Heather Wilson, secretary of the U.S. Air Force and a 2018 Wash100 awardee, warns the service branch must modernize its software acquisition process to keep up with the technological advances of adversaries.
Wilson noted during an Aug. 27th conference that documents such as the U.S. Air Force Weapons Systems Software Management Guidebook contain outdated practices that inhibit modernization, the branch said Thursday.
“We’re going to accelerate to a new future driven by the threat that we face and move to a new paradigm for software development,†Wilson commented.
The Air Force is working to adopt new acquisition strategies such as employing Software-as-a-Service to create a faster decision-making and assessment process. Adopting a modern hardware and software acquisition plan will also lead to quicker implementation of the National Defense Strategy.
Wilson added that the strategy directs the Air Force to maintain its competitive edge in every domain and prepare for peer-to-peer conflict.