DOD needs permanent 'fast-lane' for wartime acquisition: Carter

The Defense Department’s top acquisition official said the department should institutionalize an ad-hoc rapid acquisition program used to provide weapons and equipment to U.S. forces fighting in Southwest Asia because the traditional acquisition process cannot adequately support the need of troops during wartime, reports the Washington Post.

The DOD has used its “fast lane” ad-hoc acquisition program in recent months to feed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment to Iraq and Afghanistan, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Ashton Carter said at a Brookings Institution event July 15.

Institutionalizing such a program would also require establishing a “funding fast lane” to offset DOD’s “general inability to be agile” as a result of the elaborate requirements process used in formal acquisition programs, Carter said.