- The Department of War (DoW) replaced the 1962 PPBS with Lean Methodology to prioritize speed of weapon delivery over cost optimization.
- New Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs) oversee end-to-end acquisition, organized by warfighting concepts, not individual weapon systems.
- DoW mandates buying commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products first, using non-FAR contracting (e.g., OTAs) and iterative lean development.
- Changes aim to outpace China and disrupt defense prime contractors by opening the playing field to startups and rewarding speed and innovation.
- Incentives and scorecards for PAEs and contractors tie compensation to delivery speed, and modular open architectures prevent vendor lock.