Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is directing the Navy and Marine Corps to explore the processes for fleet and ashore experimentation and exercises in a new memo issued Oct. 15 to reduce costs and timelines.
SECNAV writes:
The processes for experimentation and exercise initiatives requiring installation on afloat or ashore units (including Certification, Accreditation, and Approval) contain overly complex guidance and authorities, significantly extend timelines, impose high resource costs, and do not assess risk appropriately for robust innovation. Over the years, we have prioritized process competence over technical knowledge and worked to eliminate or reduce acquisition risk, resulting in a culture of caution more than a culture of innovation.
To reduce timelines and the cost for installation of experimentation equipment
ashore and afloat, the Services shall:
• Evaluate current processes and identify measures to improve and reduce difficulties related to conducting experiments aboard ships;
• Examine and highlight unique challenges and barriers to experimentation, certification and accreditation in all warfare domains (air, surface, submarine, expeditionary, unmanned, autonomous, agile manufacturing, electromagnetic, cyber, etc.);
• Make recommendations to change legacy practices, roles, responsibilities, authorities and resourcing;
• Propose needed policy changes to solve or mitigate current installation process requirements which hinder rapid, innovation/experimentation efforts.
These steps will yield modified installation processes that will reduce or eliminate cumbersome requirements which prevent rapid use of experimental systems ashore or on board ships, submarines, aircraft, vehicles, for cyberspace, and on other manned and unmanned systems. The new or modified process will take into account a risk management approach which differentiates among permanently installed combat ready systems, modular systems, and experimental systems.
The Navy and Marine Corps shall each submit detailed implementation plans to the Under Secretary of the Navy within 90 days of this memo.
To download the memo, click here.
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