President Bush on April 25 nominated Sue Payton, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Advanced Systems and Concepts, to become the Air Force’s top acquisition official. The post has been vacant since the resignation of Marvin Sambur in January 2005. Payton has previous Pentagon experience, serving as acting director of defense research and engineering, and worked for defense contractors Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin. She has a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University and a master’s from the University of Southern California.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.