The Pentagon Should Look To Reform Acquisition Spending To Save Taxpayer Money

Proper and responsible budgeting is a problem in Washington.  Spending continues to grow despite big deficits (the White House announced last week the budget deficit is set to rise to $600 billion this year) and recent reforms such as the Budget Control Act and curbs on earmarks have been conveniently forgotten by members of Congress. Some companies are seeking to profit from dysfunction in D.C. by destroying procurement protocols and pursuing what could be considered backdoor earmarks. One particular tech company is targeting the Pentagon to fund an incomplete and insufficient defense intelligence program by working Congressional contacts to pull an end-around on the Army’s contracting process. While “disruption” in Defense spending is a worthy goal, this particular special interest gimmick would leave taxpayers on the hook for a system that doesn’t meet our military’s needs in the near- or long-term leading to higher costs in the future.

The system being challenged is the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS). It is an existing intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance possessing and dissemination system that provides troops information on threats, weather, and terrain. DCGS is designed to provide real-time information to troops on the ground regarding enemy location, troop movement, weather and terrain. It informs everything our warfighters are doing at all times.

The existing DCGS-A has run its course and is considered unreliable by some on the battlefield, but deemed essential by the Army and other branches of services.  The Army recognizes the system is outdated, has a plan in place to overhaul and upgrade the technology, and is in the process of evaluating development contracts for the next-generation DCGS-A2.

As with any procurement fight – particularly those involving Defense spending – there is plenty of maneuvering by competitors over the right to design and build the replacement for DCGS. But unique to this squabble is the company’s refusal to participate in the normal acquisition process, instead enlisting helpful Members of Congress to trash DCGS altogether. Rather than submitting an RFP and having their own commercial-grade system vetted, the company, and its allies, are seeking preferential treatment from Congress for a product that is incomplete, closed source and has been rejected by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  In fact, the GAO said that, while “commercial items were available to meet some of the DCGS-A2 requirements, the agency concluded that there was NO commercial solution that could meet ALL of the requirements of DCGS-A2.”

Just last month, the tech company sued the Army over its handling of the contract for the DCGA-2A. Though the company is using its Silicon Valley credentials to make the case that it can provide more efficient software, there are serious concerns regarding whether its system can effectively protect military data and that its system architecture would be closed.

DCGS-2A’s open architecture is the element that is most attractive to taxpayers. Open source technology allows the system to incorporate future technological advancements seamlessly, giving the Pentagon the flexibility to better address modern threats rather than requiring a complete re-build. Not only does this keep long-term costs low, but allows developers to interchange software and gives way for the Pentagon to grant new contracts to competitors who might develop technological upgrades to previous systems more efficiently than prior contractors. This is the type of technological disruption the Pentagon needs.

While acquisition protocols are far from perfect, the fact that a company is trying to skirt Pentagon protocols and sue its way to a government contract while providing a rigid, incomplete technology is disturbing. When companies circumvent a contracting process designed to protect taxpayers, opting instead for backdoor earmarks without public scrutiny, we can be sure that any money spent on their products are not being spent wisely.

Congress and the Army should move forward with DCGS-2A, the complete and open architecture intelligence system that will leave taxpayers off the hook for a litany of future tweaks and upgrades.