(This article first appeared in 2019.)
In September 2019, the Air Force Assistant Secretary for technology acquisitions Will Roper called for a new “Century Series” of jet fighters.
He was referring to six U.S. jet fighters rapidly introduced into service between 1954 and 1959 that brought the U.S. Air Force into an era of supersonic jet fighter operations. They later received “Century” appellation due to receiving the designations F-100 through F-106.
Roper wants a faster acquisition process that could churn out new warplanes every four years. That’s understandable. Today’s process is so ponderous that major programs like the F-35 stealth fighter take multiple decades to enter service, leading to outrageous cost overruns and program cancelations, and systems that no longer meet U.S. operational needs when they finally enter service.