The Senate confirmed William LaPlante to be the next assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition last week, according to a Feb. 18 Air Force release. LaPlante, who currently serves as the principal deputy to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, will fill the spot left vacant since Sue Payton left the position in April 2009. “I’ve spent over 28 years around systems technologies, acquisition programs; touching all aspects of those programs for all services,” he said during a Jan. 16 confirmation hearing. “This experience, along with my time on the Defense Science Board, offers first-hand impressions of defense acquisition.”
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…