The aerospace industry takes very seriously the Pentagon’s push to cut costs and reduce overhead, said Aerospace Industries Association chief Marion Blakey. Half-jokingly calling it “Carter’s Crusade” after Pentagon acquisition chief Ash Carter, Blakey said industry is scrubbing its costs as never before. “We truly believe reducing costs is a DOD-industry partnership,” she said last week at AFA’s Air & Space Conference. Contractors, she continued, know “the entire aerospace industry depends on it.” Toward that end, she suggested continuing reductions in required paperwork, expanded use of performance-based logistics, and more multi-year procurement contracts as three obvious areas where big money can be saved. She noted that C-17 operating costs have come down by 28 percent using PBL, and that the recent F/A-18E/F multiyear deal produced $600 million in savings.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III outlined Dec. 4 the vital importance of U.S. defense investment keeping pace with that of China before issuing a statement warning that such competition would suffer “irreparable” damage if Congress opts for a yearlong continuing resolution, a real possibility being discussed by lawmakers after…