Defense Acquisition Trends 2021 is the latest in an annual series of CSIS reports examining trends in what the DoD is buying, how the DoD is buying it, and from whom the DoD is buying using data from the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). This report analyzes the current state of affairs in defense acquisition by combining detailed policy and data analysis to provide a comprehensive overview of the current and future outlook for defense acquisition. It provides critical insights into understanding the current trends in the defense-industrial base and the implications of those trends on acquisition policy.

There has been a significant rise in the proliferation of military uninhabited aerial systems. This report reveals drivers and implications by examining the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the Russian war in Ukraine, and contracting and international trade data.

This report is the second in an annual series examining trends in what the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is buying, how DoD is buying it, and from whom DoD is buying. This year’s study looks in depth at issues in research and development, acquisition reform in the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), performance of the defense acquisition system, the future of cooperative International Joint Development Programs, and major trends apparent in the activities of the major defense components. By combining detailed policy and data analysis, the study provides a comprehensive overview of the current and future outlook for defense acquisition.

Through three comprehensive editions, Government Contracting: Ethical Promises and Perils in Public Procurement has been lauded for exposing fraud, incompetence, waste, and abuse (FIWA) and analyzing corruption, mismanagement, and ineptitude that defile government contracting. The first two editions thoroughly outlined procurement throughout the contracting cycle including initial planning, evaluating proposals, contractor selection, contract administration, contract closeout, and auditing. They further provided much-needed guidance on contracting documents, management tools, and processes for addressing negative influences on government contracting. This third edition incorporates the results of a new nationwide study into best public procurement practice, as well as recent examples of real-world procurement fraud cases, offering recommendations for procurement practices to deter fraud. Public procurement tools such as requests for proposals, pro forma contracts, proposal evaluation forms, sole source justification and approval forms, and other useful tools including PowerPoint presentations are provided on a website to accompany the book. This textbook is aimed at postgraduate students and academics working in the fields of public administration, policy and procurement, along with public procurement professionals.

This book celebrates the efforts of women in the international systems engineering community. While there are dozens of books that tackle the topic of systems engineering and thousands of books that address leadership, this book is unique. Emerging Trends in Systems Engineering Leadership: Practical Research from Women Leaders presents personal, well-researched, hands-on perspectives of emerging trends in systems engineering leadership from industry, government, and academia, covering timely topics applicable across many domains – all under one cover. This book presents material for engineers, scientists, technologists, and others to help them tackle challenges in their everyday work dealing with complex socio-technical systems. The book provides guidance for leaders on shoring up essential (soft) skills to address the increasing demand for professional competencies; addresses diversity, equity, inclusion, and empowering women in the workforce; discusses broader facets of systems engineering leadership including systems thinking, ethics and utilitarianism; and investigates the impact of emerging technological change on systems resilience and the digital enterprise. This book provides a multi-perspective approach for leaders to navigate a changing world and develop and deliver optimal system solutions to global societal challenges that meet human needs. To this end, the authors extend beyond the solid technical base to encompass the human aspect of system behavior. This book is written by twenty-six female authors (three of whom also serve as the editors) from around the world at varying career stages who share their research, achievements, perspectives, and successes in emerging areas of systems engineering leadership. Testimonials: “As the systems that modern society depends on get more complicated and complex, we are in the midst of a renaissance with regard to research relating to systems engineering and science. A vast majority of this research is focused on the development of a modern toolkit for systems engineers today and into the future. This takes the form of new and improved methods, models, methodology, processes and tools. This research is critical but likely insufficient without a focus on the most valuable resource with regard to systems engineering within any organization – the human resource. Therein lies the focus of this textbook. It addresses systems engineering leadership from a variety of perspectives, while also addressing broad aspects relating to mentoring and the necessary evolving competencies that we need to address in today’s workforce. This emphasis makes this book unique. The icing on the cake is that all the chapters in this textbook are written by contemporary women leaders – this provides a necessary and unique perspective on the topic of leadership – that is long overdue! I highly recommend this textbook to all my colleagues in academia, industry, and government.” Dinesh Verma, Ph.D.Professor, Systems Engineering, School of Systems and EnterprisesExecutive Director, Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC)Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ 07030 “The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in the number of women who are formally recognized in systems engineering technical, management and leadership positions in all sectors. With industry, academia, professional systems engineering societies and publishers enabling and illuminating the growing and substantial contributions of women in engineering, women have unprecedented opportunities today to contribute to systems engineering in both leadership and management positions. This volume, a compendium of chapters written by enterprising international women leaders at various stages in their career, addresses diverse topics such as leadership, management, empowerment, equity, diversity, inclusion, and mentoring. It is a valuable resource for engineering management courses in academia, systems engineering leadership training in industry, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program development by Human Resource departments in industry, academia, and government.” Azad M. Madni, Ph.D., NAENorthrop Grumman Foundation Fred O’Green Chair in Engineering Professor of Astronautics and Aerospace and Mechanical EngineeringExecutive Director, Systems Architecting and Engineering ProgramUniversity of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089

