USAF Secretary outlines strategy for software acquisition model upgrade

Secretary of the US Air Force Heather Wilson. Credit: USAF / Melanie Rodgers Cox.

US Air Force (USAF) Secretary Heather Wilson has outlined the strategy for upgrading and modernising the service’s old and outdated software acquisition model.

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The presentation was made during the Air Force Information Technology and Cyberpower Conference held in Montgomery, Alabama, US.

According to Wilson, the upgrade to the software acquisition model is important to enable the airforce to compete or be in line with the technological advances of potential adversaries.

Wilson said: “We are facing a rapidly innovating adversary who is challenging us, and we have to be willing to accept more risk in our acquisition process. This is particularly true when it comes to software.”

“With new advanced developments and acquisitions in hardware and software, the USAF will help support the implementation of the new National Defense Strategy in the US.”

She added that the US Air Force Weapons Systems Software Management Guidebook is an outdated document that cites practices from an even older document.

Wilson said: “It is ten years old. It was written before Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, Snapchat, Instagram and Pinterest were even incorporated.

Wilson further added: “So, we’re now leaving the past behind. 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.”

With new advanced developments and acquisitions in hardware and software, the USAF will help support the implementation of the new National Defense Strategy in the US.

In May, the USAF opened a new software lab in Boston.