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Acquisition Programs

What is an Acquisition Program?

According to the Department of Defense, the term acquisition program refers to the specific development program being managed under a single program manager. An acquisition program includes all of the activities that are conducted to define, develop, test, and produce a defense system. This is not synonymous with the phrase acquisition system which refers to the weapon or defense system being developed and fielded by the acquisition program. It also includes all logistics support equipment, training simulators, test equipment, and other support items that are required to successfully deploy the defense system to its intended operating environment.

Acquisition Categories, also referred to as ACATs are classified based on the magnitude of the expenses and the significance of the system. See the table below which differentiates amongst the various ACATs.