Acquisition and Sustainment: 2024 in Review, and a Look Ahead

Dr. William A. LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment

In recent years, DoD has launched a number of initiatives to deliver with greater speed and scale to the national defense modernization and military logistics enterprise. The efforts were a response to the exigency of multiple armed conflicts and global competition against aggressive and technologically advanced powers led by the People’s Republic of China.

With Ukraine under merciless at­tack and an increasingly complex and fragile security environment in the Middle East, DoD continued invest­ing significantly to generate urgently needed weapons and supplies while growing the defense industrial base. Looking to the Indo-Pacific, the acqui­sition and sustainment enterprise is confronting the pacing threat of China by introducing agility, resilience, and collaboration in our traditional prac­tices.

The record will show that many of those efforts became fully realized and institutionalized in 2024.

Building Production and Sustainment Resilience 

Building on its establishment last year, the Joint Production Accelera­tor Cell (JPAC) continued conducting rigorous, deep-dive analyses to alle­viate bottlenecks for critical weap­ons systems. Those included the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), Long-Range Anti-Ship Mis­sile (LRASM), Tomahawk, Harpoon, and F-16 production. It has supported the accelerated deliveries of Patriot air defense systems and interceptors in response to the worsening Russian attacks in Ukraine. Over a six-week period, the JPAC team engaged the Patriot prime contractors for radars and interceptors with site visits to collect and analyze production data. JPAC identified multiple courses of action to mitigate constraints in the supply chain.

Similarly, following a review of cruise missiles, JPAC identified a company as a primary production constraint across multiple weapons systems. The team successfully ad­vocated for an additional $133 million in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Supple­mental Appropriations Act to address these constraints. 

Since its establishment, JPAC has awarded multiple contracts assess­ing key mission areas, including surge production capacity and overseas co-production of munitions. Working with the Army, the team is also sup­porting implementation of advanced manufacturing pilot programs within the organic industrial base. 

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the United States faces threats deep within our lines of communication and supply net­works—starting in the homeland and continuing into the heart of conflict zones. Consequently, DoD launched the Regional Sustainment Framework (RSF) to regenerate readiness through deliberate alignment with allies and partners, an initiative developed col­laboratively with industry.

This framework includes a distrib­uted maintenance, repair, and over­haul (MRO) network placed closer geographically to the point of opera­tional need. This forward-positioned network is designed to operate in or near a contested logistics environ­ment. By placing more sustainment resources closer to the front, RSF will significantly reduce the logistical burdens traditionally associated with transporting unserviceable equip­ment to more distant rear-echelon sites or even the continental United States. This setup minimizes down­time of critical equipment while alle­viating unnecessary strain on military transportation systems.

The first stage of RSF implemen­tation is a series of proof-of-concept pathway projects. Five MRO projects involving five nations in the Indo-Pacific will address distinct aspects of the maintenance and repair of key weapons systems, especially given the challenges of long-distance trans-oceanic resupply to the theatre of conflict. The RSF next will expand to EUCOM and CENTCOM in 2025 and SOUTHCOM in 2026. 

The defense spending cuts follow­ing the Cold War reduced the U.S. military’s size and forced a significant contraction of the traditional defense industrial base. U.S. defense produc­tion capacity was denuded through a generation-long process and will re­quire another generation to fully re­grow and modernize. The challenge of surging production of weapons and supplies in support of allies at war underscored the need for a more structured and deliberate approach to engaging a defense sector that now includes nontraditional commercial firms along with traditional prime contractors. 

Toward this end, DoD’s first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS) was released in January. The goal was to initiate and guide genera­tional change toward a more robust, resilient, and modernized defense in­dustrial ecosystem that can—working across the U.S. Government, private sector, and allies and partners—se­curely produce the products, services, and technologies at speed, scale, and affordable cost. 

The NDIS identified eight major challenges—from inadequate do­mestic production to supply chain risks to procurement instability. We now are ruthlessly turning words into action and implementing the resulting strategic priorities—resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, flexible acquisition, and economic deter­rence—and, more importantly, align­ing resources to that strategy.

In FY 2024 alone, DoD awarded more than $670 million in new De­fense Production Act grants to expand domestic manufacturing capacity and diversify the supply base. Ad­ditionally, DoD invested more than $1.6 billion across 160 projects over­seen by our Innovation Capability and Modernization (ICAM) team to strengthen the posture of the defense industrial base. The investments en­hanced sectors such as the submarine and shipbuilding workforce, critical minerals and strategic materials, mi­croelectronics, castings and forgings, hypersonics, and energy storage and batteries.

Advancing Acquisition

One major NDIS priority—pursuing flexible acquisition strategies to reduce development, production, and delivery timelines—continued to demonstrate results over the course of the year. This required a better alignment of the three “legs” of the defense acquisition enterprise: requirements, budgeting, and program management. After standing up the Acquisition Integration and Interoperability (AI2) office last year, this Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense-led team continued identifying capability gaps across the military services and bringing the department’s requirements, resources, and acquisition processes into quicker alignment (and conclusion) to deliver those capabilities to the Warfighter.

