“To stay ahead of our competitors, the Department of Defense needs access to the commercial supply chain of microelectronics," William LaPlante, USD A&S, said. "It is absolutely essential, but it comes with inherent risks. The independent panel review is helping us better understand the risk-based approach we need to take."
Air Force wants China and that other, much poorer competitor known as Russia, to worry the US is in the early stages of fielding weapons systems that will tip the strategic see-saw to the American side. As outgoing Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson made clear here today, it is, in part, a cost-imposition strategy.
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.