Nothing motivates me more in acquiring weapons for the Air Force than foreign military threats. Stealth fighters, satellite-guided missiles, and silent submarines were once unique US capabilities; now our troops must face them on future battlefields.
WIRED OPINION
ABOUT
Dr. Will Roper is the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
I’m also deeply motivated by lessons of the past, including the stymying effect late-to-post-Cold War weapons buying had on the defense industry, especially aviation. In the late 1950s, over a dozen companies built fighter jets called the Century Series that pushed boundaries of supersonic flight. Competing against the Soviet Union when air power was in flux, and deciding which new airplane would be the right one was uncertain, these companies built the F-100 through F-106 in just a few short years. Now we have only two companies building front-line fighters.
The pace of new defense programs is one of the casualties of reduced competition. Even in the 1970s, new military airplanes rolled out every four to five years. But the tech slowdown of the late Cold War—where nearly every aircraft system completely computerized—triggered a withering domino effect: Defense programs slowed from years to decades, profit shifted predominantly to production and upkeep, and companies merged (and still merge) to diversify their portfolios to remain competitive.
This was likely unavoidable, even necessary, to win the Cold War, but we will lose the current competition against China and Russia if it remains status quo. The tech speed-up we’re experiencing now in the digital age could trigger a burgeoning domino effect that speeds up programs, shifts more profit into design, and brings new companies into defense. But this will only happen if the Pent ..
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