Acquisition Reform: Comparison of Army's Commercial Helicopter Buy and Private Sector Buys

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Acquisition Reform: Comparison of Army's Commercial Helicopter Buy and Private Sector Buys

D. Childress / S. Edwards / L. A. Dandridge / D. J. Henry / M. A. Gatling

The Congress, the executive branch's National Performance Review, and the Department of Defense (DOD) have emphasized the need for reforming the federal government's acquisition processes. The federal acquisition system has been described as complex, unwieldy, and in need of comprehensive reform. One key aspect of the current reforms is to use commercial procurement practices to buy commercial products. Army officials have cited the acquisition of the Army's New Training Helicopter (NTH) as an early example of success in streamlining its acquisition process to buy a commercial item. In this report, as a case study, we (1) compare this Army acquisition with acquisitions by two of the largest private sector purchasers of similar helicopters to determine key differences between these buys and the reasons for such differences (2) identify successes the Army achieved in streamlining the NTH acquisition, and (3) discuss potential improvements that could be achieved from acquisition reform efforts. Our comparison is not intended to suggest that the identified private sector processes would be appropriate for a government procurement. However, as the government moves to greater use of commercial practices to procure commercial items, a comparative analysis can be a helpful tool in gauging status and progress.