F/A-22 provides technological leap forward

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. A.J. Bosker
  • Air Force Print News
One cannot view the F/A-22 Raptor as only a replacement for current Air Force fighters, the service's top acquisition official told lawmakers April 11.

"(The F/A-22) is basically a technological leap forward to counter the threats we perceive (we will face) in the future," said Dr. Marvin R. Sambur, assistance secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, during testimony to the House Committee on government reform subcommittee on national security.

Responding to the subcommittee's concerns over the cost and progress of the Raptor, Sambur explained that the Air Force recently presented the Department of Defense with a comprehensive business plan that outlined the need for and viability of the F/A-22.

"We're not here to give you excuses for problems of (past F/A-22 program) performance," he said. "We're trying to make improvements now and in the future."

Air Force officials have taken a comprehensive look at the need for the F/A-22, balanced that with other service needs, and determined that the Raptor is the way to go, Sambur said.

Under the program's imposed cost cap, the Air Force will only be able to procure 224 Raptors. However, the Air Force needs at least 381 aircraft to fully meet air expeditionary force, training and maintenance requirements, and to avoid making the F/A-22 another high-demand, low-density asset, Sambur said.

The F/A-22 is developing and implementing state-of-the-art technology, giving leading edge capabilities and pioneering manufacturing techniques that will ultimately yield not only the world's greatest aircraft but will also establish an invaluable set of lessons learned to developing future complex weapons systems, he said. The unique combination of capabilities increases the effectiveness of the entire joint force and makes any fight unfair.

"The Raptor is the pathfinder and we have to do it right," Sambur said.

Sambur said he was given a mandate from the Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper to improve the way the Air Force does business in delivering capability such as the F/A-22 to the warfighter.

Over the past year, he and the acquisition community have been working to determine the root causes of programs not meeting established baselines and goals resulting in slipped development times, reductions in deliveries and increased costs.

"Our findings indicate that unstable requirements, faulty cost estimates, lack of test community buy-in, inadequate systems engineering and unstable funding have led to these problems," Sambur said.

Therefore, he said he instituted a series of measures to address these underlying causes.

The first is a more agile acquisition policy that emphasizes collaboration between the warfighters, the acquisition community, the engineers and the testers to foster a team mentality.

"This team continues working together throughout the requirements and development process, providing a stable foundation for the overall program," he said.

The second measure addresses test community buy-in by developing a seamless verification process to ensure that both the development and operational tests occur in a single process.

"By getting the operational testers involved early in the process, they can assess the operational value of developmental testing and reduce the duplication of effort," Sambur explained.

Instilling a strong systems engineering foundation in the acquisition process is the third step. Future acquisition strategy plans that lack the necessary attention to systems engineering will not be signed by future milestone decision authorities, he said.

"I am also demanding that systems engineering performance be linked to contract award fees and to the incentive construction," Sambur said.

The final measure, the implementation of a more disciplined program priority process, will help reduce problems from unstable funding, he said.

"We will also insist on the use of spiral development methods for (future programs)," he told the subcommittee.

Spiral development is the Air Force's preferred approach to acquiring new systems, Sambur said in written remarks. It allows the Air Force to incrementally deliver weapons system capability quickly -- providing the warfighter technology as it matures within acceptable program risk.

It will counter funding instability by allowing the Air Force to fund each spiral so potential cuts in funding do not compromise a capability that is complete and ready to be fielded today, he said. Another benefit of spiral development is the flexibility to insert the latest technology into the development and production lines.

"We remain focused on providing the necessary capabilities to the warfighter, and this can only be achieved through effective and efficient management during the development, production and fielding of systems," Sambur said. "Only by incorporating a strong collaborative process, reestablishing our credibility, infusing systems engineering in our acquisition process, prioritizing programs and implementing spiral development can we overcome the tough challenges ahead."