US Air Force threatens to nationalize aircraft manufacturing

The US Air Force is getting tired of bloated acquisition programs, and has apparently threatened to nationalize its aircraft manufacturing process if heavy industrial and aerospace companies continue to treat the military like a cash cow.

Will Roper, the USAF’s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics (AT&L), warned that nationalization may be imminent if the nation’s industrial base continues to shrink.

Roper warned that too few companies have diversified portfolios, something needed to stay on the Pentagon’s payroll.

“[If] we do not bring new companies into our orbit … I do not have to tell you that eventually we will nationalise warfighting capabilities in the defence industrial base,” Roper said. “It will happen … by national security necessity.”

Unlike the days of the Cold War when the military was somewhat spoiled for choice when it came to defense companies coming up with fresh ideas, the industrial base has become rather narrow as giants such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin swallowed up companies, ranging from Hughes and Convair to Rockwell International and Fairchild Republic- with many of the aforementioned (and now-defunct) companies being the product of absorption as well.

First taking flight two decades ago as the X-35, the Lockheed Martin F-35 is a good example of the problems involving bloated defense programs, as it is still going through teething problems despite only recently being considered “combat ready.”

According to Janes Defence, Roper created the Digital Century Series (DCS), a modern-age throwback to the century series fighter program of the Cold War. The modern DCS utilizes digital engineering, modular open systems architecture, and other factors to quickly design advanced aircraft and get them into production without constant delays, cost overruns and learning curves.

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