Department of Defense Annual Report to Congress on Defense Acquisition Challenge Program for FY 2006

Abstract

Abstract : The Defense Acquisition Challenge (DAC) provides funds for the test and evaluation of technologies and products with potential to improve current acquisition programs at the component, subsystem, or system level. DAC has a proposal selection cycle lasting one year, from a published Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for draft proposals to final proposals submitted by program managers who compete for funding. The Comparative Testing Office (CTO) and subject matter experts (from across the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) evaluate and prioritize candidate proposals for funding, with highest priority given to proposals that commit to procurement should testing be successful. The Services or U.S. Special Operations Command conduct the technology/project evaluations and procure those items that meet their requirement(s). Industry and DoD submitted 226 proposals in response to the January 2006 Broad Agency Announcement. A final assessment subject matter experts recommended eighteen new-start projects approved for fiscal year (FY) 2007 funding: five sponsored by Army, five by the Navy/Marine Corps, four from the Air Force, and four by SOCOM. Thirty-four projects (eighteen new-starts, sixteen continuing) are funded in FY 2007, at a value of $27.3 million. Transition results from the sixty-eight projects initiated from FY 2003 to 2006 are assessed as projects are completed. The average return-on-investment for the completed projects is ten to one. To date, fourteen projects have yielded technology currently in use by our warfighters in Iraq, Afghanistan, or at U.S. training facilities. The DoD is pleased to submit this report highlighting the FY 2006 DAC program results. As you will see, DAC continues to facilitate domestic industry entry into current DoD acquisition programs and transition innovative, leading edge technologies to the warfighter.