Space Force Edict Comes as Leaders Attempt Major Acquisition Reorganization.

• Date: 01 July 2018
• Author: Magnuson, Stew

Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, standing before a large crowd of government and industry officials, declared that the service's space enterprise would dramatically cut the time it takes to develop a new satellite system.

The follow-on program to the space-based infrared system, which would normally take nine years to develop, will only take five years, she said April 17 before thousands at the Space Symposium, the world's largest space conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"As we change the way we do acquisition in the Air Force, the next-generation missile warning satellite will be a pacesetter and a pathfinder back to exceptional programs done at speed," she said.

In June, the Air Force revealed that a next-generation protected satellite communications program would also be a "pacesetter" for its new way of doing business.

Are you skeptical?" Wilson asked the audience.

Skepticism over the service's ability to field space systems in a timely manner abounds. In June, President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to create a space force "separate but equal" to the Air Force.

While experts questioned whether a president could unilaterally create a new branch of the armed forces without the approval of Congress, the announcement served as a rebuke to the Air Force. Wilson and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein had gone on the record strongly opposing the space force idea.

In the press room at the symposium, the professional skeptics in the media asked Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics William Roper when the clock starts ticking on the five-year plan.

"For me it starts once the program manager has the reins. The 'reins' means they have a vendor they are working with. They are in control at that point. So we start the clock, we get working and build as quickly as we can," Roper said.

However, putting a weapon system on contract using traditional acquisition methods takes several years with requirements first needed to be written, then requests for information, the bidding process, and possible protests. It would seemingly take several years before the five-year timeline even kicked off; reporters noted.

Roper suggested in a separate interview later in April that he would employ competitive prototyping--a method he used when heading the Defense Department's Strategic Capabilities Office--to cut down the pre-contract period.

The declaration came at a time with increased scrutiny on...