Directing Modern Software Acquisition to Maximize Lethality : Office of the Secretary of Defense , March 6 , 2025
Directing Modern Software Acquisition to Maximize Lethality : Office of the Secretary of Defense , March 6 , 2025
From the document: “The Department of Defense (DoD) has been slow to recognize that software-defined warfare is not a future construct, but the reality we find ourselves operating in today. Software is at the core of every weapon and supporting system we field to remain the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world. While commercial industry has rapidly adjusted to a software-defined product reality, DoD has struggled to reframe our acquisition process from a hardware-centric to a software-centric approach. When it comes to software acquisition, we are overdue in pivoting to a performance-based outcome and, as such, it is the Warfighter who pays the price.
lt is a top priority for DoD to reform its acquisition processes in order to acquire, deliver, and iterate on our weapon and business systems - including software- at speed and scale for our Warfighter. To start, DoD must maximize the use of its existing authorities, contracting strategies, and processes for software acquisition. This will enable us to immediately shift to a construct designed to keep pace with commercial technology advancements, leverage the entire commercial ecosystem for defense systems, rapidly deliver scaled digital capabilities, and evolve our systems faster than adversaries can adapt on the battlefield.
To meet thjs challenge, 1 am directing all DoD Components to adopt the Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP) as the preferred pathway for all software development components of business and weapon system programs in the Department.”
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