The Air Force needs a quicker, more flexible acquisition system combined with personnel capable of writing requirements tailored to the cyber domain, said Michael Papay, Northrop Grumman’s cyber initiatives vice president. “Our typical contract types aren’t exactly a very good fit to building cyber security systems,” said Papay while speaking on an industry panel Thursday at AFA’s CyberFutures Conference in National Harbor, Md. “If we see a new threat come in a week from now, we have to be able to look over there and say, ‘Cover that one, too,’” explained Papay. The industry workforce also must be trained to provide solid feedback to help acquisition officials craft requirements that allow industry to meet the Air Force’s mission needs, he said. “That means agility in your technology, agility in your workforce, and agility in your acquisition environment is the only way we’re going to defeat this threat,” stressed Papay.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.