What Happened
New Approach To Acquisition Could Speed Capability Delivery
The XVIII Airborne Corps’ new Joint Innovation Outpost is working to improve how systems are tested and potentially fielded, with the goal of delivering capabilities faster across the larger Army. The outpost, officially opened in January, is part of the Army’s Pathway for Innovation and Technology, which falls under the Army’s wider acquisition reform efforts. According to Col. Thomas Monaghan, director of the JIOP, this is the first time the Army has operationalized an acquisition cell, with acquisition professionals and decision authority up to $50 million of mostly research and development funds. This development was first reported by Breaking Defense.