Policy Changes for Acquisition of Offensive Cyberspace Weapon Systems

Because the cyberspace environment is changing so quickly, the slow, methodical Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition process may not suffice. By following the evolutionary acquisition method and incorporating five policy caveats, the DoD acquisition process can acquire effective systems quickly. The purpose of this research is to provide recommended policy changes in the acquisition of offensive cyberspace weapon systems for the Air Force and DoD in general. This paper describes the current DoD acquisition process, explains how cyberspace is different from the other domains, discusses a few innovative acquisition and development approaches, and concludes with the recommended policy changes. A literature search on the cyberspace community along with DoD and Air Force doctrine provided the bulk of the research. The recommended acquisition policy changes fall into the following categories: expanding the network of development activities, building payloads for specific target sets, security classification, sustainment of cyberspace capabilities and testing throughout the acquisition process.