Air Force | The Contracting Education Academy

May 16, 2019 By AMK

Two changes Congress can make to speed space acquisition

We now live in a world of accelerated technological advancement. Moore’s Law has come home to roost in the space business. Taking seven to 10 years to develop and deploy operational space systems is no longer efficient nor acceptable.

Recently, as pointed out by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, America’s adversaries have been turning technology in three to four years, while the U.S. is turning technology in seven to 10 years. For the last 25 years, we have been the unchallenged world leaders in space technology. However, if this trend continues it will not be very long until we fall behind. This has been recognized by the GAO and congressional and Air Force leadership. To respond, we must figure out how to move fast, insert technology quickly and respond to rapid technology insertion by our adversaries. Therefore, we need to increase our risk tolerance, and build systems faster and more affordably, allowing us to deploy resilient constellations that can endure losses, and still provide mission capability. To retain system agility and resilience, we cannot afford to buy and field technologically “old” systems up to a decade after program initiation.

In the past, we deployed systems very quickly. The first Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite was built in 10 months, but we did this with a high tolerance for risk. While we were risk tolerant, Gen. Bernard Schriever and the early military space pioneers realized that problems in high-technology, low-volume developments would occur, and therefore built in cost and schedule margin. This margin allowed rapid and efficient addressing of problems and issues as soon as they occurred.

Keep reading article at: https://spacenews.com/op-ed-two-changes-congress-can-make-to-speed-space-acquisition/

May 1, 2019 By AMK

‘Space Force’ windfall unclear for eager defense companies

As the Pentagon reorganizes its oversight of space and figures out the right mix of its future satellites, a similar transformation is going on with companies who build the spacecraft, rockets, and technology the Defense Department seeks.

Traditional large defense firms and small commercial startups are watching closely to see whether Congress will approve the Trump administration plan to create a Space Force, a new sixth branch of the military, and how the new Space Development Agency plans to create a web of hundreds of new military satellites in low-earth orbit.

“We’re in a really critical transitional time, it’s very transformational for something that we all know that we all feel every day,” Bill Gattle, president of Harris Corporation’s Space and Intelligence Systems segment, said in an interview at the Space Symposium, a trade show of military, civilian and commercial space professionals. “It’s changing pretty radically.”

Pentagon efforts to develop new satellite constellations are fragmented, however, and there remains a debate about what kinds of satellites the military should use. In recent years, there have been warnings that China and Russia are building weapons that could shoot down, jam, or hack the Pentagon’s larger navigation, communications, missile warning, and weather satellites. Those intelligence predictions have prompted a call for smaller and cheaper satellites that are closer to Earth and could serve as backups to the larger satellites in higher orbits.

Keep reading article at: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2019/04/defense-companies-already-preparing-space-force-windfall/156234

February 12, 2019 By AMK

Air Force rethinking how acquisition and software fit together

The Air Force’s top acquisition official wants to train some program managers to better understand the world of software, and he’ll soon work with the service’s Education and Training Command to make it happen.

At the same time, Will Roper, the Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, wants software experts in the service to act as coding ambassadors to oversee some aspects of a program as systems are procured and developed.

Not all procurement managers are versed in coding and tech. But unless the Air Force is buying something as simple as a shoe, it’s likely software is going to be involved. Even helmets used by fighter pilots on F-35s use software to integrate sensors that make enemies easier to spot.

Roper said he wants to bridge the gap between program managers and “nerdy” tech by certifying some procurement experts in the ins-and-outs of software development.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/air-force/2019/02/air-force-rethinking-how-acquisition-and-software-fit-together/

January 21, 2019 By AMK

Air Force Academy’s CyberWorx wants partners to help with outreach, tech transfer

The Air Force Academy’s cyber research and innovation arm is looking for a private-sector partner to help invigorate its outreach and technology transfer efforts.

The academy’s CyberWorx released a request for information Thursday seeking a partner that can boost the center’s efforts to engage industry—particularly small businesses—and academia in development of innovative cyber tools and improve the technology transfer process between the academy and private sector, in both directions.

CyberWorx was stood up in late 2016 to act as “a public-private design center focused on cyber capability that melds AF, academic and industry expertise with state of the art technology and innovative thinking to solve wicked operational problems,” according to the academy.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/01/air-force-academys-cyberworx-wants-partners-help-outreach-tech-transfer/154257/

January 11, 2019 By AMK

Air Force turns to nontraditional contracting for space technology projects

The Air Force just over a year ago formed a Space Enterprise Consortium to expedite the development and prototyping of satellites, ground systems, space sensors and other technologies that U.S. adversaries are advancing at a rapid pace.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson hailed the SpPEC as a successful business model that cuts red tape considerably compared to traditional defense contracting. The consortium so far has started 34 projects worth about $110 million and has been authorized to fund nearly $400 million in additional projects over the next four years.

“The initial ceiling for SpEC was $100 million but was increased to $500 million in order to address the emphasis and demand for other transactions agreements to support prototyping efforts,” Air Force Capt. Benjamin Leaf, the SpEC program manager, told SpaceNews in a recent interview.

Keep reading this article at: https://spacenews.com/air-force-turns-to-nontraditional-contracting-for-space-technology-projects/

We now live in a world of accelerated technological advancement. Moore’s Law has come home to roost in the space business. Taking seven to 10 years to develop and deploy operational space systems is no longer efficient nor acceptable.

As the Pentagon reorganizes its oversight of space and figures out the right mix of its future satellites, a similar transformation is going on with companies who build the spacecraft, rockets, and technology the Defense Department seeks.

The Air Force’s top acquisition official wants to train some program managers to better understand the world of software, and he’ll soon work with the service’s Education and Training Command to make it happen.

The Air Force just over a year ago formed a Space Enterprise Consortium to expedite the development and prototyping of satellites, ground systems, space sensors and other technologies that U.S. adversaries are advancing at a rapid pace.

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