Here’s how a new Army directorate is delivering tech to soldiers in under 180 days

WASHINGTON — Since its inception late last summer, the Army’s Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate (G-TEAD) has been awarding contracts and delivering tech at speeds the service has never seen, the colonel in charge of the directorate told Breaking Defense.

“The G-TEAD in general, we’re fighting against a cultural problem right, an identity. What does acquisition look like in the eyes of our warfighters, which is really important at the tactical edge,” Col. Christopher Hill said. “It’s really an understanding of what acquisition officers and operational commanders do. How are we a combat multiplier? And how we can take a system that is historically slow, and how can we weaponize that system to be flexible and responsive for the warfighter?” 

The establishment of the G-TEAD was part of the Army’s overarching goal of continuous transformation, Hill said. G-TEAD was born to get capabilities with a technology readiness level (TLR) of seven or above into the hands of the warfighters as quickly as possible, specifically within 180 days or less from when the directorate publishes white papers, Hill said. (There are nine total TLR levels, with seven marking when a prototype can successfully demo in an operational environment. TLR level nine is when a system is fully proven through successful mission operations.)

To date, the directorate has awarded two other transaction agreements (OTAs) for counter-drone systems — the Merops counter drone system and one made by Mountain Horse Solutions. The Merops was delivered to warfighters in that 180-day timeframe, while the Mountain Horse system is still waiting to be deployed, but is on schedule to be delivered within the goal timeframe. Additionally, an OTA for ground autonomy is set to be announced in the coming days, Hill said, adding that it will be delivered in that timeframe as well. 

The American-made Merops system has been used in Ukraine for over two years, Hill said. On Sept. 14, shortly after a Russian incursion into Poland, senior US service leaders alerted the G-TEAD that the Ukrainians were using the Merops — a capability that has also been used during Operation Epic Fury. Immediately following the incursion, Hill said the G-TEAD sent soldiers into Ukraine to assess the system, made by American company Perennial Autonomy, and then decided to purchase the system then and there. Less than 180 days later, the company was on contract with the Army and the tech was in the hands of US soldiers defending the Eastern Flank.

“So from the time we understood what the problem set was, there was a contract written with the company the day we showed up in Europe. From the time we got there into the time it showed up as a program, I want to say it was 148 days,” Hill said. “That is atypical. That is not what happens within acquisition.”  

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Hill explained that after the white papers are posted for a specific technology area, hundreds of companies respond and about 15 companies are then selected to take part in exercises called Accelerated Capability Events (ACEs). Around five winners are selected from the competitions and eventually one finalist wins the OTA. Hill said the other winners still “win agreements” so they can be put on contract at any time. 

“We don’t necessarily award, but we absolutely have five companies that are awardable, they’ve been competed, they never have to go through another competition with anyone else in the government, anyone can go to that company,” he said. 

All of the ACEs so far have taken place in US Army Europe and Africa’s theater, but in either November or December, the first one will take place in US Army Pacific theater, Hill said. 

In terms of how the G-TEAD prioritizes the technology it’s looking for, Hill said it comes directly from the commanding generals of the Army Service Component Commands (ASCCs), but the G-TEAD also has somewhat of a say. Hill said his team looks at the larger Army capability gaps through the service’s Forge database which is “data environment facilitating the synchronization and integration of modernization processes enabling Army modernization enterprise collaboration and a common operation picture of progress,” according to the Army. 

“We want to make sure that we’re just not answering his problems, but we’re answering the problems of the greater Army, because our goal is always to transition to answer a greater Army program, while at the same time supporting that specific ASCC,” Hill said. 

In addition to a change of culture within the service, Hill said two factors have “changed dramatically” to allow the G-TEAD to move as fast as it has: authorities and access. 

“ASCCs have always had requirements, what they’ve never had is acquisition authority, and they’ve never had access to RDT&E, and we bring both,” Hill said. “Without those two would not have resulted in much, but putting us at the top of the edge and giving us that is really what’s resulting in us being us.”