2015 has been a busy and productive year for Army Acquisition, and our talented cadre of Soldiers and civilians is hard at work ensuring that our men and women in uniform are equipped with the best material possible in their defense of our Nation's freedom.
As we reflect on this past year and look forward to the months to come, I'd like to discuss three issues of great importance to the Army. These areas of effort are of particular interest to me personally, to all those who do business with the military, and to those who depend upon our capabilities for their mission success.
The first, Army Modernization, is the primary means by which we provide our troops with cutting-edge technologies and the latest in systems' capabilities.
The second, Acquisition Reform, ensures that the process of getting systems into the hands of our Warfighters is as seamless and efficient as possible.
The third, Better Buying Power 3.0, facilitates the Army's on-going collaboration with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to develop best practices for innovation.
ARMY MODERNIZATION
The five-tier pyramid that I developed reflects our ongoing approach to modernization across the Acquisition life-cyle: Divestiture, Reset & Sustainment, Incremental Modernization, New Capabilities, and Science & Technology (S&T).
The foundation of the modernization pyramid is Divestiture. The Vice Chief of Staff of the Army has tasked the G-4 to assess every portfolio and identify aging legacy systems no longer critical for mission success. Divesting these systems, and eliminating their sustainment and storage, will reduce our long-term Operations & Maintenance costs.
We continue to Reset and Sustain equipment returning from Theater, in order to prepare for the next contingency when our troops will be called upon to fight and win.
Incremental Modernization occupies the center tier. It leverages the core systems that we have today and the capabilities eroded through weight additions from the incorporation of survivability, lethality, and communications equipment. We will modernize these systems by adding the latest technologies to gain back mobility and reduce long-term sustainment costs.
We are conducting modernization efforts through incremental upgrades in design, Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP), and Full Rate Production (FRP).
Examples of Incremental Modernization efforts include the Black Hawk (UH-60V), which incorporates the common digital cockpit of the UH-60M model. This commonality will reduce pilot training. The Bradley Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) 2 features an upgraded generator and power distribution system. M1 Abrams ECP 1A introduces a digital architecture, as well as increased power generation capabilities. The Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) -- Alternative Warhead will match the precise fires support and lethality of the GMLRS-Unitary, while significantly reducing collateral damage and the threat of unexploded warheads.
Examples of modernization efforts in LRIP include Paladin Integrated Management (PIM), which incorporates upgraded survivability and force protection features, improves maneuverability, and increases lethality with an electric drive gun. The first LRIP system was rolled out in Elgin, OK, in March 2015. The PATRIOT radar system integrates a modernized Radar Digital Processor to enable improved target detection, enhance surveillance, increase reliability, and decrease lifecycle cost.
Examples of modernization efforts in FRP include the following: Bradley ECP1 increases mobility, survivability, and reliability. The Stryker ECP1 upgrade increases power and enhances the vehicle network. The Apache AH-64E model increases mobility, enhances situation awareness, and improves communications. Black Hawk UH-60M enhances situation awareness and improves handling. The Chinook CH-47F model improves mission effectiveness and versatility, increases airframe life and lift, and improves sustainability. The Gray Eagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle increases endurance and improves air-worthiness.
The second tier of the modernization pyramid is New Capabilities. Examples in the area of increased lethality are as follows: Excalibur, an extremely-precise 155-mm artillery round, is in production. PATRIOT Missile Segment Enhanced counters theater ballistic missiles at higher altitude and longer range. Joint Air-to-Ground Missile, soon to enter the Engineering & Manufacturing Development phase, provides enhanced capabilities to accurately hit moving targets.
The top tier of the modernization pyramid is S&T, which enables the Army's next generation of capabilities. Examples of S&T investments are Improved Turbine Engine Program, which is developing a 3000 shaft horse power (shp) engine for insertion into Black Hawk and Apache helicopters, replacing the current T-700 2000 shp engine. This new capability will enable our soldiers to operate in high-hot environments. Two Joint Multi-Role contractors are designing flight demonstrators to enable significant speed and range improvements over existing Black Hawks. These flight demonstrators will inform the Army on the best means to establish the requirements for Future Vertical Lift.
ACQUISITION REFORM
The Army has worked with OSD over the last year to examine the extensive documentation required by statue or regulation to meet a program milestone. In doing so, this office has identified a series of unnecessary documents and requirements, which unduly burden our Program Managers (PMs). We also have worked with Congress to eliminate several of these documents, reduce overall resourcing and staffing requirements, and decrease life-cycle time. Special thanks are owed to Representative Mac Thornberry (R-TX), whose support was instrumental to the success of this initiative.
