There are many reasons why defense acquisition has received a bad rap and why lawmakers and Pentagon leaders have been trying to reform the acquisition process for more than 30 years.

The problems are well known. It takes  too long to develop and field new technology within the constraints of federal acquisition regulations.

There are cases, however, when defense acquisitions can work effectively.

Examples of successful defense acquisitions can be found in the Defense Department’s Ordnance Technology Consortium, known as DOTC. It was chartered in 2002 by the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics as a procurement reform initiative that is designed to preserve and advance the U.S. ordnance technology base.

DOTC facilitates collaboration, technology development and prototyping among U.S. industry, academia and the Defense Department’s ordnance
community. This arrangement is legally supported by Section 845 prototype “other transaction agreement.” OTA is administered by the Army at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., through a government-staffed DOTC program office.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2013/August/Pages/ItIsNotAllBadNewsintheDefenseAcquisitionWorld.aspx