Frank Kendall, secretary of the Air Force and a three-time Wash100 winner, said he believes the service should improve its engineering capacity and strengthen its analysis capability to make informed decisions on technology requirements, Air Force Times reported Monday.
“We’re in a technological competition. Our potential enemies out there are designing systems that are intended to defeat the ones we’ve designed. … So I think we need to up our technical game quite a bit,” Kendall said in an interview.
When asked about potential changes to the fiscal year 2023 budget request, Kendall said he is considering increased funding for space-related initiatives and strategic deterrence capabilities.
“Our first mission, of course, is deterrence — strategic first, and then conventional. And the way you deter is by having capabilities,” he said.
“I believe that deterrence should rest on real capabilities that intimidate your adversaries, and that if you’re called upon to use them, that you can actually prevail,” Kendall added.
He noted that the service will also assess management practices and take a look at the Space Force’s structure to determine whether to make some adjustments.