{"id":42867,"date":"2021-05-25T21:00:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T21:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/25\/secaf-nominee-walks-a-tightrope-on-f-35-procurement-plans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:23:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:23:27","slug":"secaf-nominee-walks-a-tightrope-on-f-35-procurement-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/25\/secaf-nominee-walks-a-tightrope-on-f-35-procurement-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"SECAF nominee walks a tightrope on F-35 procurement plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The F-35 joint strike fighter loomed like a ghost over the May 25 confirmation hearing of President Joe Biden\u2019s pick for Air Force secretary, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2021\/05\/10\/white-houses-slate-of-nominees-would-put-familiar-faces-back-in-the-pentagon\/\" target=\"_blank\">famously called the program<\/a> a case of \u201cacquisition malpractice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If confirmed, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/breaking-news\/2021\/04\/27\/frank-kendall-to-be-nominated-as-top-air-force-civilian\/\" target=\"_blank\">Frank Kendall<\/a> \u2014 who oversaw the program during the Obama administration as the Defense Department\u2019s acquisition executive \u2014 will become the Air Force\u2019s top civilian at a time when the service grapples with the decision of how many F-35 aircraft to buy, both in the near term and over the lifespan of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But despite repeated questions from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kendall said little to tip his hand on how he might further shape the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe F-35 is the best tactical aircraft of its type in the world and will be so for quite some time. It\u2019s a complex, expensive weapon, unfortunately. But it is a dominant weapon when it goes up against earlier generation aircraft,\u201d Kendall told lawmakers when asked on his views on the aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut the concern I have is that the complaints still come,\u201d said Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, SASC\u2019s top Republican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force is evaluating its tactical aviation fleet, including whether to go through with a planned buy of 1,763 F-35As. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles \u201cCQ\u201d Brown has said that the service may seek out a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2021\/02\/18\/the-air-force-is-interested-in-buying-a-budget-conscious-clean-sheet-fighter-to-replace-the-f-16\/\" target=\"_blank\">low-cost, clean-sheet multirole fighter <\/a>to replace its oldest F-16s \u2014 one of the platforms originally slated to be succeeded by the F-35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/05\/15\/politics\/f-35-jet-air-force\/index.html?utm_term=link&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_source=twCNN&#038;utm_content=2021-05-15T17%3A15%3A11\" target=\"_blank\">CNN reported<\/a> earlier this month that Will Roper, the Air Force\u2019s top acquisition official during the Trump administration, had sought to cut the Air Force\u2019s F-35 buy to about 800 jets, further inciting worries about the program\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the hearing, Inhofe spoke about the Air Force\u2019s 2009 decision to curb F-22 procurement from 750 to 187 aircraft. That cut has contributed to the F-22\u2032s high operations and sustainment costs, which are endemic to small aircraft fleets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe watched this happen,\u201d Inhofe said. \u201cMy concern right now is, what kind of actions could we take to make sure we\u2019re fielding the number of F-35s needed to fight against Russia and China? It\u2019s a different game all together now, we all understand that. But we are going to have to be dealing with the numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kendall\u2019s response fell short of promising to support the current program of record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have to get to an affordable mix that meets our needs as driven by the national defense strategy. That\u2019s what should guide those investments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, if sustainment costs are a concern, it will be important for the Air Force to continue buying F-35s in numbers that will allow the fleet size to grow and operations costs to become more economical, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf there is one thing that I think would drive costs down overall, it\u2019s continuing to buy,\u201d Kendall said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI know there\u2019s an issue with the total number that\u2019s been on the table for some years, what the requirement is. My own view at this point in time is that we\u2019re well short of that number, and that [what] we should be working on most is getting the cost down and keeping the procurement at a rate that makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the Air Force plans to continue buying 48 F-35As as part of its fiscal 2022 budget request, it intends downsize its buy to 43 aircraft a year from FY23 through FY26, according to Air Force talking points reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcemag.com\/usaf-to-cut-f-35-buy-in-future-years-defense-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\">Air Force Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s difficult to gauge whether Kendall will lead the Air Force in a different direction with regards to the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As former undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, Kendall was sometimes highly critical of the F-35, which was facing high production costs and numerous serious technical flaws. But by the end of his tenure in 2016, he spoke frequently about how the program had turned a corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the Air Force \u201cshould be very assertive\u201d during the fiscal 2023 budget cycle in asking for the number of F-35s it needs to drive down the unit cost of each aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI share the sentiments of a number of my colleagues that the F-35 should be advanced,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the hearing, senators also considered the nominations of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/breaking-news\/2021\/04\/12\/white-house-set-to-nominate-first-woman-secretary-of-the-army\/\" target=\"_blank\">Susanna Blume<\/a> as director of the Pentagon\u2019s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2021\/04\/27\/biden-picking-shyu-for-dod-research-and-engineering-chief\/\" target=\"_blank\">Heidi Shyu, <\/a>who is tapped for undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both nominees faced little opposition during the hearing, signaling that they \u2014 along with Kendall \u2014 will cruise toward an easy confirmation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shyu, the Army\u2019s acquisition executive during the Obama administration, said one of her goals would be to reorient spending on defense technologies toward developing new capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday, sustainment makes up 70% of total weapon system cost, with development and procurement making up 30%. DoD should strive to flip this ratio and invest more in the development of new technologies than it does in the sustainment of legacy system,\u201d she said in written testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To do that, the department should spend more money on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons and synthetic biology, she said. It should also make investments in advanced materials that would help the services decrease their logistics footprint and cut their fuel use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blume, who was previously deputy chief of staff for programs and plans, stated that her goal as CAPE director would be to ensure the department aligned its financial resources with the priorities laid out in the national defense strategy, as well as to provide rigorous independent cost estimates of major weapons systems to Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In particular, CAPE should increase the Pentagon\u2019s collection of data related to operations and sustainment, software, and middle-tier acquisition programs in order to improve the accuracy of future cost assessments, she wrote in response to lawmakers\u2019 advance policy questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Air Force secretary nominee isn&#8217;t sure how many F-35s the service should buy in total. But for now, it needs to keep buying, he told lawmakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":83646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["daily-news-roundup","newsletters","news","pentagon-congress","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[7,8,160,36,19,30,131],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-42867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-pentagon","category-smr","category-transition"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"47SBPSXEWRBTRO6KRPIQJWWQ4Y","arc_canonical_url":"\/pentagon\/2021\/05\/25\/secaf-nominee-walks-a-tightrope-on-f-35-procurement-plans\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SECAF nominee walks a tightrope on F-35 procurement plans - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Air Force secretary nominee isn&#039;t sure how many F-35s the service should buy in total. 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