Navy pilot program seeks rapid development and better funding approach
By Megan Eckstein
Dec 26, 02:43 PM
WASHINGTON — One of the U.S. Navy’s program executive offices is a few months into a pilot program aimed at enabling rapid acquisition, which could pave the way for a larger change in how the military branches develop and buy weapons systems.
Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems Rear Adm. Seiko Okano was tapped this fall to lead a pilot program centered on two efforts: finding creative solutions to warfighter problems that can be tested and fielded quickly, and then considering how to change the budgeting process so these new capabilities can be quickly purchased.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced the pilot program around the same time he signed off on the establishment of the Disruptive Capabilities Office and the Department of the Navy Science and Technology Board, with all three efforts acknowledging technology and global threats are moving much faster than the traditional acquisition system.
“We have to get capability out faster,” Okano told Defense News in a Dec. 15 interview. “People are kind of like, okay, well, how do you do this? Because our whole system is rigged to get capability out in the five- to 10-year timeframe.”
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2023/12/26/navy-pilot-program-seeks-rapid-development-and-better-funding-approach/
