More than 73 top acquisition, logistics, and sustainment officials from Air Force Materiel Command and the private sector met at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, recently to help plot the command’s future at its fifth “Sustainment Transformation Senior Leadership Conference.” One specific outcome: Gen. Bruce Carlson, AFMC commander, wants command leaders to recommend two processes for improvement by Feb. 9 and to provide a progress update during the command’s upcoming March commander’s conference. Carlson said that he wants “unprecedented cross-functional integration” leading to “previously unimagined success.”
The F-35 Joint Program Office has officially announced plans to issue multiple sole-source contracts to Pratt & Whitney to upgrade the fighter’s F135 engine—a widely expected move after Pentagon officials indicated they would do so earlier this year instead of developing an entirely new engine.