U.S. Air Force Set To Announce ‘Quick Start’ Acquisition Programs

COLORADO SPRINGS—The Department of the U.S. Air Force will roll out two new-start acquisition programs that it will get a jump on before next year’s budget process under new congressional authority within the next few days, once lawmakers have their say.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the new programs it selected to use under the authority, known as the Quick Start initiative, are both for the U.S. Space Force. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently approved the decision, and there will be an announcement soon. Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the 2024 Space Symposium here, Kendall said one program is a capability that will be in space and the other focuses on Air Force assets able to use space-based systems. Kendall said the programs are urgently needed capabilities.

The Quick Start initiative, approved in the fiscal 2024 defense policy bill, allows services to spend up to $100 million for early development activities up to the preliminary design review stage if the defense secretary determines it is needed to begin urgent development.

Kendall put forth the proposal one year ago, as the Pentagon has been plagued with repeated continuing resolutions that delayed the beginning of new-start programs until congressional appropriations are approved.

The Pentagon last month received full appropriations under a fiscal 2024 omnibus spending bill, about five months into the fiscal year. Kendall, speaking during a keynote address at the symposium, said that although this was “better late than never,” the spending process costs time in the development of new programs.

Additionally, Kendall pointed to the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act that limited the Defense Department’s overall spending as part of a compromise to lift the debt ceiling. The measure imposed a restriction of a top-line budget at about 1% more than fiscal 2023, translating to a cut due to the rate of inflation and below the increase the department was planning for.

To address these cuts, the Department of the Air Force made reductions in several areas—particularly aircraft procurement, such as buying fewer Lockheed Martin F-35s and Boeing F-15EXs. The Space Force did not have that margin, as 60% of its budget is in research and development, Kendall says. As a result, Space Force modernization is progressing, though not at the rate originally projected.