The Kadish review says the root of acquisition problems are “deeply embedded in many of the management systems” in use within DOD. It offers recommendations ranging from organizational—creating a flexible system to deal with today’s rapidly changing needs—to workforce issues—shifting accountability lower and securing fixed, five-year tours for service acquisition executives. It addresses budget stability and the requirements process. It proposes making time—a specific number of years to produce “useful military capability”—a key performance parameter of a new acquisition strategy. The executive summary notes that there will be “hard choices” ahead if DOD accepts the performance improvements proposed by the Kadish panel, but that those improvements will produce a system that “delivers to its commitments.”
The U.S. Air Force is working on a test program with Japan to establish a joint maintenance center that will perform repairs on aircraft operated by both nations—creating a “deterrent effect that will make adversaries think twice,” a top general said.