any particular document, author, or organization.
According to the Executive Summary, “this report analyzes trends in U.S. defense acquisition drawing on data through FY 2020. FY 2020 marked the peak of a half-decade increase in defense contract spending, topping out at $421.3 billion. This report analyzes this record spending through the context of the 2018 National Security Strategy and a return to great power competition, as the Department of Defense (DoD) adjusts spending within and among DoD components in an effort to refocus the force toward near-peer competition. As part of this analysis, this paper examines recent efforts by the DoD to leverage innovative acquisition approaches, aiming to deliver technologies to the warfighter at the “speed of relevance.” Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contracts, the establishment of the Defense Innovation Unit, and the implementation of the Adaptative Acquisition Framework (AAF) are all examined as part of the department’s larger strategy. OTA contracts are given special focus, due to their ever-increasing size and prevalence as a tool to enable research and development (R&D) and rapid acquisition. Finally, this paper examines the consolidation of the defense-industrial base, as indicated by vendor size and count.”
For those not familiar with CSIS, “...the Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges…. CSIS does not take specific policy positions; accordingly, all views expressed herein should be understood to be solely those of the author(s).”
Note: This information is provided with permission. Inclusion in this life cycle logistics blog post is for defense acquisition workforce professional development informational purposes only and does not imply either DoD or DAU endorsement of any particular document, author, or organization.