Defense Acquisitions


Book Description

DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS: Additional Guidance Needed to Improve Visibility into the Structure and Management of Major Weapon System Subcontracts




Space and Missile Defense Acquisitions: Periodic Assessment Needed to Correct Parts Quality Problems in Major Programs


Book Description

Quality is key to success in U.S. space and missile defense programs, but quality problems exist that have endangered entire missions along with less-visible problems leading to unnecessary repair, scrap, rework, and stoppage; long delays; and millions in cost growth. Tthis report examined quality problems related to parts and manufacturing processes and materials across the DoD and NASA. The report assessed: (1) the extent to which parts quality problems affect those agencies' space and missile defense programs; (2) causes of any problems; and (3) initiatives to prevent, detect, and mitigate parts quality problems. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand edition of an important, hard-to-find publication.




Defense Innovation Handbook


Book Description

Innovation is the lifeline of national development. This handbook is a collection of chapters that provide techniques and methodologies for achieving the transfer of defense-targeted science and technology development for general industrial applications. The handbook shows how to translate theory and ideas into practical applications. Experts from national defense institutions, government laboratories, business, and industry contributed chapters to this handbook. The handbook also serves as an archival guide for nations, communities, and businesses expecting to embark upon science and technology transfer to industry. Included are several domestic and international case examples of practical innovation. Since the dawn of history, nations have engrossed themselves in developing new tools, techniques, and methodologies to protect their geographical boundaries. From the crude implements used by prehistorical people to very modern technologies, the end game has been the same. That is, to protect the homeland. Even in times of peace, efforts must be made to develop new machinery, equipment, processes, and devices targeted for the protection of the nation. The emergence of organized nations and structured communities facilitated even more innovative techniques of national defense. Evolution, revolution, and innovation have defined human existence for millennia. From the Ice Age to the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and to the modern age, innovation, rudimentary as it may be in many cases, has determined how humans move from one stage to the next. This comprehensive handbook provides a clear guide on the nuances of initiating and actualizing innovation. Both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of innovation are covered in the handbook. Features: Uses a systems framework to zero in on science and technology transfer Focuses on leveraging technical developments in defense organizations for general societal applications Coalesces the transfer strategies collated from various sources and practical applications Represents a world-class diverse collection of science and technology development, utilization, and transfer Highlights a strategy for government, academia, and industry partnerships




The American Warfare State


Book Description

How is it that the United States—a country founded on a distrust of standing armies and strong centralized power—came to have the most powerful military in history? Long after World War II and the end of the Cold War, in times of rising national debt and reduced need for high levels of military readiness, why does Congress still continue to support massive defense budgets? In The American Warfare State, Rebecca U. Thorpe argues that there are profound relationships among the size and persistence of the American military complex, the growth in presidential power to launch military actions, and the decline of congressional willingness to check this power. The public costs of military mobilization and war, including the need for conscription and higher tax rates, served as political constraints on warfare for most of American history. But the vast defense industry that emerged from World War II also created new political interests that the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate. Many rural and semirural areas became economically reliant on defense-sector jobs and capital, which gave the legislators representing them powerful incentives to press for ongoing defense spending regardless of national security circumstances or goals. At the same time, the costs of war are now borne overwhelmingly by a minority of soldiers who volunteer to fight, future generations of taxpayers, and foreign populations in whose lands wars often take place. Drawing on an impressive cache of data, Thorpe reveals how this new incentive structure has profoundly reshaped the balance of wartime powers between Congress and the president, resulting in a defense industry perennially poised for war and an executive branch that enjoys unprecedented discretion to take military action.




Strategies for Acquisition Agility


Book Description

The authors analyze various approaches to speed acquisition of military capabilities and keep pace with evolving threats, assess these approaches' suitability for different conditions and acquisition types, and identify implementation issues.







Providing the Means of War


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Commerce Business Daily


Book Description