Tracking defense acquisition trends in 2018

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Off the Shelf’s audio interviews on Apple Podcasts or PodcastOne.

This week on Off the Shelf, Andrew Hunter, senior fellow and director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at Center for Strategic and International Studies, highlights key defense acquisition trends for 2018.

Hunter discusses the  bounce back in contracting spending over the last two years and the current progress around acquisition reform.   At the center of his analysis is the view that the defense acquisition system sits at an inflection point, seeking to support the industrial while focusing on increasing the speed and flexibility across the defense acquisition platform.

Among other key areas of discussion, Hunter outlines significant changes (decreases) in the rate of effective competition and the continuing efforts to engage leading edge technology firms.  He also discusses the importance of an artificial intelligence ecosystem to national security.