DIIG Current Issues No. 13: Measuring the Defense Industrial Value of Acquisition Programs

The primary objective of defense acquisition is to provide the warfighter with adequate equipment in a timely and economical way. A cornerstone in this process is the availability of a reliable, cost-effective, and sufficient industrial base that can develop, produce, and provide the products and services required by the Department of Defense (DoD). Section 2440 of U.S. Code Title 10 correspondingly requires that the defense industrial base be considered in the planning for major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs). Developing and collecting standardized metrics to measure the value of individual defense programs to the industrial base constitutes a crucial prerequisite for complying with this regulation. Yet, today the Department of Defense largely lacks such metrics.