Dr. William (Bill) A. LaPlante is one of the most respected acquisition and defense industrial base leaders of the modern era. He served as the Senate-confirmed undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, effectively the Pentagon’s top acquisition official and chief weapons buyer, where he oversaw the Department of Defense’s vast procurement, logistics, sustainment and industrial base portfolio during a period defined by great power competition, munitions shortages, supply chain fragility and the acceleration of dual-use technology adoption. In that role, he was responsible for acquisition policy, contract administration, logistics and materiel readiness, operational energy, nuclear and chemical defense, the acquisition workforce and the broader defense industrial base.
Prior to serving as undersecretary, Bill was president and CEO of one of the country’s premier advanced technology and national security research institutions. He also previously served as senior vice president and general manager for national security at a US nonprofit focused on national security, where he oversaw major federally funded research and development centers supporting the Department of Defense, intelligence community and cybersecurity missions.
Earlier in his career, Bill served as the Senate-confirmed assistant secretary of the air force for acquisition, technology and logistics under the Obama administration, where he managed the Air Force’s acquisition enterprise and played a central role in advancing critical next-generation programs, including the B-21 bomber. During that period, he also became known for driving acquisition reform and cost discipline across major defense programs.
Before entering senior government leadership, Bill spent more than two decades at a renowned nonprofit research center, where he ultimately led the Global Engagement Department and supported some of the nation’s most sensitive advanced strike and national security programs. Across government, industry and federally funded research organizations, he has built a reputation as one of the defense ecosystem’s leading experts on acquisition strategy, defense innovation, industrial mobilization, munitions production and the intersection of technology development and national security execution.
Bill brings exceptional credibility across the Pentagon, defense primes, emerging defense technology companies, federally funded research institutions and Congress. His experience sits at the center of many of the most important strategic issues shaping the defense sector today, including supply chain resilience, production scaling, industrial policy, advanced weapons systems, space and missile defense, acquisition reform and public-private collaboration in support of the US and allied defense industrial base.