Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink used his keynote at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference to press for faster innovation, sweeping modernization and a renewed push on readiness, while stressing that supporting Airmen and Guardians remains central to the Department’s mission.
“We must do what we’ve done many times in the past – work to maintain air and space dominance,” Meink said to an overflowing crowd of several thousand. He warned that competitors have spent decades trying to erode U.S. advantages, adding that China “has been laser focused.”
“The ability for us to dominate the air domain has really come under threat a number of times; we’ve had our cage rattled a bit,” he said. “But we went after it and today the U.S. has dominance.” He added: “Our job is to maintain that dominance, the advantage that the U.S. has always had. We have to innovate faster. … The only way we will be able to maintain our advantage is to innovate and we have to innovate faster than our adversaries.”
Meink, who became secretary in May, cast the modernization drive as the department’s most ambitious since its founding 78 years ago. He cited a slate of programs, from the recently announced F-47 sixth-generation fighter to the in-service F-35, the F-15EX, a re-engined and re-radared B-52, and continued development of the B-21 stealth bomber. He also pointed to the Sentinel ICBM program, expanded space launch capacity and space control, and progress on Collaborative Combat Aircraft. On weapons production, he said the United States has “built some of the best munitions on the planet. … The challenge we have with munitions is scaling them up,” he said.
Underscoring the tension between legacy fleets and future capabilities, Meink showed side-by-side images of himself three decades apart with the same KC-135 tanker, noting the aircraft is still flying an essential mission. He argued that technology alone will not suffice. “We have to be innovative in how we operate. We have to be innovative in how we maintain our systems. We have to be innovative in how we train. We really need to be innovative across the board. And if we’re not thinking that way from our level all the way down to the individual Airman or Guardian at the very lowest ranks were not going to be successful.” The acquisition workforce, he added, is pivotal: “There is no replacement for technical skill in acquisitions,” he said.
On readiness, Meink said he knew “there was a readiness challenge, I didn’t appreciate how significant that readiness challenge was.” He emphasized extracting more value from every system and dollar, and outlined several focus areas: ensuring systems and concepts can survive in contested environments—illustrated by battlefield lessons such as low-cost drones striking high-end platforms—pressing industry on spare-parts reliability, using data to improve maintenance and operations, and investing in bases. “Our facilities are part of our weapon systems. In many cases, we fight from our facilities, both in the Air and Space Force side of the house.”
Meink closed by returning to the force itself. “People are the most important thing we have; the most critical…I have zero concern about the ability of the Department to employ combat power. We have the best trained, most talented workforce the Department of the Air Force has ever had,” he said. “We are asking them to maintain and work on some of the most technical systems … and we need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to support them.”
“The challenge is, how do we make sure (Airmen and Guardians) have the tools at the mass and scale they need to be successful. … If we, as leadership, are not doing everything we can to support you, moving fast and being innovative, then you need to tell us because we will not be successful without that.”
