Distributed Acquisition: A Transformative Methodology for Department of Defense System Acquisition

Abstract

The Department of Defense’s acquisition system is faltering, costing $183 billion in overruns and 2-year delays across 36 programs, as centralized Major Capability Acquisition (MCA) delivers rigid, costly systems that stifle small contractors and lag behind evolving threats. Misaligned contractor profit motives prioritize minimal compliance over warfighter utility, shrinking the defense industrial base and burdening firms with digital engineering and security demands. Distributed Acquisition revolutionizes this paradigm, replacing MCA’s linear model with a government-led, iterative “bid→architect→bid→design→bid→build” process. Systems are broken into modular Developmental Items, developed by 150-person teams, guided by a System Design Agent, and supported by a government-owned digital infrastructure. Open interfaces and a Technical Data Package ensure adaptability, while an Inquisition Team enforces accountability. Rooted in WWII’s distributed success and Value-Driven Design, and informed by the authors’ decades of government and industry expertise, this methodology expands the industrial base, ousts underperformers, and rewards innovation. Aligned with the FORGE Act, Distributed Acquisition delivers agile, warfighter-ready systems to secure DoD’s strategic edge.