Military acquisition or defense acquisition is the "

bureaucratic Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

and

procurement Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...

process", dealing with a

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

's investments in the technologies, programs, and product support necessary to achieve its national security strategy and support its

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

. Its objective is to acquire products that satisfy specified needs and provide measurable improvement to mission capability at a fair and reasonable price.

Concept

Military acquisition has a long history spanning from

ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

(e.g.,

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

ing,

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

) to modern times. Modern military acquisition is a complex blend of

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, and

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

disciplines within the context of a

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

framework to produce military material and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

. This complexity evolved from the increasing complexity of weapon systems starting in the 20th century. For example, the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

involved more than 130,000 people at an estimated cost of nearly $24 billion in 2008 dollars. In the twenty-first century, the trend has been for countries to cooperate in military procurement, due to the rising cost-per-unit of digital age military hardware such as ships and jets. For example, Nordic Defence Cooperation (established 2009), a grouping of Nordic countries that cooperate in defence spending, the Defence and Security Co-operation Treaty, signed between the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 2010, and

Joint Strike Fighter program Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing Fighter aircraft, fighter, strike fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, C ...

, which selected the

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic Stealth aircraft, stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and att ...

in 2001, included the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Turkey, Israel and Japan.

Activities

Major activities related to military acquisition are: *

Project management Project management is the process of supervising the work of a Project team, team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project initiation documentation, project documentation, crea ...

program management Program management deals with overseeing a group or several projects that align with a company’s organizational strategy, goals, and mission. These Project, projects, are intended to improve an Organizational performance, organization's perfo ...

Risk management Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks, followed by the minimization, monitoring, and control of the impact or probability of those risks occurring. Risks can come from various sources (i.e, Threat (sec ...

Earned value management Earned value management (EVM), earned value project management, or earned value performance management (EVPM) is a project management technique for measuring project performance and progress in an objective manner. Overview Earned value manag ...

Product management Product management is the business process of planning, developing, launching, and managing a product or service. It includes the entire lifecycle of a product, from ideation to development to go to market. Product managers are responsible for ...

Product life cycle management Product life-cycle management (PLM) is the succession of strategies by business management as a product goes through its life-cycle. The conditions in which a product is sold (advertising, saturation) changes over time and must be managed as it ...

* Contract management *

Systems engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their Enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering uti ...

Software engineering Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...

Computer engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

Human factors Ergonomics, also known as human factors or human factors engineering (HFE), is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goals of human factors eng ...

Modeling and simulation Modeling and simulation (M&S) is the use of models (e.g., physical, mathematical, behavioral, or logical representation of a system, entity, phenomenon, or process) as a basis for simulations to develop data utilized for managerial or technica ...

Security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

Procurement Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...

In the European Union

EU member states'

of arms, munitions, war material and related works and services acquired for defence purposes and procurement of sensitive supplies, works and services required for security purposes are subject to EU Directive 2009/81/EC on Defence and Sensitive Security Procurement. The purpose of the directive is to balance the need for transparency and openness in defence markets within the

European single market The European single market, also known as the European internal market or the European common market, is the single market comprising mainly the member states of the European Union (EU). With certain exceptions, it also comprises Iceland, ...

with the need to protect individual countries' security interests.European Commission
Defence procurement
accessed 9 June 2018

In the United Kingdom

The Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011, which were derived from EU law, apply to defence procurement in the UK, along with Parts 1 and 2 of the

Defence Reform Act 2014 The Defence Reform Act 2014 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerned with defence procurement and the UK Reserve Forces, particularly the Territorial Army. It has 51 sections and seven schedules. Part 1 of the Act relates ...

. A

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...

entitled ''Better Defence Acquisition: Improving how we procure and support Defence equipment'' was published in June 2013, taking forward the reform of defence procurement, equipment support, single-source supply arrangements and

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

in the UK. The white paper included a requirement for the department's large sole-source suppliers to report annually on their engagement with

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organiza ...

and their involvement in their

supply chain A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distri ...

s. The Defence Reform Act established a statutory " Single Source" scheme applicable to situations where there is no

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

between suppliers.

In the United States

The

US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

has three principal decision-making support systems associated with military acquisition:

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

(Updated May 23, 2014) Defense Acquisitions: How DOD Acquires Weapon Systems and Recent Efforts to Reform the Process
RL34026 was originally written by Moshe Schwartz Th
Center for Strategic & International Studies
releases a report every year on defense acquisition trends. * Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) Process – Process for strategic planning, program development, and resource determination. *

Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System The Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) is the formal United States Department of Defense (DoD) process which defines acquisition requirements and evaluation criteria for future defense programs. JCIDS was created to repla ...

– The systematic method established by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for assessing gaps in military joint warfighting capabilities and recommending solutions to resolve these gaps. * Defense Acquisition System – The management process used to acquire weapon systems and automated information system. Because of the size and scope of such a bureaucracy, the US Department of Defense instituted an extensive training program, known as the

Defense Acquisition University The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) is a corporate university of the United States Department of Defense offering "acquisition, technology, and logistics" (AT&L) training to military and Federal civilian staff and Federal contractors. DAU ...

In Canada

In Canada, military acquisition falls under three separate government departments: th
Public Services and Procurement Canada
(PSPC); th

(DND)
Innovation, Science and Economic Development
(ISED). *PSPC is responsible for overseeing and managing the proposal solicitation and evaluation process, and once under contract, PSPC manages the contract on behalf of DND. *DND is responsible for a four step process: # Identify the need for a new or improved capability; # Analyze the available options to address the identified need; # If external procurement is the result of the optional analysis, then defining the requirements and budget for the procured solution; and # Implementing the defined solution. ISED is responsible for defining and administering the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) and Value Proposition (VP), which are offsets applied to the selected defense procurements. ISED may apply offsets to DND and Coast Guard procurements of $20M (CAD, or about $15M USD) or greater. All Canadian defence procurement falls under the auspices of th

which establishes national procurement and contracting standards and regulations on behalf of the Government of Canada.name="Contracting Policy" https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=14494

Notes

References

External links

* Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition (ASAF (A)

* Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition (ASN (RDA)

* Defense Acquisition History Projec

* Defense Procurement New

* United States Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology ( OASA(ALT)

* Defense Acquisition Universit
ACC Practice Center
{{Authority control Military acquisition,