The Accelerated Affordable Modernization Process™ (AAMP™) is a decision support methodology provided as a service to the Department of Defense and its suppliers. It combines existing process with new processes and tools in order to identify process improvements, materiel alternatives, new potential suppliers, and new development strategies that can offer strategic cost savings and schedule compression for the DoD.   Unlike the widely practiced implementations of JCIDS and DoD 5000, the AAMP™ methodology, which operates in a complementary manner with JCIDS and DoD 5000, can help identify specific opportunities for cost savings and schedule acceleration.

AAMP™ is directly relevant to the issue of force effectiveness. First, if the analysis shows that there is a path to affordably fielding a capability that has been identified as one that would improve force effectiveness but had been assumed to be unaffordable, then that provides decision makers with a new variable in the trade studies. Second, if there is a strong correlation between the ability to deliver greater quantities of a capability and an improvement in force effectiveness, then Army decision makers have an additional and important factor to evaluate in the trade space. Third, if delivering a capability to the battlefield more quickly improves force effectiveness (e.g. rapid response to an Operational Needs Statement - ONS), then that too enlarges the trade space discussion. However if an AAMP™analysis illustrates that neither a cost or schedule advantage can be achieved through a commercial-centric design strategy, this narrows the trade discussion to one within the constraints of the normal acquisition system and its key drivers.

As will be shown below, AAMP™ can be used in at least four places within the JCIDS and DoD 5000 process to deliver new quantitative and qualitative information to decision makers and enable more resource and schedule informed trade and investment decisions

AAMP™: Level One and Level Two

As can be seen in the figure below, there are two levels of AAMP™ analysis.  A Level One analysis tests the feasibility of identifying a solution strategy that could provide the client a strategic cost and/or schedule advantage that would likely not be identified using only the JCIDS and DoD 5000.2 processes.  It does this by seeking to identify commercially available technology elements with both a high TRL and a low cost.  If these elements can contribute to a significant portion of the potential materiel alternative, then a cost and schedule advantage can result. The solution strategies identified by the AAMP™ methodology are not limited to technology (or technical elements¹ ) but can also apply to non-defense processes and practices.  The Level One analysis also identifies any critical policy or statutory issues that could directly impact the material alternative being considered.  A Level One analysis is not confined to pre-milestone A activities.  It can be used throughout the DoD 5000.2 process whenever a structured, fact-based, traceable, decision support methodology is required.

If a Level One analysis demonstrates that a strategic cost and/or schedule advantage can be obtained by means of a specific development approach, then a Level Two analysis is merited.  AAMP™ Level Two analysis work products include a rough order of magnitude (ROM) of the proposed product or system’s Bill of Materials (BOM), the potential supply chain’s non-recurring engineering development cost (NRE), the potential supply chain’s development schedule – from concept to fielding, and an identification of any acquisition or transition issues that could impact the implementation of a research project or program of record. This quantitative and qualitative information to decision makers and enable more resource and schedule informed trade and investment decisions.

Applying AAMP™ within JCIDS and DOD 5000

AAMP™ can be applied in four places within the JCIDS and DoD 5000 process:

1. The first area the AAMP™ methodology can be employed is during the Functional Solutions Analysis (FSA) process within JCIDS. If the analysis shows that a materiel alternative may be required to address a capabilities gap, AAMP™ can be used to identify potential low cost, accelerated schedule materiel approaches that could address this gap. The cost information can be used to inform the Acquisition Program Baseline (APB).
2. The second area the AAMP™ methodology can be used is to assist in the response to Operational Needs Statements (ONS).  The ONS identify critical and urgent battlefield requirements.  The AAMP™ process can help identify time-certain solution strategies that can be developed around high TRL commercial technical elements for rapid response to battlefield requirements.
3. A third application for AAMP™ is during the technology development phase.   Here the method can provide three important work products:
   1. Current and technology specific commercial technology trending data relevant to the research tasks of the STO.
   2. Greater specificity in the development of the CDD.
   3. Opportunities for accelerating the delivery of DoD’s science and technology innovations used in conjunction with a commercial-centric design strategy. 
4. The fourth application for the AAMP™ methodology is during the system design and development phase.  Here the methodology can make two contributions:
   1. It can be used as a risk mitigation strategy for a Program of Record.
   2. An AAMP™ analysis can provide an “affordability check” on the current Program of Record’s design strategy and ensure that all of the available cost saving opportunities derived from relevant commercial technology elements have been considered by the supply chain.

Go here for more information on the specific application of AAMP™ and here for a audio/video introductory briefing of the AAMP™ methodology.

How DoD Benefits from AAMP™

AAMP™ provides seven benefits for the Department of Defense, traditional defense suppliers, and commercial suppliers who supply products or services to the Department of Defense:

1. It provides decision makers a quantifiable data set early in the JCIDS and DoD 5000.2 processes with which trade and investment decisions can be made.  This can help with longer term planning such as the development of the PPBE, POM, or shorter term planning at the program allocation and execution level.  Having this critical quantified information early in the JCIDS and DOD 5000.2 processes offers DoD an opportunity to avoid critical misjudgments relating to cost, schedule, and performance.
2. It provides a common analytical method, set of metrics, and traceable methodology that “normalizes the data set” and enables informed, quantifiable trade discussions and investment decisions when comparing two or more materiel alternatives or development programs.
3. It does not replace with JCIDS or DoD 5000.2 but complements these two processes and provides a means of cost reduction and schedule acceleration within these existing processes.
4. It can reduce the cost of a proposed system by identifying potential commercial technical elements if:
1. they contribute in a financially and operationally meaningful level to the proposed solution’s functionality,
2. they have a price/performance ratio that is driven by a market far larger and more competitive than the managed DoD market niche.
5. It can significantly accelerate the development schedule of a system within DoD 5000.2. It does this by assessing the level of the contribution of the commercial technical elements to the desired functionality of the materiel alternative.  If that level of contribution crosses a predefined functional threshold, then rapid fielding is highly probable because of the reduced risk of employing proven and stable commercial technical elements and their potentially high Technical Readiness Level (TRL).
6. It can expand the list of potential suppliers while reducing the capital required for developing and fielding a solution.  It does this by focusing on identifying non-traditional commercial sources of technology elements that can provide a part or all of a solution to one or more prioritized minimum essential capabilities (MEC). 
7. It does not force a reduction in the profits of the traditional defense industrial supplier.  Rather, it enables the DoD to refocus the locus of value offered by the traditional defense supplier to those elements of a product or system that only a traditional defense supplier can or should develop because of unique competencies such as weapons systems integration, the lack of a commercial technical element that could provide the needed capability, or because of national policy matters.