1. 14 July 2008 Blake Ireland r_blake_ireland@raytheon.com Industry Roundtable COMPETITIVE PROTOTYPING

2. What is Competitive Prototyping? Competitive Prototyping (CP) is a new acquisition approach wherein two or more competing teams develop prototypes of high risk system elements prior to a Milestone B decision Memo released by the Honorable Mr. John Young, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (OUSD/AT&L) on September 19, 2007  Directed the Military Services and Defense Agencies to “formulate all pending and future programs with acquisition strategies and funding that provide for two or more competing teams producing prototypes through Milestone (MS) B.”  CP strategy is to be extended to all appropriate programs below ACAT 1.

3. CP Industry Workshop Industry participated with the DoD in a Competitive Prototyping roundtable at the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA) on 28 April 2008 The themes for the workshop were set in an introductory presentation by Al Shaffer, Principal Deputy, DDR&E  Remarks were also made by Bill Greenwalt, DUSD (Industrial Policy) Each of 15 companies had a 15 minute slot in which to express their experiences, views, and recommendations on Competitive Prototyping

4. Industry Presentations – Common Themes CP should add significant value in terms of risk reduction and technology maturation Additional CP costs are expected be offset by savings in SDD and production costs Stable and predictable requirements at the outset are key Logistics of managing CP may stretch thin the government team CP goals must be clearly defined – basis for industry investment (e.g. IRAD) must be convincing – production potential must be visible Prototyping may not always require competition if technology readiness levels going in are high enough

5. Industry Workshop – Discussion Topics Several topics stimulated quite a bit of discussion  Innovation recognition  Intellectual property protection  Potential for reduction in time to field – presenters provided examples on both sides of this issue Only one presenter introduced the subject of software and its attendant risks!

6. Industry Presentations – Other Topics Less common, yet relevant, topics emerged  Some reported that competitive prototyping is already used with their suppliers  Those without “skin in the game” such as certifying agencies can bog down a CP process  All stakeholders from the requirements community must be engaged early and often  Down-select should follow CP phase, not a re-compete that includes new players  The system engineering plan should be a collaboration between the government and contractor  Some felt the CP phase should be relatively short, i.e. <2 years

7. Survey on CP Software Impact Limited consideration may have been given to the impact on (and of) software Survey, led by USC CSSE, is underway to collect insights on software impacts, with special attention to  Requirements  Risk  Estimation  Software quality attributes Survey results will be used by NDIA Software Experts Panel and OUSD(AT&L) to provide guidance to both government and industry

8. CP-related Actions An updated DAG is expected to be released this summer A “Government only” review of the CP mandate and its implications is planned for 17 July 2008