Using Metrics to Understand the Performance of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework

Abstract

The Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF) is intended to improve defense acquisition performance by designing pathways to accommodate the diversity of systems and services that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acquires. As of 2022, the AAF consists of six pathways: Urgent Capability Acquisition, Middle Tier of Acquisition, Major Capability Acquisition, Software Acquisition, Defense Business Systems, and Acquisition of Services. For each pathway, the authors identify an initial set of metrics that the DoD can use to measure performance and assess whether the pathway is achieving its goals. The authors also identify challenges to identifying metrics, both within and across pathways.