{"id":36240,"date":"2021-10-05T16:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T16:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/10\/05\/air-force-pick-pledges-to-tackle-f-35-sustainment-costs-back-nuclear-modernization-plans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:01:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:01:24","slug":"air-force-pick-pledges-to-tackle-f-35-sustainment-costs-back-nuclear-modernization-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2021\/10\/05\/air-force-pick-pledges-to-tackle-f-35-sustainment-costs-back-nuclear-modernization-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force pick pledges to tackle F-35 sustainment costs, back nuclear modernization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 Bringing down sustainment costs<\/a> for the Lockheed Martin-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter <\/a>would be a \u201ctop priority\u201d for the nominee to lead U.S. Air Force\u2019s acquisitions, he said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Hunter, a former director of the Pentagon\u2019s Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell and President Joe Biden\u2019s pick for assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, told senators he would work at the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe F-35 is an absolutely vital system for the nation and the challenges we confront with peer competitors we confront, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region,\u201d Hunter said at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. \u201cThe cost of sustaining the F-35 has been something that has stressed the services, particularly the Air Force, which has the largest number of aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an exchange with the SASC ranking member, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., Hunter acknowledged that buying more could be a way to lower operating costs per aircraft. But Hunter added that \u201cthere are other avenues we can and should take to lower the cost of the F-35<\/a>,\u201d though he did not elaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If confirmed, Hunter would oversee an Air Force procurement budget of about $60 billion. Beyond the F-35, Hunter said he would work to lower Air Force sustainment costs more broadly \u2015 which he agreed make up the lion\u2019s share of life-cycle costs for most weapons systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Air Force has an aging fleet, and that has been driving up sustainment costs,\u201d Hunter said during an exchange with SASC Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I. \u201cWe have to make sure we bake in sustainability on the front end. So for the systems we have in development, we will look to make sure sustainability is considered early in the design to lower those costs over the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers previously pressed Lockheed and the Pentagon to lower sustainment costs, saying those figures could force the Pentagon to cut the numbers of F-35s it plans to buy. Meanwhile, the Pentagon last month awarded Lockheed<\/a> a $6.6 billion contract to sustain the F-35 from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2023, which promises to reduce the cost of flying the aircraft by about 8 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House-passed version of the FY22 defense policy bill would require the Air Force, the Navy and the Marine Corps to meet targets for \u201ccost per tail per year,\u201d<\/a> which measures the average cost of flying, maintaining and upgrading the jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New weapons<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

With the Pentagon\u2019s current nuclear modernization track under competing pressures both internally and politically<\/a>, Hunter affirmed the Air Force\u2019s ongoing nuclear modernization programs would be among his top priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe timelines for delivering these new systems are very tight. Therefore we will be pursuing, if I am confirmed, these programs with urgency,\u201d Hunter said during an exchange with the strategic forces subcommittee\u2019s top Republican, Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In written testimony, Hunter said he supports the Air Force\u2019s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, which is set to replace the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, and the Long Range Standoff Weapon program<\/a>, which aims to field a new air-launched cruise missile capable of both nuclear and conventional strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also at the hearing, both Hunter and the nominee for undersecretary of the Army, Gabriel Camarillo, defended Army plans to base long-range missiles in the Pacific against charges they were duplicative. Camarillo described the Army\u2019s development of hypersonic weapons and its extended-range Precision Strike Missile<\/a> as \u201cvery top priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Camarillo argued the Army\u2019s long-range fires efforts respond to National Defense Strategy guidance, address threats from the Pacific and Europe, and would be able to \u201cdegrade the anti-access, area denial defense that we\u2019re likely to face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those comments on Tuesday came six months after the Air Force general in charge of managing the service\u2019s bomber inventory made headlines for calling the Army effort expensive, duplicative and \u201cstupid<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Controlling rising sustainment costs for the F-35 would be a top concern for the nominee to lead Air Force 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