In parallel, I asked my Principal Deputy, as well as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition Policy & Logistics), to examine Army policy and streamline the logistics process associated with meeting program milestones. This process was guided by four principles: the reduction of redundant documentation and simplification of the associated rule set; the placement of greater emphasis on sound acquisition planning early in the process; the clarification of unclear roles and responsibilities; and the broadening of Congressionally-established processes for risk reduction in programs.
The reduction of redundant documentation and rule-set simplification is motivated by the staggering amount of statutory and regulatory documents for which PMs are responsible going into a milestone decision. Most programs require in excess of 40 documents to meet requirements. A sample ACAT I program required nearly 60 documents, which took more than 100,000 man hours and cost more than $13 million. In response, our office has engaged proactively with Congress and the acquisition community to eliminate redundancies and improve efficiencies, including the following: elimination of standalone Mission-Essential Requirements documents; elimination of redundant information in Section 2366 certifications; and the consolidation of sustainment planning in the Life-cycle Sustainment Plan. These activities, and many others, have reduced overall documentation by 50%, saving PMs valuable time and countless man hours in executing their programs.
By placing greater emphasis on sound preparation early in the acquisition process, we are helping to shift the trend from a checklist mentality to active front-end planning.
Clarifying unclear roles and responsibilities ensures that stakeholders are held appropriately accountable for their input to programs. Initiatives in this area include clarification of MDA responsibilities in Section 2366, which empowers both the MDA and PMs to address issues and eliminate unnecessary processes that impose burdens, as well as rewrites to Section 2222, which clarifies roles in business systems.
Finally, broadening Congressionally-established tools for risk reduction in programs helps to ensure that program risks are readily identified and effectively managed. Initiatives here include a change to Section 2306, which mandates a justification of contract type based on risk assessment, as well as broad risk-reduction efforts for Major Defense Acquisition Programs, including updates to competitive prototyping statutes and the incorporation of risk reduction activities earlier in the acquisition life-cycle. Finally, changes to contract incentives will ensure that development is aligned to program risk reduction strategy.
These initiatives, and many more, are providing the first steps needed to adequately reform the Army acquisition system for proactive systems development today and in the future.
BETTER BUYING POWER 3.0
Better Buying Power (BBP) 3.0 is DoD's best practices initiative designed to strengthen buying power, improve industry productivity, and provide affordable military capability to the Warfighter.
BBP 3.0 provides added benefit to acquisition reform efforts currently underway, realizing efficiencies through affordability, cost control, enhanced competition, and the elimination of unproductive processes and bureaucracy. Specifically, the Army is taking advantage of BBP 3.0 to reexamine its statutory and regulatory requirements, conduct a comprehensive review of Army acquisition policies to streamline duplicative occurrences, and assess and implement proper contracts to better incentivize Industry.
BBP 3.0 also supports increased Army innovation. With more than 30% of all contracts going to small business last year, and more than $400 million committed to basic research on an annual basis, the Army depends upon the cutting-edge talents of universities, government, and industry to develop and refine the next generation of technologies for the Army of the future. BBP 3.0 is providing a framework to develop metrics assessing the quality of DoD research, measuring overall efficacy in transitioning these technologies to Programs of Record. The Army is also assessing flexible strategies for adapting new commercial and DoD technologies into its products.
The Army cannot realize the vision for BBP without strong support and collaboration from the Defense Industrial Base. The Army will continue to increase its collaboration with industry, through Industry Days, Requests for Information, and engagements like Association of the United States Army forums.
CONCLUSION
The Army Acquisition community continues to benefit from the efforts of its many talented Soldiers, civilians, and industry members. With ongoing modernization efforts, a firm commitment to acquisition reform, and the leveraging of BBP 3.0 tools, our Army is positioned to meet the challenges of today, and the unknown threats of tomorrow.
Firmly committed to our Warriors in harm's way, the acquisition workforce is doing all that it can to provide the best materiel solutions possible, so that the Army's characteristic overmatch continues to protect and enable our Soldiers defending freedom around the globe.
The Honorable Heidi Shyu serves as the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)), a position she has held since September 21, 2012, after serving as acting assistant secretary and principal deputy. As the ASA(ALT), Ms. Shyu serves as the Army Acquisition Executive, the Senior Procurement Executive, the Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Army, and the Army's Senior Research and Development official. Ms. Shyu leads the execution of the Army's acquisition function and the acquisition management system. Her responsibilities include providing oversight for the life cycle management and sustainment of Army weapons systems and equipment from research and development through test and evaluation, acquisition, logistics, fielding, and disposition.
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