ARLINGTON, Va. — The current world geo-political climate is evidence of the need for urgency in the fielding of new systems, a Navy program executive officer said.
“It shouldn’t take 18 months to get [a new system] on contract; it should take 90 days,” said Rear Adm. Shane Gahagan, the Navy’s program executive officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs, speaking Feb. 9 at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Expeditionary Warfare Conference.
Gahagan discussed several ongoing and future programs such as a replacement for the MH-60 helicopters; the Next-Generation Air Dominance program to replace the FA-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter; the fielding of the Block III of the F/A-8E/F, and the life-extension program for the F/A-18E/F.
“The pressure is the idea to pull all that to the left,” he said, stressing the need to accelerate development and field systems sooner in order to counter the rapid development weapons and other systems by potential adversaries such as China and Russia.
