WASHINGTON — Two months into his new job because the Air Power’s acquisition chief, Andrew Hunter has no scarcity of challenges on his plate.
The COVID-19 pandemic and conflict in Ukraine have stretched very important provide chains to their breaking level. The Air Power is arguing with a key contractor over a program that continues to be delayed. And the service is dealing with tight timelines as it really works to develop and area new capabilities in time for a possible main conflict.
In a roundtable with reporters on the Pentagon June 24, Hunter mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine have introduced renewed consideration to the significance of protecting provide chains flowing, notably these involving chips, processors and the essential energetic supplies wanted for missiles and munitions such because the Javelin.
However one downside, Hunter mentioned, is usually the protection trade can’t get the monetary backing it must ramp up manufacturing of these essential elements or supplies till the Pentagon arms out contracts. By that time, he mentioned, “you’re all the time just a little bit behind the ability curve.”
Hunter mentioned the Pentagon is attempting to determine the way it can higher give trade a extra dependable “forecast” of what supplies it’s going to want sooner or later, to allow them to line up the mandatory funding prematurely from Wall Road.
And the protection industrial base wants to draw new and modern corporations that will not be conventional suppliers for the navy, Hunter mentioned.
One of many Air Power’s extra bold latest packages has been to develop a collection of autonomous drones that would function wingmen for manned fighters or different plane flying in fight. Hunter mentioned the service is now attempting to concentrate on shifting past demonstrations and truly fielding one thing that would serve on this position, which the service is now referring to as collaborative fight plane.
There’ll nonetheless be a necessity for demonstrations in areas the place the know-how wants additional refining, reminiscent of in swarming drones, Hunter mentioned, and work on smaller drones that could possibly be comparatively expendable will proceed. However for probably the most half, the service goes to pay attention its efforts towards delivering one thing that could possibly be operationally deployed in time to combat the subsequent potential conflict.
The timeline and acquisition technique for fielding this program continues to be being labored out, Hunter mentioned. However the Air Power would in all probability contain a number of contractors as an alternative of a single prime, and benefit from the expansion in competitors offering autonomy core methods in trade.
Hunter mentioned the Air Power needs to have a drone wingman prepared to make use of with the Subsequent Era Air Dominance program by the point it reaches preliminary working functionality, which it hopes to have reached by the top of this decade.
Hunter expressed confidence in Northrop Grumman’s B-21, which he mentioned is on observe to be unveiled to the general public across the finish of this yr, with a subsequent first flight coming in 2023. Whereas there have been initially hopes the brand new stealth bomber’s first flight might come this yr, he mentioned the federal government anticipated the method to finish up taking longer.
Testing will inevitably uncover points with the aircraft that must be mounted, he mentioned, however these are regular components of the method.
“I’m all the time mystified after we do a check and we discover one thing, individuals say, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s horrible!’” Hunter mentioned. “No, that’s why we do checks. We look forward to finding issues.”
Hunter mentioned the Pentagon has not but set a revised schedule for Boeing to ship its delayed alternative Air Power Ones, however he nonetheless expects it to be about two or three years late, as he advised lawmakers final month.
It’s in Boeing’s curiosity to complete the VC-25B job as quick as attainable, Hunter mentioned, as a result of it’s beneath a fixed-price contract.
“Each further day they don’t ship the airplane, it prices them extra, they usually’re shedding cash,” Hunter mentioned.
However in what Hunter known as a “problematic incentive,” Boeing has additionally challenged a number of the Air Power’s necessities for the planes by saying they’re not explicitly spelled out within the contract. At that time, he mentioned, Boeing tries to get the Air Power to pay further for these necessities.
“If the Air Power comes and says, ‘What we actually want the airplane to do is that this,’ Boeing says, ‘Nicely, you realize, our written contract doesn’t use these precise phrases.’ So that you get this dynamic the place they turn out to be very centered on, we have to end. … Something that seems to us to be in any approach, form or kind, not 100% required explicitly within the contract is an additional invoice.”
However he acknowledged Boeing and the Air Power have had some problem with this system, notably in getting the data wanted to finalize the contracts.
“We will all the time haggle over value, however we shouldn’t be at a loss as a result of we simply can’t get the proper information,” together with value information, Hunter mentioned.
The Air Power is seeing some enchancment from Boeing not too long ago, Hunter mentioned, and he’s “moderately assured” they’ll be capable to work by way of these issues.
And the Air Power is watching the company unrest at Aerojet Rocketdyne following its failed acquisition by Lockheed Martin and open battle between the corporate’s govt chairman and chief govt. Aerojet final month reprimanded its chairman, Warren Lichtenstein, over his makes an attempt to oust CEO Eileen Drake and feedback he made in regards to the now-scuttled merger.
Aerojet is a key provider of stable rocket motors utilized by the Air Power.
“The federal government continues to be type of ready to see what’s their plan, corporately?” Hunter mentioned. “After which we’ll have a chance to evaluate and say, is that basically going to satisfy our wants?”
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter at Protection News. He beforehand reported for Navy.com, overlaying the Pentagon, particular operations and air warfare. Earlier than that, he coated U.S. Air Power management, personnel and operations for Air Power Instances.
