Pentagon's new plan for faster acquisition stresses security for contract managers, software developers

The Pentagon has released its new Adaptive Acquisition Framework, which defense officials say will dramatically accelerate a notoriously slow and cumbersome system while elevating cybersecurity considerations as part of a project manager's planning and in software development.

When Defense Department acquisition chief Ellen Lord previewed the new policy in October, she called it "the most transformational acquisition policy change we’ve seen in decades."

The DOD “instruction,” dated Jan. 23, will allow acquisition officials to procure defense systems through six...