DAF shakes up space acquisition leadership, Purdy takes ‘senior advisor’ role
Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhageh has taken over Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy's former role of military deputy to the Office of Space Acquisition and Integration.
Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhageh has taken over Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy's former role of military deputy to the Office of Space Acquisition and Integration.
The policy is light on language regarding security issues — with the most specific provision reiterating Trump's Golden Dome push for a comprehensive air and missile defense shield.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
"I look forward to working with [Air Force] Secretary Meink and the service to make sure the language in the NDAA is fully implemented," Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers, R.-Ala., told Breaking Defense today.
"[W]hat is the appetite [among operators] for fast, rapid delivery of capability, because that capability will not be the 100 percent capability," said Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, acting head of space acquisition at the Air Force.
"Delivering today's systems is critical, but we're also building the architecture of the future and making sure we're prepared for what our adversaries might do next," Gen. Chance Saltzman said.
The move is part of a long-running effort by Space Systems Command to reorganize acquisition programs along mission area lines, syncing up with the structure of the service's main operational arm, Space Operations Command.
Gen. Michael Guetlein, the Pentagon Golden Dome czar, said on Tuesday that the "real technical challenge" for the effort will be building space-based interceptors to knock down enemy missiles in their boost phase.
A key problem identified by the HAC is the fact that the military services do not allow program officers responsible for acquisition oversight to remain in their posts long enough to gain the necessary expertise.
The idea behind the commercial reviews is to find potential alternatives for "getting us out of one-off, billion-dollar systems into a proliferated architecture," said Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy.
The AEI paper, authored by Senior Fellow Todd Harrison, recommends ditching the standup of Space Futures Command and creating a new organizational structure that combines acquisition and operational functions around mission areas.
Discover how unmanned systems and emerging technologies are shaping the future of U.S. naval power in Breaking Defense’s new eBook.
Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy walked through activities to flesh out former space acquisition czar Frank Calvelli's "nine space acquisition tenets" that showcased how the Space Force is positioned to meet expected guidance from new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for accelerating weapons system development.
Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, who is the Department of the Air Force acting head for space acquisition, said the OCX ground system for GPS satellites has now made it through testing of 97 percent of its requirements.
The memo calls into question whether the Space Development Agency's approach to its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture is meeting warfighter needs.
New acting SDA head William Blauser, who came to Air Force RCO last July from Systems Technology and Research LLC in Arlington, Va., has had a long career in Defense Department acquisition, including of space systems at the National Reconnaissance Office.