The Pentagon is working to overhaul the Defense Department’s systems for procuring weapons to make the process faster. Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment presented part of a new plan on Wednesday.
Lord said that the new plan, known as the Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF), is intended to bring about the “most transformational change to acquisition policy in years, perhaps decades.”
Lord said that existing plans are slow and “rarely enabled speed” and resulted in a process that could take up to eight years, from the weapons system’s design to its delivery to the military. The AAF aims to “deliver capability to our warfighters faster,” she said.
The new plan reflects the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which focuses on “great power” competition with Russia and China. To maintain a military edge over the two powers, the Pentagon wants a speedier delivery system for its weapons.