Their signature effort is Competitive Advantage Pathfinders (CAPs), which employ modular open systems approaches and cross-Service integration to streamline development and fielding. Pathfinders have been initiated across a wide range of programs and capabilities, addressing some of DoD’s highest priorities.

For INDOPACOM, one of the most important procurement priorities is the Navy’s Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, a sophisticated—and, for now, relatively scarce—munition. New technology has become available to upgrade LRASM’s survivability, range, and ability to strike land as well as sea targets. The effort was hamstrung by an inability to modify acquisition strategies and rapidly move funding accordingly. Through CAPs, we effectively condensed the process for funding and fielding a more advanced LRASM. More than 400 will be delivered two years ahead of the prior schedule. 

To ensure the CAPs are not just a series of one-off successes, the AI2 team is working with the Joint Staff to reform the Joint Capabilities Inte­gration and Development Systems process such that the quick (40-day) timeline for validating the Joint Fires Network requirement can be repli­cated and even improved upon.

A crucial advantage of CAPs is to adapt a capability used by one Ser­vice and migrate it to another Service without requiring a new program or budget cycle. For example, the Navy and Air Force are developing a cross-Service capability for the ship-based electronic attack module, called Me­dusa, for use in helicopters and air­craft. The new capability, aptly called Pegasus, modularizes the ship-based system into a capability that is also suitable for aviation platforms. CAPs enabled the Air Force to go from iden­tifying operational need to develop­ing a capability solution available for procurement within 18 months—a process usually taking several years for a new program. 

These CAPs successes have been enabled, in part, by a larger tool kit with more agile acquisition authori­ties. These have provided government buyers more flexibility while freeing innovators from one-size-fits-all ap­plication of DoD processes. 

The Middle Tier of Acquisition (MTA) enacted by Congress can pro­vide an effective “Goldilocks” solution to rapidly prototype emerging tech­nologies or accelerate the fielding of capabilities that are mature enough to move into production. This flexible authority helps fill the gap between urgent operational needs (weeks and months) and the traditional process for major systems, which can exceed 10 years (sometimes by necessity, too often on account of requirements creep and funding instability). At this point, more than 160 MTAs are in ex­ecution and delivering for our Warfighters. 

Figure 1. Middle Tier of Acquisition

Creation of the Software Acqui­sition Pathway was likewise among the biggest transformations to DoD’s acquisition enterprise of recent years. This pathway delivers capabilities in much faster cycle times, while em­phasizing cybersecurity. This year has seen pathway adopters grow to more than 70, and more are added each month. More than 50 percent of the software pathway programs deliver capability every three months or more frequently, and nearly 75 percent de­liver at least once every six months. 

The importance of rapidly deliver­ing capability to the Warfighter was affirmed, yet again, by the significant increase in drone attacks in Ukraine and the Middle East. In March, the Secretary of Defense designated Ac­quisition and Sustainment to co-lead a new Counter-Uncrewed Systems Warfighter-Senior Integration Group (c-UXS SIG) charged with mobilizing, streamlining, and coordinating our response to this urgent and rapidly evolving threat. 

While initially focused on un­crewed aerial systems, this c-UXS SIG is driving solutions to combat uncrewed threats across all do­mains—including sea and land—to support forces in all U.S. Combatant Commands. The c-UXS SIG is press­ing DoD and industry partners to accelerate the development, produc­tion, and fielding of these defense sys­tems—including kinetic, electronic, and directed energy capabilities. While operational details are classi­fied, we have already begun deliver­ing systems best suited to counter the immediate threat.

Re-energizing Nuclear and Biodefense Capabilities

The Nuclear Weapons Council (NWC), an interagency body that I chair, likewise maintained a high operational tempo in 2024, exercising its statutory responsibilities and deliberating issues related to ensuring a safe, secure, effective, and reliable nuclear deterrent. Nested under the NWC are teams that spent the past year solidifying 25-year nuclear stockpile requirements and demand signals, aligning interagency efforts to inform future requirements, right-sizing production capacity, and aligning budgets and programs between the DoD and the National Nuclear Secu­rity Administration (NNSA). 

The Middle Tier of Acquisition (MTA) enacted by Congress can provide an effective “Goldilocks” solution to rapidly prototype emerging technologies or accelerate the fielding of capabilities that are mature enough to move into production.

A significant 2024 milestone was NNSA’s production of the first stock­pile-ready plutonium pits—a critical component of our nuclear weapons—last accomplished some 20 years ago. It was also the first production of this kind executed in quantity since the Cold War. For well over a decade, the NWC has played an important role in this mission through setting require­ments and advocating with Congress for a production capacity facing con­tinual challenges. This achievement represents the tremendous efforts of an energized nuclear enterprise workforce. 

