According to an Air Combat Command release, the first of USAF’s new regional acquisition centers went online Jan. 1. The San Antonio-base center will handle contracting actions for the southwest region, one of five regional centers USAF intends to establish. According to ACC contracting chief, Col. David Glowacki, the action will reduce the size of individual contracting squadrons at bases by half or more. He said that those wing-level contracting forces that remain will “provide business advisory support for the installation and help them develop requirements and get those requirements into that [regional] system.”
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.