DoD Contracting Update: “Coming to a theater near you” Changes in Contracting approaches due to DoD’s New Acquisition Framework

DoD’s acquisition framework has been a constantly changing approach over the last decades. The most recent major change was in January 2020 with the changeover to the Adaptive Acquisition Framework – beginning the process to address changes in technology complexity and the laws passed by Congress which exist to “keep the playing field level.”

This new enabling framework significantly modifies the previous singular “one size fits all” acquisition programs into 6 acquisition “pathways” better recognizing sets of unique program needs. It also goes one step further, moving to a mindset of “tailoring in” requirements for the acquisition strategy, rather than the previous “tailoring out” approaches from the “one size fits all” model. This new framework starts with a baseline set of rules that apply for the applicable pathway, and the program manager “tailors-in” those additional requirements needed for the program. The approach cannot tailor out statutory requirements, but it can tailor the regulatory requirements to a smaller list of things needed to manage risk in a particular program.

The pathways are not intended to be the 6 “be all and end all” answers, as they can be tailored for a particular program such that a complex program may require features from multiple pathways. The existing 17 FAR based, and 7 non-FAR based contracting/agreements approach supports this strategy well, but it puts additional onus on both the Government and Contractor Teams to understand the programmatic and contracting risks associated with these new adaptations.

This 90-minute presentation is a single session prelude to a full set of classes in December and January on this topic.  This particular prelude covers why the DoD made the changes, introduces the 6 acquisition “pathways, as well as how the existing 17 FAR based, and 7 Non-FAR based contracts / agreement strategies apply to these new acquisition approaches. The presentation outline is:

• A very brief history of DoD Acquisition Policy
• What changed? Why Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF)?
• Overview of the 6 DoD AAF Pathways
• Using the 17 FAR based, and 7 Non-FAR based contracts / agreements to support these pathways