COMMENTARY
How OTA consortia are delivering for defense acquisition and our warfighters.
by Al Abramson, Brig. Gen. USA (Ret.) F
rom an acquisition standpoint, the Army’s modernization efforts have made one thing crystal clear: other-transaction authority (OTA) agreements have been a pivotal tool. In the wake of the 2020 Defense Department Directive, “Te Defense Acquisition System,” which includes the goal to “deliver capability at the speed of relevance,” the OTA model has quickly become the service’s
main acquisition strategy to provide cutting-edge technology capabilities within the initial six cross-func- tional teams. Tis accelerated model has enhanced the Army’s highest priority modernization efforts, giving our warfighters a decisive edge on the battlefield.
For the Army’s top priority, long range precision fires, the authority has been especially helpful in rapidly delivering technology prototypes for key programs including the Precision Strike Missile, the Strategic Long-Range Cannon, the Extended Range Cannon Artillery, the Long-Range Precision Guidance Kit and the Extended Range 155 mm projectile.
More so than any other branch of service, the Army quickly adopted the use of OTAs and continues to be the largest user within DOD: Te Army’s OTA usage increased by 500 percent between fiscal years 2017 and 2021, and in that time, the Army awarded more than 1,700 OTAs valued at nearly $11 billion, as reported by GovCon Wire. DOD OTA obligations increased 75 percent in fiscal year 2019 and have increased more than 700 percent since fiscal year 2015, according to the Center for Strategic and Inter- national Studies.
Te growth in the use of OTAs makes sense. “OTAs allow for greater speed, flexibility and access to small and nontraditional vendors,” Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo said during a speech at the Potomac Officers Club Annual Army Summit in Virginia last year. Tese attributes are imperative for a military facing increased near-peer and peer competition across each of the five domains.
Tere is, however, one benefit to the use of OTAs that Camarillo left out—DOD-sponsored consortia facilitate the collaboration among government, industry and research institutions across important tech- nology areas, like energetic materials, missile technologies, 5G spectrum and more.
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