Establishing the Technical Foundation: Materiel Solution Analysis Is More Than Selecting an Alternative
Aileen G. Sedmak, Zachary S. Taylor, and Lt Col William A. Riski, USAF (Ret.)

Adequately resourced systems engineering and technical planning before Milestone A can help a program define realistic requirements, establish executable programs, and deliver systems on time and on budget.

Requirements Engineering in an Agile Software Development Environment
W. Allen Huckabee

The use of best business practices and lessons learned to standardize requirements development and refinement processes can be beneficial to a Business Capability Lifecycle software acquisition program.

Acquisition Challenge: The Importance of Incompressibility in Comparing Learning Curve Models
Capt Justin R. Moore, USAF, John J. Elshaw, Adedeji B. Badiru, and Lt Col Jonathan D. Ritschel, USAF

When applying learning curves to cost estimation techniques, the value selected for the incompress-ibility factor is critical for model accuracy.

Technical Data Packages: When Can They Reduce Costs for the Department of Defense?
Nicholas J. Ross

This article presents an economic model analyzing the impact of research and development costs, production costs, and quantity requirements on the price of a Technical Data Package.

Balancing Incentives and Risks in Performance-Based Contracts
Maj Christopher P. Gardner, USAF, Jeffrey A. Ogden, Lt Col Harold M. Kahler, USAF, and Stephan Brady

This research examines issues associated with PBL contracts and how the DoD can mitigate operational/ financial risks and build long-term partnerships with commercial contractors.