Comparing the U.S. Department of Defense and the Israeli Ministry of Defense Acquisition Processes

Abstract

Recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports have indicated that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition of major weapon systems needs improvement with respect to delivering capability within the planned cost and schedule constraints. While the overall number of major weapon system programs has decreased over the years, program costs and average cycle time have increased. By comparison, Israel faces a unique situation due to constant threats from peer adversaries and extremist organizations. Thus, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) must maintain a constant rapid acquisition approach to deliver capabilities to the operating forces. This capstone applied project report’s end goal involves identifying strengths of the IDF acquisition processes and providing recommendations that the DOD acquisition system can implement to improve its development, procurement, cost-efficiency, and delivery of warfighting capabilities. The research identifies the following strengths of the Israeli acquisition system: high risk tolerance to purchase foreign made COTS systems, high risk tolerance to prioritize schedule over performance, and quicker approval process due to limited oversight. The research recommendations are for the DOD to adopt a higher performance risk tolerance to purchase foreign made COTS systems to facilitate delivery of systems at the speed and scale of relevance.