Assignment task:
How do I peer respond to Torrence and ask a question:
Hello class,
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) major defense acquisition programs have a senior advisory body known as the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB). The DAB, which includes the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Service Secretaries, is chaired by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. Its objective is to review and approve the goals of major weapon system programs at key acquisition stages so that these programs conform to technology requirements, stay within budget, and are completed on time (Wikipedia, 2023).The DAB performs an important oversight role in ensuring structured decision-making in the conduct of risk management, cost control, and alignment of acquisitions to strategic defense objectives. This approach makes absolutely sure that each program stage is stringently examined until it progresses, which may be significant for supporting program obligation and responsibility (RAND Association, 2024).
Nevertheless, the DAB and the defense acquisition system generally suffer from some enduring challenges. The recent studies posited as follows:
Does it stand to reason then that specific design and evaluation programs undertaken by companies such as Rolls Royce (engine manufacturer) and Ricardo (UK-based design consultancy) are being employed for a few years' time to aid them in attracting more agile suppliers, primarily small to medium-sized enterprises? Need Assignment Help?
Inflexibility and Complexity: More than half of acquisition professionals note the inflexibility and complexity of acquisition processes present a large, time-consuming, and non-innovative roadblock that results in slow program delivery and detracts potential collaborative firms, especially small and nontraditional contractors, from participation (MITRE, 2027).
Bureaucratic Delay: Major defense acquisition programs are taking longer to deliver capability with unexplained delays for some programs of 8 to 11 years, i.e., "systemic inefficiency" (RAND Corporation, 2024).
The challenge is further complicated by unreliable supply chains and many cost-type contracts, which are made in a timely and cost-effective manner (MITRE, 2025).
Modernization is necessary to acquire and adopt digital technologies, streamline the number of approval layers, and leverage data in decision-making to increase agility and compensate for latency (MITRE, 2025).
Although reforms are still in progress, such as using the Adaptive Acquisition Framework and ideas for improving the PPBE system, the DAB is still struggling to match its strategies to modern threats, accept commercial technology, and revive the acquisition workforce (RAND Corporation, 2024).