Mike hosts defense acquisition experts Eric Lofgren and Matt MacGregor to better understand just how hard it is for the US military to buy stuff. We also discuss a shortcut called a Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA), along with some examples you’ve probably heard of: B-52 engines, F-15EX fighter jets, and hypersonic missiles. ---- Links * Sign up for our amazing newsletter https://www.themerge.co * Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/the_merge * Eric contact https://www.linkedin.com/in/elofgren/ * Eric’s Acquisition Talk https://acquisitiontalk.com  * Matt contact https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-macgregor77/ * Matt’s op-ed https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2022/09/get-know-middle-tier-awesomeer-acquisition/377017/ * Pentagon Wars (full movie) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir0FAa8P2MU ---- Follow us on... * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/merge_newsletter * Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themergenews * Twitter https://twitter.com/MergeNewsletter * LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/themerge * Website https://www.themerge.co ---- Show Notes (1:00) intro (4:12) overview (5:06) monopsony (6:58) requirements (9:04) Pentagon Wars (20:45) acquisition strategy (23:44) “joint” (31:58) how much does it cost? (35:38) the budget (37:11) the PPBE (43:06) what is the NDAA? (45:38) what is an MTA? (53:15) MTA examples (53:27) B-52 engines (1:01:00) IVAS (Army AR headset) (1:05:06) F-15EX (1:11:05) F-22 Link-16 and IRST (1:11:50) ARRW (hypersonic) (1:17:44) story time