Committee presses Air Force on acquisition workforce, AFWERX projects and right-to-repair
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Summary
Members questioned the Air Force about acquisition workforce shortfalls, reports of project descopes in innovation programs such as VTOL portfolios, and how contract terms and workforce constraints affect the transition of commercial technology into service use.
House members questioned senior Air Force leaders about acquisition workforce capacity, the transition pathways for commercial innovations, and contractual issues affecting the department's ability to repair and sustain systems.
Representative Mary Peltola and others raised concerns that recent descopes in vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) efforts under AFWERX were driven by budget constraints and contracting shortfalls rather than contractor performance. General David Alvin said the service seeks transition partners and is reorganizing to accelerate integration of promising technologies into operational units.
Secretary Troy Mink stressed that the single most important element of acquisition success is a skilled, educated acquisition workforce with authorities to execute programs quickly, and he committed to focusing on training, incentives and civilian as well as uniformed acquisition personnel.
Members pressed on right-to-repair issues, saying opaque contract terms and proprietary technical restrictions have lengthened sustainment timelines and imposed costs. Mink said the department will work to ensure contracts going forward protect government repair rights and added that fixes will vary contract-by-contract; General Alvin associated with the secretary's remarks.
Committee leaders urged follow-up detail about workforce pipelines, transition protocols for AFWERX and Agility Prime programs, and specific contract language changes that would enable government sustainment and reduce long-term lifecycle costs.