In the News Hypersonics, Counter-Hypersonics Are a Top Priority It is from the analysis baseline that we determine areas that DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NEWS (JULY 24, 2020) may require innovation or increased capacity to keep pace with Terri Moon Cronk the advancing threat, Lord said. “Hypersonic defense broadly Hypersonics and counter-hypersonics remain one of the De- aligns with more traditional air and missile defense,” she said. fense Department’s highest technical modernization priorities, “It also requires significant innovations across the entire kill Ellen M. Lord, under secretary of defense for acquisition and chain, spanning indications and warning, sensing, command sustainment said. and control, and advanced intercept capabilities.” “We are continuing on an accelerated path to develop and field Hypersonic and counter-hypersonic technology is advancing land-, sea- and air-launched hypersonic weapons, as well as rapidly, and the demand for these capabilities is strong, she developing options for defense against adversary hypersonic said. “Our offensive hypersonics capability is maturing, with a missile capabilities so as to ensure our continued ability to number of systems being accelerated. On the defensive side, dominate the battlefield for decades to come,” Lord said this there is a wide range of efforts underway to assess alterna- week at the Institute for Defense and Government Advance- tives. ment’s Defense Logistics Summit. “We in A&S must look to the future and ensure that our in- Lord said acquisition and sustaiment’s goals and priorities align dustrial base is prepared to produce these weapons once the with the National Defense Strategy’s three lines of effort: technology is mature and demonstrated,” Lord said, adding 1. Restore military readiness as we build a more lethal force. that they must also consider how to sustain hypersonic and 2. Strengthen alliances and partnerships. counter-hypersonic weapons over the long term. 3. Bring business reform to DoD. A&S Goal No. 2 The mission is to enable the delivery and sustainment of se- The second A&S goal for acquisition and sustainment is to cure and resilient capabilities to the warfighter and interna- build a safe, secure, and resilient defense industrial base (DIB), tional partners quickly and cost effectively, Lord said. she said. Under that mission are six Acquisition and Sustainment goal Relative to hypersonics, DoD needs to establish a secure and (A&S), and Lord discussed those goals in the context of DoD’s resilient supply chain, she added. “Hypersonics are critical to hypersonic efforts. “I am committed to evolving our acquisi- our national security; we cannot allow our DIB to be com- tion and program expertise to ensure that business execution promised,” Lord said. She added that she has established the issues do not hinder our ability to prototype, demonstrate, Hypersonics War Room to analyze and assess the status of the test, and field warfighting capability—especially hyperson- hypersonics and counter-hypersonics industrial base. ics,” she said. The Hypersonics War Room identifies risk areas where in- A&S Goal No. 1 dustry lacks capability and capacity, and develops options for The first A&S goal is to enable innovative acquisition ap- mitigation, she explained. “Once we determine what is needed proaches that deliver warfighting capability at the speed of to mitigate the risks, we will work with industry to mutually relevance. make investments, where necessary, to ensure the Depart- ment’s counter-hypersonics efforts are successful,” Lord said. Hypersonic weapons have the potential to alter the future of strike, air combat, and air defense, Lord said. “The United A&S Goal No. 3 States has historically been a world leader in hypersonics re- The third A&S goal is to ensure safe and resilient DoD instal- search,” she noted. “However, we have consistently made the lations, she said. A&S has responsibility for policies associ- decision not to weaponize this technology in the past—in large ated with DoD installations. Lord said the projects range from part due to our recent focus on countering violent extremist providing assured energy if the grid goes down—which may organizations.” involve micro nuclear reactors—to cleaning up and replacing hazardous substances in materials utilized in training exer- The United States’ potential adversaries in this great power cises, operational missions, and sustainment activities. competition have dramatically increased their emphasis on weaponized hypersonic technologies, which could be creating A&S Goal No. 4 an unacceptable capability gap, she said. The fourth A&S goal is to increase weapon system mission capability while reducing operating cost, she said. DEFENSEACQUISITION | September-October 2020 | 1 In the News for integrating hypersonics capability into our defense enterprise.” To ensure effective acquisition and delivery of advanced counter-hyper- sonics capabilities, DoD must look across traditional system domains into mission capability space to bet- ter identify threat trends, capability and interoperability limitations, the breadth and synchronization of sci- ence and technology, experimenta- tion, rapid prototyping, acquisition programs, and fielding and sustain- ment plans, Lord said. Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office to Launch Sustainment Innovation Hub AIR FORCE RAPID SUSTAINMENT OFFICE (JUNE 15, 2020) Derek Hardin Ellen M. Lord, under secretary of defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, records a WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE message for the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement’s online Counter BASE, Ohio—The Air Force Rapid Hypersonic Weapons Summit at the Pentagon, July 21, 2020. Sustainment Office (RSO) is chang- DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando ing how the Air Force delivers new and emerging technology to the Sus- Nuclear deterrence is the No. 1 priority mission of the DoD, tainment Enterprise. The RSO’s lat- Lord said. est initiative is the creation of the Identify-Apply-Scale (IAS), a first-of-its-kind capability devoted solely to the sustainment A&S Goal No. 5 of Air Force systems. The fifth A&S goal is to promote acquisition and sustainment initiatives with key international partners, she said. A partnership with the University of Dayton Research Institute, this comprehensive and premier network, which has been in Lord said her office is leading DoD’s efforts to deepen engage- development since 2018, will soon be opening its virtual doors, ment on acquisition matters with its allies and partners. offering its partners and customers real-time access to pitch sustainment concepts, exchange transformative ideas, and A&S Goal No. 6 demonstrate technologies ready to rapidly transition to the The sixth A&S goal is to recruit, develop, and retain a diverse field. The IAS is scheduled to be operational later this year. acquisition and sustainment workforce, she said. This novel capability gets its name from the RSO’s technology “Not only do we need to build hypersonic weapons, we need to delivery approach of Identify-Apply-Scale. Essentially, sus- be able to defend against them,” she noted. “We have signifi- tainment technologies are identified across the public and cantly increased our investments to accelerate the transition private sectors, then prototyped and validated (applied) in an of hypersonic systems and counter-hypersonic technologies Air Force environment, and finally deployed (scaled) across to achieve the warfighting capability and defense afforded by the Air Force enterprise. The IAS will serve as the epicenter those systems,” Lord said. of identifying, adapting, accelerating, and scaling solutions for the Air Force’s most significant challenges around sustaining DoD must continue to modernize on all fronts to provide ef- aircraft and staying mission-ready. fective hypersonic weapon systems to our warfighters, she said, adding, “Modernization requires a robust industrial base “The RSO is very excited about the capabilities the IAS will for production, joint exercises and simulations, and planning offer our Air Force customers and mission partners,” said Na- 2 | September-October 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION In the News than Parker, RSO Deputy PEO. “At its core, the IAS will har- I think one of the key words—and I think that this is actually ness rapid technological advancements required to improve starting to happen, it’s going to take some time, but from the mission readiness and strengthen our competitive military government—is humility,” Air Force Col. Michael McGinley advantage.” said yesterday during an online panel discussion hosted by Defense One. The capability’s networked “hub and spoke” model—which places the RSO central to the “hub” connected by the “spokes” An issue with the department getting the innovative technol- of venture-backed startups, academia, university-affiliated re- ogy it needs quickly has been a departmental tendency to tell search centers, and industry consortiums—will help ensure industry how to solve its problems, rather than telling industry sustainment innovation for the Air Force continues unabated, leaders what the problem is and letting them figure it out, even during times where in-person collaboration is not pos- McGinley said. sible, such as the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. He described this as the difference between the DoD culture, “The IAS Hub demonstrates the RSO’s commitment to the which is intent on just meeting requirements, and a culture that Air Force mission and to keeping our nation’s security at the focuses on solving a problem. Current efforts might produce forefront at all times, even during times of crisis,” said Lt Gen a 40-page requirements document, he said. Robert McMurry, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center commander and RSO Program Executive Officer. “That’s me telling you how to do it,” he said. “Now, what you’re seeing is a flip. So we’re really asking them, how would you help Additionally, the IAS will allow the RSO to carry forth its goal us solve this problem? And that has been somewhat recent of rapidly addressing Air Force sustainment challenges by of a change.” streamlining the Identify-Apply-Scale process.