AMERICA’S ARMY WINNING IN A COMPLEX WORLD

Glossary of Terms
ACQUISITION CATEGORIES (ACAT)
ACAT I
ACAT I programs are Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAP)
that are estimated to achieve the statutorily defined MDAP cost
threshold or are designated MDAP by the Army Acquisition Executive
(AAE) or the Defense Acquisition Executive (DAE).
Dollar value: estimated by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition,
Technology and Logistics (USD(AT&L)) to require an
eventual total expenditure for research, development, test and evaluation
(RDT&E) of more than $480 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2014
constant dollars or, for Procurement, of more than $2.790 billion in FY
2014. ACAT I programs have two subcategories:
1. ACAT ID, for which the Milestone Decision Authority (MDA) is
the USD(AT&L) acting as the DAE. The “D” refers to the Defense
Acquisition Board, which advises the DAE at major decision points.
2. ACAT IC, for which the MDA is the DoD Component Head or, if
delegated, the DoD Component Acquisition Executive (CAE). The
“C” refers to Component; for the Army, the MDA is the AAE. The
DAE designates programs ACAT ID or ACAT IC.
ACAT IA programs are Major Automated Information System (MAIS)
acquisition programs, or programs designated by the USD(AT&L) to
be ACAT IA.
Dollar value: estimated to exceed $40 million in FY 2014 constant dollars
for all expenditures, for all increments, regardless of the appropriation
or fund source, directly related to the Automated Information System
(AIS) definition, design, development and deployment, and incurred in
any single fiscal year; or $165 million in FY 2014 constant dollars for all
expenditures, for all increments, regardless of the appropriation or fund
source, directly related to the AIS definition, design, development and
deployment, and incurred from the beginning of the Materiel Solution
Analysis Phase through deployment at all sites; or $520 million in FY
2014 constant dollars for all expenditures, for all increments, regardless
of the appropriation or fund source, directly related to the AIS definition,
design, development, deployment, operations and maintenance, and
incurred from the beginning of the Materiel Solution Analysis Phase
through sustainment for the estimated useful life of the system.
ACAT IA programs have two subcategories:
1. ACAT IAM, for which the MDA is the DAE or as delegated. The
“M” refers to the Major Automated Information System Review
Council. (Change 4, 5000.2-R).
2. ACAT IAC, for which the MDA is the head of the DoD component
or, if delegated, the CAE. The “C” refers to Component.
ACAT II programs are defined as those acquisition programs that do
not meet the criteria for an ACAT I acquisition program or are programs
designated ACAT II by the MDA. The dollar value is estimated to
require total expenditure for RDT&E of more than $185 million in FY
2014 constant dollars, or for Procurement of more than $835 million in
FY 2014 constant dollars.
ACAT III programs are defined as those acquisition programs that do
not meet the criteria for an ACAT I, an ACAT IA or an ACAT II. The
MDA is designated by the AAE and shall be at the lowest appropriate
level, typically the Program Executive Officer. The estimated costs for
ACAT III acquisition programs are below the thresholds for ACAT II
acquisition programs. ACAT III also includes AIS acquisition programs
that do not exceed the threshold of MAIS acquisition programs.
ACQUISITION PHASE
Each acquisition phase encompasses all the tasks and activities needed
to bring a program to the next major milestone. Each acquisition
lifecycle phase provides a logical means of progressively translating
broadly stated mission needs into well-defined system-specific requirements
and ultimately into operationally effective, suitable and survivable
systems. The acquisition phases for the systems described in this
handbook are defined below:
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