How to leverage America’s software advantage in the decisive decade

In April, the Atlantic Council released a major new report outlining steps the Department of Defense and its partner agencies should take in order to speed up technology acquisition. In the following op-ed, two of the authors of that report —  Michèle A. Flournoy and Wendy R. Anderson — go into more depth on how to get at the issues around software acquisition.

President Joe Biden’s National Security Strategy calls the 2020s a “decisive decade” [PDF], which has been underscored by Russian aggression in Ukraine and increasing Chinese threats to Taiwan. Yet many major defense acquisition programs, necessary for US national security, are not slated to be delivered in the next ten years and each military service will continue to rely on legacy platforms well into the 2030s.

One way to bridge this gap is by adopting and leveraging innovative software across the Department of Defense. Software can help the US military unlock new capabilities from existing platforms while increasing the speed of trusted, secure decision making and the efficiency of resource allocation.

However, current acquisition systems designed for large and exquisite weapons systems are poorly optimized for software development or leveraging a “software as a service” model. And traditional DoD software acquisition is often painfully slow, disconnected from end-users, and outdated on arrival.

It’s time to move beyond the legacy systems for how the Pentagon approaches software. Moving forward, DoD should put in place processes that allow the military to field software rapidly and continuously improve it with testing and user feedback. Software intensive systems should be updated rapidly to respond to operational needs and threats as they arise.

Some progress has been made in recent years. Both the Defense Innovation Board and Defense Science Board [PDF] have called for new approaches to software acquisition, which resulted in the creation of the software acquisition pathway. In 2022, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks signed off on the Department of Defense Software Modernization Strategy, and the implementation plan was approved in March of this year. The software acquisition pathway works to overcome legacy bureaucratic impediments by integrating security testing into software development to enable rapid and iterative capability delivery.

But that has yet to be implemented in a meaningful way, and now is the time to capitalize on the current momentum to ensure that software adoption is scaled from a few dozen programs to every corner of the department.

This is one of the reasons why we are participating in the Atlantic Council’s Commission on Defense Innovation Adoption. Last month, the Commission released its interim report highlighting 10 recommendations to accelerate the DoD’s ability to adopt cutting-edge technology and deliver operational solutions to the warfighter with speed and at scale.

One of our first recommendations, expanding the role of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), has already been partly implemented. In April, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin elevated DIU to report directly to his office. This is a promising start. Our report recommends that DIU be properly resourced to serve as a central touchpoint for the effective adoption and scaling of commercial technology, including software, across DoD.

DIU can be an institutional advocate for using existing authorities, such as the software acquisition pathway, and a coordinating body to ensure that commercial firms know how to do business with the DoD. DIU should also work to ensure that the services and defense agencies are using best practices for buying commercial solutions and leveraging common technology where possible. At the same time, it is important to decrease the barriers that many software companies face when doing business with the DoD, including access to cloud environments, data rights agreements, and securing facility and staff clearances.

It is also crucial to tie operational experimentation to acquisition outcomes. Often promising technology is demonstrated in exercises but acquired late or not at all. We recommend Congress authorize funding for scaling operationally relevant and mature commercial technology demonstrated in major exercises, such as Rim of the Pacific and other joint and service-related exercises intended to test new and emerging technologies and software applications. This funding should be directed to a Program Executive Office or organization with personnel trained and incentivized to employ the more flexible acquisition authorities Congress has provided to enable more rapid production and fielding of promising solutions.

This funding should be matched with the use of loan guarantees through the new Office of Strategic Capital that can leverage private capital to support production and scaling. This recommendation could be used to dramatically accelerate the acquisition of key solutions to serious operational challenges faced by combatant commanders today.

Accelerating the department’s ability to acquire innovative software is crucial to maintaining the United States’ warfighting edge in this decade. The current challenge is not that the US private sector struggles with producing this technology, but that the DoD struggles to rapidly and effectively harness it. Time is running short as China aims to complete its military modernization program by 2027. Fortunately, software adoption is one area where substantial progress can be made quickly if Congressional and Defense leaders act now.

Wendy R. Anderson is Senior Vice President, Federal, National Security, at Palantir and former Chief of Staff to the late Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter. Michèle A. Flournoy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors and the former Undersecretary of Defense of Policy.