Several key provisions aimed at streamlining the acquisition process made its way into the 2025 defense policy bill President Joe Biden signed into law on Monday.

One of the notable provisions included in the 2025 defense policy bill codifies the middle tier acquisition pathway into law under Title 10. 

The middle tier acquisition pathway, which Congress created through section 804 of the fiscal 2016 defense policy bill, allows the Defense Department to deliver capabilities within two to five years of an acquisition program’s start. 

The provision in the 2025 defense bill introduces a significant change — it allows the same program to continue iterating once an operational capability is successfully fielded through the pathway without the need to create new programs.

This change will be significant for program offices since it eliminates the requirement for creating and transitioning between multiple middle tier acquisition programs to deliver product iterations and allows them to focus on capability delivery instead.

“If an operational capability is fielded for a program or project for which the authority under this section is used, the appropriate service acquisition executive may permit continuous iterative prototyping and fielding under the same program or project for an unlimited number of subsequent periods, where each period is intended to be five years,” the defense policy bill reads. 

Software acquisition pathway codification

The legislation also revises and codifies the software acquisition pathway into Title 10. 

The software pathway, originally introduced in the fiscal 2020 defense policy bill, is designed to promote rapid software development and streamline software acquisition by removing some steps in the acquisition process that are not suited for software.

The legislation addresses the confusion about how the software pathway is applied when hardware is fielded alongside software — it allows the Defense Department to use the software pathway for “covered hardware,” which is defined as either a commercial product or non-developmental item, or hardware in which software acquired under the software pathway is embedded. 

Streamlining milestone A and B requirements

In addition, the bill modifies the requirements for milestone A or B approval. 

When deciding to grant the milestone approval, the milestone decision authority must now confirm that the program or subprogram fulfills an approved requirements document; that it has conducted market research; that there is a plan to reduce the risk in any identified risk areas; and that there is a sustainment plan, an alternatives analysis and a life cycle cost analysis.

The milestone decision authority must also issue a record of a milestone decision at the time the approval is granted.

Acquisition and sustainment training

The legislation also mandates the under secretary for acquisition and sustainment to set up a training program that supports the Defense Department cross-functional personnel and contractors involved in any phase of the acquisition and sustainment life cycle.

The training program will emphasize the acquisition of commercial products, commercial services, and commercially available off-the-shelf items; technology procured “as-a-service” or as a consumption-based solution; and using the middle tier acquisition pathway. 

Training teams under the program must include experts on conducting commercial transactions from the private sector or academia. 

The under secretary for acquisition and sustainment is also required to provide a report to the Armed Services Committees including  the number and qualifications of civilian faculty members, details on contractor or university support for the training program, and a budget for the training program.

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.