Hunter would seek to 'bake in sustainability on the front end'

摘要

Andrew Hunter, President Biden's nominee to serve as the Air Force's next acquisition executive, told senators today that if confirmed, he'd work to leverage different avenues to acquire software, "bake in sustainability on the front end" for systems in development and seek to focus the acquisition process on delivering operational capabilities.Hunter, a former Defense Department senior executive and director of the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell in 2013, also said during a Senate Armed Services Committee nomination hearing with several other key Pentagon picks that if confirmed, lowering long-term sustainment costs tied to the F-35 - which he called an "absolutely vital system," particularly in the Indo-Pacific region - "will be a top priority."Relatedly, he touted the need to "achieve that balance" between divesting from legacy programs and bringing online airframes like the F-35 and others, saying he planned to work with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who brings a deep background in military acquisition to his current role, and other service leaders on implementing their strategy for doing so.Kendall last month stressed the Air Force must receive congressional approval to retire old platforms and invest in new areas in order to deter threats from Russia and China, saying "local politics can be counterproductive to national security."