The Avenger and SGT York: an examination of two air defense systems nondevelopmental item acquisition programs

Abstract

With the Department of Defense's (DOD) budget continuing to be reduced, DOD acquisition managers must acquire technologically superior weapon systems within shorter time periods with less resources. One effective way to accomplish this is to utilize an NDI Acquisition program. This thesis analyzes two NDI Acquisition programs, the SGT York and Avenger Air Defense Systems, to determine what factors made SGT York a failure and Avenger a success. From this analysis, lessons-learned are identified that can be used by other acquisition managers and their staffs to effectively manage future programs. Significant lessons-learned indicate that the maturity of the system, high-level support, media support, and program manager skilled at properly tailoring an NDI program are critical to the success of an NDI program.