Adaptive Acquisition Framework: Effectiveness of the Middle Tier of Acquisition Pathway

Abstract

The Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF) was created to provide the warfighter with innovative technologies and new capabilities at the speed of relevance. While the AAF has six pathways, the middle tier of acquisition (MTA) pathway focuses on delivering rapid capabilities through rapid prototyping or fielding. However, due to the pathway’s infancy, how effective it is at delivering its objective needs to be clarified. This limited the research and analysis to MTA rapid prototyping (MTRP) as the primary focus. The initial metric to measure effectiveness was to conduct a statistical analysis of all completed MTRP programs from the Defense Acquisition Visibility Environment (DAVE) in a pass/fail capacity. Through hypothesis testing and a sample size of 55 programs, the findings concluded that the probability of a system being transitioned/restructured would fall between 71.2% (39/55) and 92.2% (50/55). Additionally, the analysis tried to form a correlation between programs reported on by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and those found in DAVE to identify trends, factors, or inconsistencies that could influence success, but to no avail. However, DAVE proved ineffective at providing enough information to evaluate effectiveness at this level. It is recommended that a case study be performed against two programs of similar nature, one considered a success vs. a failure, to determine best practices for gauging effectiveness.