ARMY AL&T
MOVING ACQUISITION
Transportability engineering is vital in an accelerated acquisition process.
by Michael Bartosiak E
fficient and rapid deployment of the Army is crucial to the National Defense Strategy. Te DOD acquisition community has a key role in obtaining materiel, equipment and weapon
systems that fulfill Soldier requirements. Te acquisition community is evolving by accelerating or streamlining systems acquisition to meet those needs in a timelier manner. Using a commercial off-the shelf (COTS) acquisi- tion strategy to acquire military systems can reduce initial production costs as well as fielding times. However, those benefits could come at the price of transportability issues that impact deployability and work against some of the aims of the National Defense Strategy.
Te military has a unique requirement to transport large and heavy systems by rail, ship, air or highway regularly during deployments. Commercial items do not have the same transportability and deployability requirements and therefore are not designed for frequent shipment. Mili- tary systems are required to have special provisions that enable rapid lifting and tie-down. Large or heavy mili- tary systems, referred to as transportability problem items, have requirements that define very specific transportabil- ity criteria. As the design of military systems approaches the limits of the certain transportation assets, meeting the transportability requirements becomes critical.
ADDRESS TRANSPORTABILITY EARLY James N. Mattis, the 26th secretary of defense, once stated, “If you cannot move, you are not lethal.” Tere- fore, transportability engineering is an essential part of the acquisition process. Requirement writers, materiel devel- opers and program offices need to consider how units will deploy once the systems they develop are integrated into the formation. Designing transportable systems enables the force to be agile and deployable.
It is important to consider transportability requirements early and throughout the acquisition process. When they are considered only later in the process, issues can occur—a redesign after a system is in production can hinder system performance and effectiveness.
For example, a commonly proposed solution for address- ing transportability of large or heavy systems after production is to create a transport configuration—how systems reduce for movement on a mode of transport, like a train—by removing parts from the system. While this may be a viable solution as it has less effect on initial cost and schedule, removing parts could result in slower deployment times and be an operational burden to the unit using the system. Te removed parts must be pack- aged and shipped with the system, and those packaged
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