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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle C--Provisions Relating to Major Defense Acquisition Programs

P. L. 116-92

House Conference Report 116-333

(a) Candidate Acquisition Programs.--Not later than February 1, 2020, each Service Acquisition Executive shall recommend to the Secretary of Defense at least one major defense acquisition program for a pilot program to include tailored measures to streamline the entire milestone decision process, with the results evaluated and reported for potential wider use.

(b) Elements.--Each pilot program selected pursuant to subsection (a) shall include the following elements:

(1) Delineating the appropriate information needed to support milestone decisions, assuring program accountability and oversight, which should be based on the business case principles needed for well-informed milestone decisions, including user-defined requirements, reasonable acquisition and life-cycle cost estimates, and a knowledge-based acquisition plan for maturing technologies, stabilizing the program design, and ensuring key manufacturing processes are in control.

(2) Developing an efficient process for providing this information to the milestone decision authority by--

(A) minimizing any reviews between the program office and the different functional staff offices within each chain of command level; and

(B) establishing frequent, regular interaction between the program office and milestone decision makers, in lieu of documentation reviews, to help expedite the process.

The Senate bill contained a provision (sec. 808) that would require the service acquisition executive for each military department to recommend at least one major defense acquisition program to participate in the pilot program to streamline decision-making processes not later than February 1, 2020.

The House amendment contained no similar provision.

The House recedes with a technical amendment.

The conferees direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment to brief the congressional defense committees not later than May 1, 2020, on the acquisition programs selected for the pilot program, the associated action plans and timelines for each program, and the manner in which each program conforms to the required elements of the pilot program.

Senate Report 116-48

Pilot program to streamline decision-making processes for weapon systems (sec. 808)

The committee recommends a provision that would require the service acquisition executive for each military department to recommend at least one major defense acquisition program to participate in the pilot program not later than February 1, 2020, and require the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment to brief the congressional defense committees on these programs not later than May 1, 2020.

The committee is aware that Department of Defense (DOD) weapon system programs often proceed slowly through the acquisition milestone decision process. In 2015, the Comptroller General of the United States recommended that the Secretary of Defense direct efforts to improve this process by piloting different approaches to streamline acquisition milestone decisions in major defense acquisition programs, with results that could be evaluated on and reported for potentially wider use. The committee notes that this reflects the ``Skunk Works'' approach described in DOD's ``Better Buying Power 3.0'' memorandum. To date, the Government Accountability Office reports that only two weapon systems programs have participated in this program.