WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) — The Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory presented highlights of the new Air Force Science and Technology Strategy for 2030 and beyond to members of the local media April 18 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Speaking in front of several experimental aircraft on display that implemented technologies developed at AFRL, Maj. Gen. William Cooley told reporters that the new strategy prioritizes demands on time, space, and complexity in future conflicts across all domains. The strategy aligns with the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy and lays out a path forward for the Air Force Science and Technology ecosystem to deliver warfighting capabilities at the speed of relevance and necessity.
AFRL collected over 1,500 ideas from academia, industry, and government during the 18 months the strategy was being developed that address “what” and “how” of the strategy.
The Air Force S&T 2030 Strategy has three objectives:
Develop and deliver transformational strategic capabilities for the Air Force. The transformational component will focus on five strategic capabilities that directly support the vision to dominate time, space, and complexity across all operating domains.
The five strategic capabilities are as follows:
Global persistent awareness
Resilient information sharing
Rapid, effective decision-making
Complexity, unpredictability, and mass
Speed and reach of disruption and lethality
Reform the way science and technology is led and managed through the appointment of an Air Force Chief Technology officer.
Deepen and expand the scientific and technical enterprise through an increased focus on partnerships and adopting agile and innovative business processes.
“To ensure that we have confidence in, and understand how to employ these new technologies and capabilities, we have to demonstrate them in a relevant environment, build prototypes, and perform experimentation,” Cooley said. “This will build confidence in these new technologies for our warfighter.”