Air Force and Air National Guard officials gathered at Cannon AFB, N.M., to reduce the number of days it will take to offload the base’s F-16 fighters onto other units around the country. They cut the drill from 16 days to five. Maj. James Rich, head of Cannon’s 27th Fighter Wing equipment maintenance squadron, said, “We are setting a template for the Air Force,” and added that in the past the service “would reinvent the wheel” every time it moved fighters from one unit to another. Cannon is shedding its F-16s, per BRAC 2005, and transferring from Air Combat Command to Air Force Special Operations Command.
While the Pentagon has signaled its intent to scale technology, field new systems faster, and work more with nontraditional vendors, a new report identifies persistent manufacturing capacity, resourcing, workforce, and modernization challenges that could hinder its ability to deliver on those goals.