Gen. CQ Brown: Multiyear missile buys would stabilize industry

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon needs to give the defense industry a more consistent demand signal on how many missiles, munitions and spare parts companies will need to build, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown said on Wednesday.

Two ways the Pentagon can provide that steadier business include multiyear procurements for weapons and greater use of predictive maintenance , Brown said during a discussion with the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies .

Brown said the military has focused too little keeping a steady flow of munitions production and procurement. “In some cases, because you don’t have a threat on your doorstep, munitions aren’t maybe high on our priority list,” he said.

But with the threat now posed by China and Russia, “that’s different now,” he added.

“This is an area that we’ve got to continue to pay attention to, to ensure that we bring [munitions] along as well,” said Brown, who President Joe Biden last month nominated to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff .

He cited the Korea readiness review, which the military conducted during his tenure as Pacific Air Forces commander, examining what would be necessary to counter a threat from North Korea as an example of the kind of advance munitions planning that must take place. Part of that review, Brown said, was to “look really hard at munitions.”

Brown reiterated the Air Force’s call in its proposed fiscal 2024 budget for multiyear procurements for three key weapons: the Raytheon Technologies-made AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, and the Lockheed Martin-made Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range as well as the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile.

Air Force officials said in March during the budget’s unveiling that the service wanted to use about $1 billion so industry could procure long-lead items for those weapons, as well as other steps that would send a longer-term demand signal to industry. The FY23 National Defense Authorization Act granted the Air Force the authority to make those multiyear purchases.

The Air Force’s proposed FY24 budget would roughly double its overall spending on missiles, from $2.3 billion in FY23 to $4.7 billion.

The Pentagon is also seeking lawmakers’ approval to conduct multiyear buys of Raytheon’s Patriot surface-to-air guided missile system and Lockheed’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, fired from the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. The U.S. government has provided those weapons to Ukraine as it fights off a Russian invasion .

And if the military wants industry to be able to surge munitions production capacity in an emergency, Brown said, it must make such multiyear buys a regular part of how it does business. That way, industry will have a more reliable demand signal and can keep its production lines flowing.

“I believe that’s just a start,” Brown said, referring to the multiyear buys in the FY24 budget request. “We’ve got to look at multiyear procurements so that it helps give a predictable demand signal to industry. And it’s not just the prime [contractors], it’s all the subs below them so they actually have supply chains laid in, they’re [set up with the proper facilities], they have the workforce, and it’s not a little bit up and down and unpredictability.”

Brown also said it will be important to ensure allies and partners have access to these munitions — and that industry can build enough to keep both them and the United States armed.

“It’s great for them to have the airplanes, but they’ve also got to have the munitions that are capable,” Brown said. “How do we make sure that we have enough munitions on the shelf to support us and our allies and partners? This is something that we need to focus on.”

Brown said the digital engineering of munitions will make it easier to take a more modular approach to building some weapons, similar to the way new aircraft, such as the B-21 Raider, use a modular architecture.

Brown also said the Air Force’s desire to conduct more predictive, conditions-based maintenance on aircraft — where maintainers track how long parts have been on an airplane and try to replace them before they wear out and break — could also help provide a steadier demand signal for industry.

“With data, you know based on the service life of this part how long before it’s going to break,” Brown said. “You don’t wait until it breaks. You’re able to replace it a little bit sooner, which also can help create the demand signal for the supply chain.”

Brown said the Air Force’s Rapid Sustainment Office has been looking closely at ways to use maintenance data to not just decide when maintainers should replace parts, but also to help industry predict how it needs to manage its supply chains.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

华盛顿——空军参谋长CQ·布朗将军周三表示，五角大楼需要向国防工业发出更一致的需求信号，明确各公司需要生产多少导弹、弹药和备件。

布朗在与米切尔航空航天研究所的讨论中表示，五角大楼可以通过两种方式提供更稳定的业务，包括多年武器采购和更多地使用预测性维护。

布朗表示，军方对保持弹药生产和采购的稳定供应重视不足。“在某些情况下，由于没有迫在眉睫的威胁，弹药可能并非我们优先考虑的事项，”他说道。

但他补充说，鉴于中国和俄罗斯现在构成的威胁，“情况已经不同了”。

“这是我们必须继续关注的领域，以确保我们也带上（弹药）。”布朗说道。上个月，乔·拜登总统提名他担任下一任参谋长联席会议主席。

他以他担任太平洋空军司令期间美军开展的朝鲜半岛战备评估为例，说明了必须进行的先进弹药规划。该评估旨在研究应对朝鲜威胁所需的措施。布朗说，评估的一部分内容就是“认真审视弹药”。

布朗重申了空军在 2024 财年预算提案中提出的多年采购三种关键武器的呼吁：雷神技术公司制造的 AIM-120 先进中程空空导弹、洛克希德·马丁公司制造的联合空对地防区外导弹增程型以及远程反舰导弹。

空军官员在3月份公​​布预算时表示，空军希望动用约10亿美元，用于采购武器所需的长周期零部件，并采取其他措施向业界发出长期需求信号。2023财年国防授权法案授权空军进行这些多年期采购。

空军提出的 2024 财年预算将使其导弹总支出大致翻一番，从 2023 财年的 23 亿美元增至 47 亿美元。

五角大楼还在寻求国会批准，计划对雷神公司的“爱国者”地对空导弹系统和洛克希德公司的M142高机动性火箭炮系统发射的多管火箭炮系统进行多年采购。美国政府已向乌克兰提供了这些武器，帮助其抵御俄罗斯的入侵。

布朗表示，如果军方希望军工企业在紧急情况下能够迅速提升弹药产能，就必须将这种多年期采购纳入其常规业务模式。这样一来，军工企业就能获得更可靠的需求信号，从而保证生产线持续运转。

布朗说：“我认为这仅仅是个开始。”他指的是2024财年预算申请中的多年期采购。“我们必须考虑多年期采购，这样才能为行业提供可预测的需求信号。这不仅仅关乎总承包商，还关乎他们所有的下属分包商，这样他们才能真正建立起供应链，配备合适的设施，拥有足够的劳动力，避免出现波动和不确定性。”

布朗还表示，确保盟友和伙伴能够获得这些弹药非常重要——而且工业界能够生产足够的弹药，以保障盟友和美国的武装。

布朗说：“他们拥有飞机固然很好，但他们也必须拥有相应的弹药。我们如何确保库存中有足够的弹药来支持我们自身以及我们的盟友和伙伴？这是我们需要重点关注的问题。”

布朗表示，弹药的数字化工程将使制造某些武器更容易采用模块化方法，类似于 B-21“突袭者”等新型飞机采用模块化架构的方式。

布朗还表示，空军希望对飞机进行更多预测性的、基于状况的维护——维护人员跟踪飞机部件的使用时间，并在部件磨损和损坏之前尝试更换它们——这也有助于为行业提供更稳定的需求信号。

布朗说：“有了数据，你就可以根据这个部件的使用寿命来预测它还能用多久。你不用等到它坏了才去更换，而是可以提前一些时间更换，这也有助于向供应链发出需求信号。”

布朗表示，空军快速保障办公室一直在密切关注如何利用维护数据，不仅要决定维护人员何时应该更换零件，还要帮助行业预测如何管理其供应链。

斯蒂芬·洛西是《防务新闻》的空战记者。他此前曾在《空军时报》报道领导层和人事问题，并在Military.com网站报道五角大楼、特种作战和空战。他曾前往中东报道美国空军的行动。