Space Force doubles down on acquisition reform ahead of DoD moves

Former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration Frank Calvelli in 2022 developed nine space acquisition tenets that are guiding Space Force reform efforts to speed development of new capabilities. (US Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)

WASHINGTON — The Space Force is “aggressively” pushing forward with acquisition reforms put in place under the Biden administration to fast-track new capabilities and cut costs — including rapidly moving toward the use of fixed-price contracts and cracking down on contractor performance, according to a senior official.

The business of acquisitions is to deliver and integrate warfighter capability as fast as possible, and that’s it,” Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, acting head of the Air Force’s space acquisition shop, told the annual Defense and Intelligence Space Conference on Tuesday.

His walk-through of activities to flesh out former space acquisition czar Frank Calvelli’s “nine space acquisition tenets” showcased how the Space Force already is positioned to meet expected guidance for accelerating weapons system development from new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Calvelli’s tenets, Purdy said, “were all about speed, all about getting back to acquisition basics” and not only is the Space Force “continuing” to push on implementing them, but “doing it more aggressively.”

For example, he said that of the “about 59 major programs” in the service’s unclassified portfolio, there are 38 that are designated as major capability acquisitions; i.e., “traditional acquisition activities.” Another 12 are being managed as middle tier acquisitions (MTAs) aimed at developing prototypes and/or fielding capabilities within five years, and eight fall under what is known as the “software pathway,” which uses iterative processes to bring new software into use. Finally, the service has one program being acquired under the “quick start” effort initiated by former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and approved by Congress in the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.

Purdy elaborated that the number of programs using the software path approach has increased “300 percent” from 2023, going from two to eight. In addition, he said the Space Force’s use of MTAs has increased over the past six months or so, although caveating that he hadn’t “done the numbers” to calculate that increase.

“If you look at a lot of the guidance that’s coming down from DoD, and also pending guidance from the Hill and the Wicker act [the Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense (FORGED) Act introduced by Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R.-Miss.] there’s a desire to move into software pathways and MTA and OTA [Other Transaction Authority] kind of constructs,” he stressed.

Purdy expressed strong interest in a number of the changes proposed by Wicker in the FORGED Act, calling it a “really interesting document” including “a lot of really interesting ideas.”

While noting that it is difficult to precisely quantify the multitude of Space Force contracts in play, Purdy said that by his “rough numbers” about half have been awarded on a cost-plus basis and half on a fixed-price basis.

“So a good start, but I want to keep moving us down that fixed-price path,” he said.

He further warned industry leaders that the Space Force is reviewing several high risk programs that are now under cost-plus contracts, with an eye towards “converting” them to fixed-price awards or “breaking them apart” into smaller pieces.

“I’m really looking to explore risk exposure on our programs,” he said. “There are a couple of programs that we have that I would declare [carry] nearly unbounded risk exposure. What does that mean? They’re sitting in a cost-plus environment; there’s really difficult technology; and basically this is like future Nunn-McCurdy’s”

The 1983 Nunn-McCurdy Act requires the Pentagon report to Congress when defense programs exceed certain cost estimates, and critical breaches can lead to cancelation.

“So, we’re going to look hard at figuring out how to get out of that, and that’s going to be painful on all sides,” Purdy said.

Meanwhile, Purdy explained that the Department of the Air Force and the Space Force are pursuing “accountability” measures, as envisioned by Calvelli, to ensure good performance both from contractors and from department program managers.

“Accountability is a two-way street,” he said.

Since May 2022, Purdy said 14 major acquisition programs have had “contracts or entire programs restructured or canceled” largely because “performance costs have skyrocketed.

“We weren’t getting the capability we need. And unlike the Space Force acquisition of old, we stopped just piling money into that. And so we’ve stopped these contracts, and we’ve re-competed for the most part,” he said.

“We’re also looking at taking action against poor performing US government program managers,” Purdy added.

If problems are found, a first step will be “to give them help — provide guidance and provide additional acquisition help,” he said. But “if it’s not making it, we’ll look at removals.”