The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., is meeting the Air Force acquisition initiative “Going Green” with what it terms “Blue Teams.” The term “Going Green” refers to the color-coding usually associated with a program that is in good shape. The Air Force wants to have at least nine out of 10 of its acquisition programs in the green by 2010. At ESC, officials decided they needed to replace the Red Team approach, where a team will “swoop in” to fix a troubled program, with a preventative one in which Blue Teams identify and solve problems that may happen. They try to anticipate complaints “two years down the road” and attempt to engineer the system to address them before they can materialize, said Rich Byrne, technical director for ESC’s Engineering Directorate.
The Pentagon awarded a $2.02 billion contract for Lot 17 of F-35 engines to contractor Pratt & Whitney on June 5. Work on the F135 engine is expected to be completed by December 2025.