Published each year since 1959, The Military Balance is an indispensable reference to the capabilities of armed forces across the globe. It is used by academia, the media, armed forces, the private sector and government. It is an open-source assessment of the military forces and equipment inventories of 171 countries, with accompanying defence economics and procurement data. Alongside detailed country data, The Military Balance assesses important defence issues, by region, as well as key global trends, such as in defence technology and equipment modernisation. This analysis is accompanied by full-colour graphics, including maps and illustrations. With extensive explanatory notes and reference information, The Military Balance is as straightforward to use as it is extensive. The 2022 edition is accompanied by a fullcolour wall chart illustrating security dynamics in the Arctic.

With the advent of the information age, both commercial industry and the Department of Defense are moving towards complex R&D-intensive systems over the simpler, mass-produced systems of the industrial age. This CSIS report analyzes the historical trends in the relationship of production costs to development costs in complex acquisition programs. To understand this phenomenon, the study team examines it at two different levels. The first is the macro investment level where portfolio management trade-offs are made between aggregate development and procurement and between programs. The second level is individual programs where the ambitions of the program and the underlying technology shape the resources required for a program to complete development.

CSIS's The Future of Military Engines looks at the state of the U.S. military engine industrial base and the choices confronting policymakers at the Department of Defense (DoD). The military engine industrial base is closely tied to the industrial base for commercial engines. U.S. engine providers use many of the same facilities and largely the same supply chain for military and commercial engines. The ability to leverage commercial supply chains is critical because supply chain quality underlies the performance advantage of U.S. military engines, both for individual aircraft and military aircraft fleets. International competitors such as Russia and China are seeking to overtake the U.S. in engines. However, the current U.S. advantage is sustainable if it is treated as a national priority. Many military aircraft, especially fighters, require engines with important differences from commercial aircraft. They fly different flight profiles and perform different jobs. These differences mean that while DoD can leverage the commercial engine industrial base, it must also make investments to sustain the industrial base’s unique military components. In the next few years, DoD investment in military engines is projected to decrease significantly, particularly for R&D. This presents a challenge as military-unique engineering skills are highly perishable. Four major policy choices confront DoD as it formulates its investment approach to military engines going forward: 1) Priority, 2) Resources, 3) Business Model, and 4) Competition. The DoD is at an inflection point for engine investment, and the time for choosing on these four key policy questions will come in the next few years.

Innovation. No other concept is so widely celebrated, yet so secretly dreaded. The reason: innovation requires managing through uncertainty. This is hard for any organization whether private or public, small or large. This book provides a roadmap for those who want to understand and manage innovation in all its aspects. It explains both the "how" and the "why" of innovation – its economic and policy context as well as the techniques by which it can be orchestrated, along with the management systems needed to govern it. Innovation is uniquely presented through both a private-sector (value-creating) and public-sector (mission-fulfilling) lens. Topics covered in context include modern innovation and creativity techniques such as design thinking and the Lean Startup, the organizational challenges of innovation, as well as innovation project- and portfolio management techniques. Business-model innovation and open innovation complete the picture from the manager’s perspective. The private and public financing of R&D, startups, and corporate innovation are presented – contrasting the private and public worlds while explaining how they complement each other. Government innovation policy is discussed in its historical and contemporary context, and the innovation policy toolset is introduced. Continual innovation is vital for companies and countries to prosper. Readers will learn why innovation must follow technological breakthroughs to raise productivity and economic growth, and how innovation – when done right – can benefit larger society. An explanation for unequal growth – that some companies, regions, and countries are not seeing the full productivity gains promised by modern technology – is explored in the context of technology diffusion. No previous experience in innovation management, economics or public policy is assumed, and the book moves fast to equip the reader with practical tools and techniques. Innovation for Value and Mission is suitable for an introductory graduate level course, or as a desk reference for experienced practitioners and policymakers. Because it connects multiple topic areas and contains ample additional references, the book is also a great resource for those with expertise in one particular area of innovation who desire to branch out into other areas.