The Biodefense Council (BDC), chartered in 2023, is a similar, DoD-internal forum that seeks to ensure that the Joint Force is prepared to operate in a contested biothreat envi­ronment and more effectively support the national biodefense enterprise. The Biodefense Council was directed by the Deputy Secretary of Defense as a key recommendation from the inaugural 2023 Biodefense Posture Review (BPR) to ensure a more uni­fied and collaborative approach to biodefense within DoD. 

In the BDC’s first year, our Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Pro­grams team—that serves as the coun­cil’s executive secretary—and I pri­oritized efforts to increase biothreat understanding and awareness across the department and with our allies and partners. The BDC targeted key reforms to increase Joint Force readi­ness, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. 

From our first meeting in Septem­ber 2023 to our next meeting later this month, the BDC has advanced the DoD’s strategy and capabilities for biosurveillance and early warning of biothreats to speed decision-mak­ing and potentially mitigate biothreat impacts to readiness and national se­curity. The BDC is pursuing an ambi­tious work plan in 2025 to continue addressing the strategic challenges associated with biodefense.

Taking Care of Our People

Defense installations are at the core of service members’ military experience and fundamental to the readiness posture of the total force. It is our moral obligation to maximize quality of life for the people who defend our nation, and that starts with the built and natural environments around them. This year the department released its Resilient Healthy Defense Communities (RHDC) Strategy, emphasizing our continued commitment to improving the installations on which our Warfighters and their families live and work.

The objective is environments that are safe, functional (including modern amenities and technology), and resilient (against environmental hazards). A forthcoming implementation plan will turn the RHDC’s goals and recommendations into measurable actions.

The department is using surveys, on-site visits, and other information-gathering methods to measure progress in these areas and inform future installation policies and investments. In particular, the DoD Housing Feedback System (DHFS) launched this year allows active duty service members and dependents living in privatized housing to provide feedback and seek timely redress of any concerns. Note that the DHFS is intended to augment, not replace, existing processes for submitting maintenance work order requests.

The professionals who staff and manage our military’s vast and complex acquisition and sustainment enterprise are a national defense asset in their own right. Their jobs are both difficult and too frequently thankless. Armed with new rapid and agile authorities, the acquisition workforce is increasingly empowered to do more—and decide more. This shift has implications for the kind of people we need to attract to the ac­quisition and sustainment workforce and how we manage them once here. 

This recognition animates the de­fense Acquisition and Sustainment Workforce Framework released ear­lier this year incorporating the input of feedback of professionals from the Services and across DoD. It en­deavors to make DoD an employer of choice by offering a more flexible and stimulating career experience for those who choose to work in—and stay in—the defense acquisition and sustainment cadre. 

It borrows from best practices in the private sector to present recruits with options for a full career, rather than simply a single job. One key focus has been widening the work­force pipeline through the Defense Civilian Training Corps pilot program. This ROTC-like effort provides finan­cial aid and training to college and university students, attracting them to defense acquisition while getting their public sector careers off to a produc­tive, interesting, and rewarding start.

Final Thoughts

Wars are won and lost in program offices, often years before the shooting starts.  As we’ve seen in current events, multiple conflicts afflicting U.S. allies and partners rage unabated while America’s primary strategic competitor continues expanding its defense capacity and capabilities to a level that challenges the unquestioned superiority our forces have enjoyed for more than 30 years. 

Wars are won and lost in program offices, often years before the shooting starts.

The defense acquisition and sustainment enterprise—including especially matters pertaining to the industrial base—frankly wasn’t always a priority for many of those years. That is no longer the case. Everything we do as acquisition and sustainment professionals contributes directly to the outcome of both ongoing conflicts and the ability of our military to deter aggression. Important progress was made on these fronts over the past 12 months, and I expect these efforts to generate yet more results next year.

DAU Resources

• Adaptive Acquisition Framework resources at aaf.dau.edu
• Competitive Acquisition Pathfinders resources at www.dau.edu/cap

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LAPLANTE is the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. He is responsible to the Secretary of Defense for all matters pertaining to acquisition; contract administration; logistics and materiel readiness; installations and environment; operational energy; nuclear, chemical, and biological defense; the acquisition workforce; and the defense industrial base.  Dr. LaPlante has spent more than 36 years in the national security and nonprofit technology communities. In addition to serving as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition from 2014 to 2017, he was a member of the Defense Science Board and played a key role in defense acquisition reform as part of the Section 809 Panel.  Dr. LaPlante holds a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the Catholic University of America, a master’s degree in Applied Physics from Johns Hopkins University, and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Illinois.

Top Photo: Airmen conduct hot pit refueling on a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, Aug. 21, 2024. Bomber missions enhance the Air Force’s readiness to respond to any potential crisis or challenge in the Indo-Pacific through joint and multilateral operations.

Source: Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Whitney Erhart Photo cropped to show detail. This image was edited using multiple filters, and dodging and burning techniques.

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