| This research project is a review of defense acquisition management of strategic command and control system procurements. It begins with a brief overview of the relevant literature, background information on the science of strategic command and control, and the introduction of case studies based on procurement programs in the United States' strategic command and control system. An overview of the Department of Defense acquisition system is provided, with an analysis of the current difficulties encountered by program managers responsible for command and control system procurements. The players, policies, and processes of defense acquisition are discussed, and a list of dynamics that impact the system acquisition executive are analyzed. The overall assessment of the acquisition system is based upon findings from the review of several case study programs, numerous personal interviews with acquisition executives and other experts, and first hand participation by the author on various working groups and program panels. The implications of the findings are considered for Department of Defense programs in particular, and then more generally for large, high technology projects of a non-military nature. The various attempts at reform of the defense acquisition system, and the failure of policy instruments to correct problems that are encountered at the program level, are examined to determine an appropriate course of action for policy-makers in the immediate future. |
