In his interview on Fed Gov Today, David Norquist, President and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and former Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), offers a timely and insightful look into the Department of Defense’s push for faster, more reliable acquisition practices. As key deadlines approach for both a Major Defense Acquisition Program review and an acquisition workforce reform plan, Norquist highlights how these efforts are part of a broader response to a rapidly evolving global security environment.
“We have exited the post–Cold War era,” Norquist says. “And we are back in a time of great power competition.” That reality, he explains, is driving a fundamental rethinking of how the Pentagon builds and equips its forces. He contrasts the past mindset—one that prioritized small quantities of highly complex, “exquisite” systems—with the current need for speed and scalability. “With China as a pacing challenge, speed becomes one of the most important elements,” he explains.
Norquist notes that reform efforts across both the legislative and executive branches are now converging on shared goals: streamlining acquisition, embracing commercial innovation, and reducing bureaucratic red tape. A central part of this push involves rethinking the requirements process, which he describes as the first of three critical “circles” in the defense planning system—requirements, budgeting, and acquisition.
“When you take 10 to 15 years to field a plane,” he says, “you end up putting requirements in for which there is no solution, and hope that sometime over the next decade, one will emerge.” Instead, Norquist advocates for setting requirements that reflect available technology and real-world problems, enabling more timely and effective solutions.
Equally important to accelerating defense acquisition, Norquist explains, is ensuring stability of demand. He describes a common challenge: when a company is asked to build a factory for a particular munition or platform but fears that the requirement could change within a few years. “If they think the demand signal is going to be erratic, they get very reluctant to make the investment,” he says. “Stability says: we’re in it, we’re buying it, and we’ll continue to invest.”
He sees this issue playing out already in areas like shipbuilding and submarine production, where post–Cold War drawdowns led to long-term reductions in industrial capacity. “Trying to speed that back up is a major challenge,” he notes. Recovery isn’t as simple as hiring a few more people—entire supply chains and expertise networks need to be rebuilt.
Norquist remains optimistic that current reform efforts are headed in the right direction. “What each of them is aiming at is speed,” he says, pointing to a growing commitment from both Congress and the Department to modernize processes that have become too slow and complex for today’s needs.