The Defense Department needs to overhaul its acquisition system if it wants to outpace China in cutting-edge weapons development, according to a former Pentagon modernization official. Mark Lewis, formerly the acting deputy under secretary of defense for research and engineering, now runs the new Emerging Technologies Institute at the National Defense Industrial Association. In a recent interview with Inside Defense , Lewis said DOD’s aging system is not well-positioned to compete with China, which is investing significant resources in new...