E4 - How the Pentagon Buys Stuff

Mike hosts defense acquisition experts Eric Lofgren and Matt MacGregor to better understand just how hard it is for the US military to buy stuff. We also discuss a shortcut called a Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA), along with some examples you’ve probably heard of: B-52 engines, F-15EX fighter jets, and hypersonic missiles.

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Links

* Sign up for our amazing newsletter https://www.themerge.co

* Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/the_merge

* Eric contact https://www.linkedin.com/in/elofgren/

* Eric’s Acquisition Talk https://acquisitiontalk.com 

* Matt contact https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-macgregor77/

* Matt’s op-ed https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2022/09/get-know-middle-tier-awesomeer-acquisition/377017/

* Pentagon Wars (full movie) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir0FAa8P2MU

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Show Notes

(1:00) intro

(4:12) overview

(5:06) monopsony

(6:58) requirements

(9:04) Pentagon Wars

(20:45) acquisition strategy

(23:44) “joint”

(31:58) how much does it cost?

(35:38) the budget

(37:11) the PPBE

(43:06) what is the NDAA?

(45:38) what is an MTA?

(53:15) MTA examples

(53:27) B-52 engines

(1:01:00) IVAS (Army AR headset)

(1:05:06) F-15EX

(1:11:05) F-22 Link-16 and IRST

(1:11:50) ARRW (hypersonic)

(1:17:44) story time