I've often heard the example of the Halifax-class frigate program. It was probably the best developed and run program, and that was because industry and government engaged throughout the entire process.
I think there's a fear to engage industry and work with it too often. If you bring enough industry captains to the table to have a transparent discussion up front before a competition, you can get a lot of the clear requirements from the art of the possible of what's out there. What are the best capabilities?
Right now, we tend to put a fence up right away and then we throw RFIs over the fence and say, “Can you answer this? I have no idea what I'm looking for. Can you help me?” They then throw it back and it's back and forth, rather than sitting down in a transparent way to understand right from the beginning what is in the art of the possible, what the best solutions are likely going to be and then driving that to a competition between the appropriate players.