The Air Force Research Laboratory is undergoing a major reorganization, consolidating 11 of its organizations into seven as part of a broader Pentagon effort to get more technology from the lab to troops in the field.
The move, according to an AFRL spokesperson, is meant to cut “duplicative overhead” and streamline processes.
“AFRL reduced duplicative overhead by standardizing organizational structures and leadership across each new directorate while creating enterprise-level support teams to streamline administrative and business functions across the lab,” the spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “These changes remove layers of coordination, foster integration across the lab, and enable greater agility in addressing defense priorities in today’s fast-evolving operational environment.”
The reorganization plan, which AFRL announced April 24, follows a January memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling for transformation and reform within the Defense Department’s “innovation ecosystem.” That ecosystem includes DOD-level organizations like the Defense Innovation Unit and the Strategic Capabilities Office, as well as the military service labs and their technology hubs like AFWERX and SpaceWERX. In the memo, Hegseth lamented that the current system creates confusion for industry and duplication and inefficiency within the Pentagon—all of which, he said, slow down the actual fielding of new tech.
“Multiple organizations fight for the same mission. Industry faces a maze of competing front doors. Councils proliferate while accountability diffuses,” Hegseth wrote. “This dysfunction stems from a linear model that gates progress through sequential stages as if technology matured on a predictable conveyor belt. That model never reflected reality and is now dangerous to mission accomplishment, fiscal responsibility, and the warfighter.”
As part of his reform effort, Hegseth directed the military services to craft innovation plans that identify ways to better engage industry and make sure its acquisition programs are able to rapidly bring on new technologies. He also called for reorganizing labs and rapid acquisition offices to limit overlap and create a more clear pathway for maturing technology and handing it over to military operators.
AFRL says its reorganization “fully aligns” with Hegseth’s direction.
“This forward-looking effort is designed to position the lab to quickly adapt to today’s dynamic operational environment,” the spokesperson said. “Using a ‘form follows function’ approach, AFRL’s structure includes major mission-focused organizations to streamline lab operations and cross-cutting integrating mechanisms to enhance collaboration across agencies and services, ensuring optimized solutions to DAF challenges.”
The restructuring didn’t eliminate any personnel, expertise, or AFRL locations, the spokesperson said, but as a result of the consolidation, 10 of the lab’s previous directorates are no longer standalone “named entities.” Instead, they are now combined into the five new organizations:
- Foundational Technology Directorate, which consolidates the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate as well as human effectiveness projects that were previously under the 711th Human Performance Wing
- Air Warfare Directorate, which combines the former Munitions Directorate and Aerospace Systems Directorate
- Space Warfare Directorate, encompassing what were previously known as the Space Vehicles Directorate and the Aerospace Systems Rocket Propulsion Division
- Information and Spectrum Warfare Directorate, which consolidates the former Sensors, Directed Energy, and Information directorates
- Technology Transition Office, which includes AFWERX and SpaceWERX as well as elements of the former Integrated Capabilities, Strategic Partnering, and Enterprise Customer Engagement directorates
Two of AFRL’s former organizations, the 711th Human Performance Wing and the Systems Technology Office, will remain intact. The spokesperson noted that AFWERX, SpaceWERX and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research will retain their names and structure despite moving within broader portfolios.
AFRL intentionally structured its redesign to make sure that its research and technology maturation work is in step with the Air Force and Space Force’s own acquisition transformation efforts, which reconfigure the siloed program executive offices that exist today into mission-centric portfolio acquisition executives, or PAEs. To deliver technology to those PAEs faster, the spokesperson said AFRL created four “integrating mechanisms,” that cut across each of its organizations. Those include:
- Communities of practice, which will link researchers from different backgrounds with lab partners to share expertise
- Integrated planning teams, designed to spot technology gaps
- Innovation pipeline and advanced architecture cells, which create partnerships between AFRL and PAEs to align science and technology with acquisition requirements and timelines
- Campaigns focused on accelerating the transition of high-impact S&T projects
The lab spokesperson said the innovation pipeline and advanced architecture cells, or IPAACS, are a key part of making sure AFRL’s work is linked to the services’ requirements. The new Technology Transition Office will make sure IPAACs are embedded throughout the lab to “create a streamlined pathway to transition matured technologies to PEOs and PAEs.”
Asked how AFRL will track progress under this new structure, the spokesperson highlighted two primary metrics: the time it takes to mature new technology for operational use; and the speed at which AFRL is delivering technology to PAEs and program offices.
“AFRL has positioned itself to bridge the gap between scientific innovation and the Department of the Air Force’s needs, ensuring its technology transition process directly supports warfighter priorities,” the spokesperson said.