South Korea’s military is planning to shift its weapons acquisition process from a top-down approach to a bottom-up model that allows defense companies to take the lead in proposing new systems.
The change aims to speed up the adoption of advanced technologies by cutting down the typical five-to-10-year development cycle. The industry also expects the new system to help reduce research and development costs.
According to military authorities and the defense industry, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration is preparing to introduce a new system that would allow companies to take the lead in proposing research and development projects.
Under this framework, companies with expertise in specific weapon systems will be able to participate from the early stages of the military’s requirement review process and propose new systems.
Once the military approves the proposed need, the parties will discuss required capabilities and the timeline for deployment. Based on those discussions, companies will propose development plans tailored to military needs, and the military will move forward with acquisition projects based on those proposals.
Currently, the military must first identify and submit a requirement before the development of a weapon system can begin. Once a branch of the armed forces requests a specific weapon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff decides whether to approve the request and then sends it to DAPA.
The agency determines whether to pursue the project through a business strategy review, allocates a budget, and then issues a project announcement. Only after that announcement can companies find out what capabilities the military is seeking. Because the military defines the requirements beforehand, companies have had little opportunity to influence those specifications.
Under the new program, companies would be involved from the start, when the military first reviews the need for a particular weapon system.
A DAPA official said the new approach would allow companies to “quickly understand the military’s needs and begin preliminary development in advance,” adding that the system could help address the problem of companies only developing weapons strictly according to fixed military requirements.
Industry officials also expect the new system to lower their upfront research costs. Until now, companies often had to initiate R&D without knowing what the military would need. Developing a technology can take years and cost million of dollars, and firms had to invest without knowing whether they would win the contract.
“A company cannot even participate in a bid unless the military specifically requests the technology,” said an official at a defense company. “If this system is implemented, businesses should be able to save significantly on R&D spending.”
The change is also expected to help the military adopt cutting-edge technologies more quickly. In fast-evolving fields like drones and artificial intelligence, critics have pointed out that waiting for the military to issue formal requirements before beginning development makes it difficult to keep pace with rapid technological advances.
“We expect the time between development and deployment to be significantly reduced,” said an official at a defense firm.
To explain the proposed system and gather industry feedback, DAPA held an informational session on Mar. 18. Companies that attended reportedly responded positively.
However, some participants also emphasized the need for safeguards to ensure fairness in the bidding process. DAPA said it plans to finalize the system after further discussions, including which types of weapon systems will be covered first.
