ARMY AL&T
The acquisition strategy of the Army’s Gray Eagle Unmanned Aerial System blended traditional and rapid approaches. (U.S. Army photo by SPC Roland Hale, Enhanced Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs Office.)
dollars. You go out and buy something off-the-shelf and run it through a very rapid safety assessment and a Capabilities and Limitations Report. Then you send it into the fight. We have had a substantial amount of success with this,” Brown said. As an example, Brown cited the UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopter, which went from vision and concept to first unit equipped in four years. Trade-offs were made to accommodate the accelerated develop- mental time frame, Brown explained. Due to its speedy developmental cycle, the Lakota was not certified for combat; however, the arrival of the Lakota— now deployed in various key regions throughout the world—freed up Black Hawks, which were needed in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.
Hybrid Acquisition Acquisition strategies that blend traditional and rapid approaches can be particularly useful when the Army seeks both to develop a needed future technology and to deliver capability rapidly to Soldiers at war, Brown explained.
An example is the Army’s Gray Eagle Unmanned Aerial System program,
54 APRIL –JUNE 2011
If you are going to have a big program that is going to have a long-term, far-reaching impact where we are going to spend billions and billions, like the Joint Strike Fighter, you might want to go the traditional route. But one size does not fit all.
Brown said. The Army has deployed two Quick Reaction Capabilities (QRCs) of the aircraft to Iraq and Afghanistan while pursuing a tradi- tional Gray Eagle Program of Record.
From the time the Gray Eagle was designated as a QRC, a rapid acquisi- tion, it took the Army 18 months to get it into the fight. “Somewhere in between QRC 1 and QRC 2, it was designated as a Program of Record,” Brown said. “Because of its urgency to the fight, putting eyes on the enemy, the Defense Department and the Army leadership were willing to defer some of those high hurdles typically associated with traditional acquisition practices.”
As with the Gray Eagle, hybrid approaches can afford the Army the opportunity to fast-track a needed technology and still preserve the checks, balances, and certifications
typically associated with traditional acquisition practices.
However, each method—traditional, rapid, or hybrid—meets the specific demands of a particular situation. This calls for a balanced approach whereby the Army selectively calls upon and employs a range of acquisition techniques.
The slides from Brown’s AUSA pre- sentation are available at http://www.
crprogroup.com/2011%20AVIATION %20PRESENTATIONS/Thurs/PM/ MG%20Mark%20Brown.pdf.
KRIS OSBORN is a Highly Qualified Expert for the ASAALT Office of Strategic Communications. He holds a B.A. in English and political science from Kenyon College and an M.A. in compar- ative literature from Columbia University.
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