and adapting best practices from non- traditional partners. Outcomes-based performance indicators will be estab- lished, refined, and monitored. Mea- sures are supported by authoritative data sources and maximize the use of automated data collection methods for efficient performance monitoring. Digital Acquisition. Recent pub- lications provide a bird’s-eye view of software-intensive weapon systems and digital acquisition. The Atlantic Council Commission on Software Defined Warfare was founded to digitally transform the armed forces for success in future battlefields. The commission’s final report advises the following: “Poli- cies should delineate hardware and software requirements and enable each to operate on separate timelines and processes” and “use integrated hardware-software testing, DE, mod- eling, and simulation to verify desired system performance.” DE is an element of digital acquisi- tion. As stated in a report by the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Govern- ment Contracting and the National Defense Industrial Association, From Breakthroughs to the Battlefield: Best Practices for Tapping into the Power of Prototyping (Bar- oni) , digital acquisition is much more
Outcomes-based performance indicators will be established, refined, and monitored.
than just DE, technical data man- agement, modeling, and simulation. It encompasses requirements and resourcing, continues through con- tracting to program management, and lives on in sustainment. Digital acqui- sition even supports audit compliance and ties together all acquisition and prototyping reform. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ste- phen Feinberg commented on the transformation to digital acquisi- tion at his Feb. 25, 2025, confirma- tion hearing: “It’s my understanding that AI, digital twin technology, and MBSE significantly enhance the de- partment’s T&E approaches and deci- sion-making. Advancements in these technologies lead to faster product development and reduced costs, ul- timately supporting improved acqui- sition decisions and outcomes, even into sustainment.” B-2 Success Story. My 2022 ar- ticle included a B-2 program success story. Schedule performance was
based on the status of engineering ar- tifacts in the requirements traceability matrix. Performance-based metrics helped make the B-2 a very success- ful program and demonstrated how to measure progress of SE require- ments management, traceability, and verification. For more background in- formation see the May 2006 article, “Practical Performance Based Earned Value,” in CrossTalk, The Journal of Defense Software Engineering . In a recent mem- orandum, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave this directive: “Imple- ment performance-based contracting to reduce waste.” I hope that the effective SE and PM practices used in 2002 are incorpo- rated into the DE ecosystem for the B-21 and F-47 programs. SOLOMON received the David Packard Ex- cellence in Acquisition Award in 1998 for his participation on the Integrated Management Joint Team that developed the first earned value management system standard. He also received a letter of appreciation from Sen. John McCain for his “continued efforts in working to improve our acquisitions process.” The author can be contacted at Paul.solomon@pb-ev.com . The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the Department of Defense. Reproduction or reposting of articles from Defense Acquisition magazine should credit the author and the magazine.
Airmen assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing gather near a B-2 Spirit to greet aircrew members at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., May 9, 2025. The aircrew members returned from deployment to Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory. Source: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Hastings
DAU Resources • DAU Brings Digital Engineering/ Digital Acquisition to Workforce (online article) • Let’s Get Digital (webinar series) • Project/Program Management Fundamentals Handbook
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