In exploring its new “should schedule” approach to speeding up the time it takes to acquire new systems, the Air Force will make a test case of four programs, Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, military deputy to USAF acquisition chief William LaPlante said. He told attendees at a Sept. 24 AFA-sponsored breakfast that the four programs are the Bomber Armament Tester; the MS-177 electro-optical sensor integration; GPS/INS modernization;? and the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, or APKWS. Bunch said an “independent group will come in” and assess the programs and determine if “we can beat the schedule” set by comparison with similar historical efforts. The projects are not hyper-critical projects but neither are they insignificant, Bunch said, adding they offer opportunities to reduce USAF’s logistical footprint, reduce training requirements, shrink the supply chain, and get needed capability to the field more rapidly. They are “lower-dollar, near-horizon” projects, Bunch said, adding that other pilot projects are being eyed.
The House of Representatives likely won’t get the 2021 defense policy bill on to the floor for a vote until as late as July, as the Biden administration has not yet released its proposed budget and is making a major infrastructure bill its main priority, a key lawmaker said May…