One of the under-the-radar problems that has “plagued” SBIRS—and some other DOD programs—is its reliance on the Ada programming language, said Wynne. He added that it is “not popular any longer” and like DOS, which was invented around the same time and is “no longer even talked of,” should be abandoned. “We still have Ada-based programmers trying to [use] it, noted Wynne. He’s convinced that the Air Force—considering technology advances over the past seven years—will be better able to configure the next generation of programs.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
