Avoiding Near Misses

A top National Reconnaissance Office official told lawmakers that her organization supports the Air Force’s efforts to recapture space acquisition excellence and stabilize the industrial base through the Evolutionary Acquisition for Space Efficiency, or EASE, strategy. “We’ve been using the EASE approach for decades and when we’ve gone away from that approach, we’ve had some misses, so we think that it’s a good model for space acquisition and one we plan to stick with,” said Betty Sapp, NRO’s principal deputy director, Tuesday in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces panel alongside Undersecretary of the Air Force Erin Conaton and Air Force Space Command boss Gen. William Shelton. EASE, which made its debut in the Air Force’s Fiscal 2012 budget request, is based on blocked buys of satellites, fixed-priced contracts, and a new way of appropriating funding. (Sapp prepared testimony)