December 14, 2016

Report: Strategy, Not Acquisition Reform, Central to Maintain DoD Tech Edge

Featuring Ben FitzGerald, Alexandra Sander, and Jacqueline Parziale

Source: Defense News

Journalist Aaron Mehta

If the Pentagon wants to maintain a technological edge over near-peer adversaries, it needs to develop a serious strategic plan and not just focus on improving the acquisition systems, a new report from the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) has concluded. 

The report, “Future Foundry: A New Strategic Approach to Military-Technical Advantage,” concludes that “the Department of Defense must recognize that its military-technical challenges are a matter of strategy — the fundamental approach the department takes to generating technological advantage — not simply of acquisition policy.” 

That is contrary to much of the focus from both the Pentagon and Capitol Hill in recent years, which tends to emphasize the need to increase the speed of the acquisition system. 

Read the full article at Defense News.

Authors

  • Ben FitzGerald

    Former Senior Fellow and Director, Technology and National Security Program

    Ben FitzGerald was a Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security Program at CNAS. In this capacity, Mr. FitzGerald led CNAS efforts to explore...

  • Alexandra Sander

    Former Research Associate, Technology and National Security Program

    Alexandra Sander is a Research Associate with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Prior to joining CNAS, Ms. Sander...

  • Jacqueline Parziale