{
  "id": "RL34026",
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      "id": 431330,
      "date": "2014-05-23",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T20:23:25.483287",
      "title": "Defense Acquisitions: How DOD Acquires Weapon Systems and Recent Efforts to Reform the Process",
      "summary": "The Department of Defense (DOD) acquires goods and services from contractors, federal arsenals, and shipyards to support military operations. Acquisition is a broad term that applies to more than just the purchase of an item or service; the acquisition process encompasses the design, engineering, construction, testing, deployment, sustainment, and disposal of weapons or related items purchased from a contractor.\nAs set forth by statute and regulation, from concept to deployment, a weapon system must go through a three-step process of identifying a required (needed) weapon system, establishing a budget, and acquiring the system. These three steps are organized as follows: \nThe Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS)\u2014for identifying requirements.\nThe Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution System (PPBE)\u2014for allocating resources and budgeting.\nThe Defense Acquisition System (DAS)\u2014for developing and/or buying the item. \nThe Defense Acquisition System uses \u201cmilestones\u201d to oversee and manage acquisition programs. At each milestone, a program must meet specific statutory and regulatory requirements before the program can proceed to the next phase of the acquisition process. There are three milestones:\nMilestone A\u2014initiates technology maturation and risk reduction.\nMilestone B\u2014initiates engineering and manufacturing development.\nMilestone C\u2014initiates production and deployment.\nBoth Congress and DOD have been active in trying to improve defense acquisitions. A comprehensive legislative effort to improve weapon system acquisition occurred in May 2009, when Congress passed and the President signed into law the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (S. 454/P.L. 111-23). Key provisions in the act include appointment of a Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation within DOD to establish guidance on cost estimating; appointment of a Director of Developmental Test and Evaluation; appointment of a Director of Systems Engineering; and a requirement that the Director of Defense Research and Engineering periodically assess technological maturity of Major Defense Acquisition Programs. \nDOD has undertaken a comprehensive effort to improve defense acquisitions, including rewriting elements of the regulatory structure that govern defense acquisitions and launching the Better Buying Power and Better Buying Power II initiatives aimed at \u201cimplementing practices and policies designed to improve the productivity of the Department of Defense and of the industrial base.\u201d\nAn oversight issue for Congress is the extent to which the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act and the various DOD initiatives are having a positive effect on acquisitions, and what additional steps, if any, Congress can take to further the effort to improve defense acquisitions.",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501604/",
      "id": "RL34026_2010Apr23",
      "date": "2010-04-23",
      "retrieved": "2015-03-30T22:03:27",
      "title": "Defense Acquisitions: How DOD Acquires Weapon Systems and Recent Efforts to Reform the Process",
      "summary": "This report outlines the Department of Defense's (DOD) defense acquisition structure, discusses recent major reports addressing defense acquisition, and considers recent DOD efforts to improve the acquisition of weapon systems. It also includes a description of recent congressional efforts to reform the DOD's acquisition process.",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Defense economics",
          "name": "Defense economics"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Public contracts",
          "name": "Public contracts"
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          "name": "Defense contracts"
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc26259/",
      "id": "RL34026_2009Jul10",
      "date": "2009-07-10",
      "retrieved": "2010-07-07T17:39:19",
      "title": "Defense Acquisitions: How DOD Acquires Weapon Systems and Recent Efforts to Reform the Process",
      "summary": "This report will outline the Department of Defense's (DOD) defense acquisition structure, discuss recent major reports addressing defense acquisition, and consider recent DOD efforts to improve how the department acquires weapon systems. This report also includes a description of recent congressional efforts to reform DOD's acquisition process.",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815550/",
      "id": "RL34026_2008Jan29",
      "date": "2008-01-29",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815948/",
      "id": "RL34026_2007Jun20",
      "date": "2007-06-20",
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      "id": "RL34026_2007Jun04",
      "date": "2007-06-04",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Defense Acquisition: Overview, Issues, and Options for Congress",
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  "topics": [
    "National Defense"
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}