The Army Acquisition Environment Has Changed: Notes and Thoughts from AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days

Last week, I attended AFCEA Belvoir Industry Day, and the prevailing theme that carried through across multiple speakers: the Army and broader DoW acquisition environment are changing quickly.The Army wants to move faster, engage industry earlier, and buy solutions that produce measurable outcomes.

The changes are still fresh. Many of the new approaches are less than six months old, and the implementation details are still evolving. But the direction is clear: the train is moving the station faster than ever. Here’s what you need to know if you’re getting on board: 

First, the Army is moving away from traditional level-of-effort models and toward outcome and output-based contracting. On both the software and product side, leaders emphasized commercial-first solutions, incentives for speed, and delivery models tied to real mission impact.

Second, the RFP timeline is compressing. Moving forward, if you wait until an RFP to be published to then position yourself as a solution; you are too late. A new charter discussed across CPE, ES2, and ACC sets an ambition from RFP to completion to take no more than 100 days. The way they plan to get there is through earlier engagement with industry before solicitations hit the street.

Third, the Army has historically employed large programs of record but is now shifting to prioritize smaller, modular contracts that allow it to combine best-in-class solutions from multiple providers. This is going to  create opportunity for small businesses and non-traditional defense companies, but the specificity and modular nature of these new solutions means the bar for what is going to be awarded is going up Companies need to understand where they fit, what capability gap

they solve, and how they integrate into a broader mission architecture.

Another important theme was simplicity. Dr. David Markowitz, the interim CIO, discussed goals around simplifying onboarding, pursuing enterprise licenses, bundling capabilities, supporting next-generation C2, and advancing a unified network plan. For industry, the message is straightforward: the Army does not want more complexity. It wants solutions that reduce burden, scale effectively, and create buying efficiency.

That creates real upside. For companies that can support the full Army, the potential enterprise user base is massive — roughly 1.5 million licensed users. But to access that opportunity, companies need to be able to explain how they scale, integrate, onboard, and support the mission.

Major General David Hall’s T2COM brief added another useful lens. The Army is clearly trying to move away from the status quo, where major capabilities have historically taken eight to eleven years. Tools like BAAs, SBIRs, CSOs, and OTAs are being emphasized as ways to move faster. But the most important message to industry was simple: do not wait to be told what to build.

Bring solutions. Demonstrate capability. Build the relationship. Iterate with the government.

That may be the biggest mindset shift. Demonstration is becoming more important than documentation. A credible demo, pilot, or prototype can matter more than a perfect slide deck. The Army is moving toward an engagement model that looks much more like commercial technology development: engage early, build quickly, test, learn, and improve.

For industry, the opportunity is real. But the old playbook is not enough

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That is where subject matter expert support becomes critical.

In a faster, more modular, more solution-oriented acquisition environment, access and insight matter. Companies need people who understand the Army’s needs, decision-making process, operational language, and acquisition channels. The companies winning the Army’s business will be able to translate technology into mission value and get it in front of the right people before the RFP is published. 

Relationships matter more than ever: Start the conversation earlier. Build the demo. Educate the customer. Bring the solution.