Government, Industry Must Improve Cooperation, Says Air Force Space Commander

COLORADO SPRINGS -- Teamwork between government and industry must improve for the U.S. to continue protecting its own security and allies, Air Force Space Commander Gen. Robert Kehler said Tuesday at the National Space Symposium. “I'm not comfortable with where we are” and that matters are going in the direction “that will take us to the future we need to be in,” he said. “This needs to be a team effort. We don’t have all the answers. But do have set of conditions and approaches today that if we don’t make changes, won’t serve us well as we look to the future. … We must get this one right."

Kehler advocated more results-based programs, in which the emphasis has shifted from when a satellite can launch to when services can be available for forces in the field. Using a “blocks” system is one way the government and industry can increase the speed of making some applications available while waiting for others, he said. “I don’t have a problem with taking the approach of deliver what you have,” Kehler said: “Insert the technology in programs in blocks as the technology becomes available.” The Air Force must adjust quickly to the unique demands of irregular warfare, he said.

Industry and space are “congested, contested and complex,” characteristics that can delay government action, Kehler said, but the government needs to be more considerate of the difficulties in operating a competitive business while providing services with the government. “For too long we haven’t taken the industrial base into account in the decisions we've made,” he said.

The structure of incentives for companies dealing with the government must be improved, Kehler said. “We are going to have to look at this differently. The incentive should be to deliver on time capability we need and then get paid.” This may be the case “today, but it doesn’t feel like it,” he said. “It is time to look at incentives to make sure industry and government get what they need. Industry isn’t in this for free."

Kehler celebrated recent successes for the industry and the Air Force, such as global-positioning services satellites that have been made available quickly and will soon allow repositioning of the constellation to improve services. He said new bandwidth offered through the Wideband Global Service satellites, a collaboration of the Air Force and Boeing, has been important. Bandwidth has been increased by a factor of five, Boeing has said. Without space operations, “we would not be military we are today,” Kehler said. “We would not be able to fight the way we can today.” Many in the military “clearly understand what space brings, unlike in years past, where space was an add-on,” he said. “My measure of success is what we contribute to joint fight.”