The Defense Systems Acquisition and Review Council

The Defense Systems Acquisition Review Council (DSARC) was created to assume better coordination in the major weapons acquisition process. It assists and monitors the basic effort of responsive acquisition of major weapons for the Armed Forces within the influences of the environment of procurement and DoD management processes. Until relatively recently, the DoD had not had a consistent record for close examination of the systems acquisition process, identification of problems involved, and adjustment to changing conditions and times. The Armed Services, for their part, were unable to resolve conflicts as technological advancements outpaced their organization and management capabilities. As a consequence of legislation enacted, beginning with the National Security Act Ammendments of 1949 to the issuance of DoD Directive 5000. 1, there developed a system by which the Secretary of Defense decided what courses of action should be pursued. His decisions rested primarily on the recommendation of DSARC reviews at critical junctures in the defense major weapon systems acquisition process. Regulations and directives that formalized these procedures are currently being altered under new policy of increased flexibility with the DOD. A recent example is embodied in OMB Circular A-109, dated 15 April 1976, which directs that the criteria for systems development be based on mission requirements rather than specification satisfaction. The central and most difficult problem is not much different from that faced in the 1960s: How to obtain sufficient numbers of quality hardware at affordable costs.