Page 7 - Aerotech News and Review 3-18-16

AF announces AFMC strategic plan to help
subcontractors for carry Air Force to third offset
new B-21 bomber
CZ4UBDFZ(FJHFS this strategic plan is the bedrock of our road ahead.”
'XULQJD3HQWDJRQEULH¿QJ$LU)RUFH6HFUHWDU\'HERUDK In the plan, the command’s mission statement is short and de-
Lee James named seven companies who will join Northrop Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
Grumman in building the B-21 Long Range Stealth Bomber. clarative: “deliver and support agile war-winning capabilities.”
Agility and innovation are cornerstones of a new Air Force The command’s vision is “delivering the world’s greatest
$OPRVW¿YHPRQWKVDIWHUDZDUGLQJ1RUWKURSWKHFRQWUDFW Materiel Command strategic plan that will deliver war-win-
it has emerged that Pratt & Whitney will be building the new ning capabilities. air force... the most trusted and agile provider of innovative
planes engines. and cost-effective war-winning capabilities.” AFMC will con-
Those capabilities will propel the Air Force as a key element stantly strive to attain the vision with a focus on meeting the
The engine, as expected, will be built at the Pratt & Whitney of the future national defense strategy known as the third offset. ZDU¿JKWHU¶VQHHGV
East Hartford, Conn., facility according to James.
7KH¿UVWRIIVHWFDPHLQLQWKHVZKHQWKH8QLWHG6WDWHV The heart of the strategic plan is its four goals:
The other six industry partners named March 7 will work on looked to tactical nuclear weapons to deter, or offset, large, ‡,QFUHDVHDJLOLW\RI$)0&VXSSRUWWRWKH$LU)RUFHHQ-
“airframe or mission systems” for the new plane, James said. conventional forces in Western Europe. The second offset terprise
came in the 1970s when the Soviet Union achieved nuclear ‡%ROVWHUWUXVWDQGFRQ¿GHQFHRIWKRVHZHVHUYHE\PHHWLQJ
These contractors are: BAE Systems, working out of Nash- parity and the U.S. sought an advantage by turning to preci- our commitments
ua, N.H.; GKN Aerospace in St. Louis, Mo.; Janicki Industries sion-guided weapons. ‡'ULYHFRVWHIIHFWLYHQHVVLQWRWKHFDSDELOLWLHVZHSURYLGH
LQ6HGUR:RROOH\:DVK2UELWDO$7.LQ&OHDU¿HOG8WDKDQG ‡5HFUXLWGHYHORSDQGUHWDLQDGLYHUVHKLJKSHUIRUPLQJ
Dayton, Ohio; Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and The third offset is the Defense Department strategy to lever- and resilient team
Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas. age new technologies to offset advances made by adversaries
LQUHFHQW\HDUV,WZLOOGUDZRQWHFKQRORJLHVVXFKDVDUWL¿FLDO To ensure AFMC achieves its goals, its six centers and the
Further details about which components each contractor intelligence, autonomous systems and human-machine net- headquarters staff developed 11 supporting objectives and
would make were not forthcoming. works. A battlespace of the year 2030 could see F-35 Lightning 35 commitments that will be measured, tracked and assessed
IIs or a next-generation aircraft linked by satellite networks, throughout 2016. The commitments will help deliver the re-
The announcement comes as the Air Force is attempting cyber bugs that infect and take down adversaries’ computers TXLUHPHQWVRI$)0&¶VZDU¿JKWHU³FXVWRPHUV´DFURVVWKH$LU
to be more transparent and build support for the expensive and swarms of attack drones converging on enemy targets. Force as well as enable the command’s 80,000-member work-
program, especially on Capitol Hill, James said. force to do its job better.
AFMC, with its ability to deliver and support agile war-
7KH%LVDOUHDG\XQGHU¿UHIURPVRPHTXDUWHUVDVLWEDW- winning capabilities, is crucial to providing those technologies The commitments are extensive and diverse. They range
tles for funding against other Air Force and Pentagon priorities; and connecting them across the Air Force’s three domains from providing assessments of adversary cyber threats to
and earlier this month, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of air, space and cyberspace. The strategic plan with its four achieving major acquisition milestones to “people” commit-
of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, threatened to block goals, supporting objectives and a list of external and internal ments like improved support to the families of deployed mili-
the program. commitments will be the command’s blueprint for success. tary members.

“The B-2 remained in the shadows for too long, it remained “Our Air Force is in high demand around the globe every “These commitments are important to our success,” Paw-
FODVVL¿HG²WRRPDQ\GHWDLOVUHPDLQHGFODVVL¿HGWRRORQJ´ minute of every day. While it remains the world’s greatest Air likowski said. “We will track them and ensure our people are
James said. “In the case of the B-21, we are leaning forward Force, it must become more agile to operate effectively in the DFFRXQWDEOHIRUWKHLUIXO¿OOPHQW:LWKRXWVWURQJFRPPLWPHQWV
and we are trying to be more transparent and we are going to dynamic, ever-changing worldwide environment today — and our strategic plan cannot succeed.”
continue to do so.” tomorrow,” said Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, the AFMC com-
mander. “The expertise in our centers and laboratories puts us
in the perfect position to deliver third offset capabilities and

March 18, 2016 Aerotech News and Review 7

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