Calvert Remarks at Oversight Hearing on the United States Air Force and Space Force

Good afternoon. The Defense Subcommittee will come to order.

The topic of today’s hearing is oversight of the Department of the Air Force. We have three witnesses before us today: Acting Secretary of the Air Force, Gary Ashworth; General David Allvin, Chief of Staff of the Air Force; and General Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations. Secretary Ashworth, welcome to the subcommittee. General Allvin and General Saltzman, welcome back. The Administration released the “skinny budget” for Fiscal Year 2026 last Friday. This request includes more than $1 trillion overall for National Defense, however, it does so by assuming $113 billion in funds through reconciliation. The reconciliation process is not a sustainable approach to resourcing defense and is not a substitute for regular appropriations.

We are awaiting full details behind the Pentagon’s request but am glad the Administration has prioritized a significant funding increase for Defense, especially to modernize the Nation’s nuclear deterrent and support American space superiority. While we will be limited in discussing specifics of the FY26 budget, I would like to hear about your priorities for the next year. I would like to hear about your approach to leading the Air Force and Space Force in an increasingly dynamic and complex world. From my perspective, you have your work cut out for you. The Air Force has had its share of challenges – including the Sentinel Nunn-McCurdy Breach, and a number cost overruns and schedule delays that have resulted in less Air Force, not more. 

I was pleased, however, that the Air Force will be moving forward with F-47. The Next Generation Air Dominance platform, which was unfortunately delayed at the direction of the former Secretary, will be critical in the future of air superiority. Given the priority of this program, I expect that it will be appropriately resourced in the President’s Budget submission.  The program also needs to be rigorously managed to ensure that it remains on-time and on-budget. We cannot have another repeat of the F-35 program. I have said it before, but quantity has a quality unto itself. The Air Force has been challenged in both procuring the air platforms it needs and adequately sustaining the air platforms it has. 

Turning to space. Space Force continues to have acquisition challenges as well, such as the GPS OCX program which is more than 7 years late. I’d like to get an update on Space Force’s progress in fielding more resilient space systems.  Our adversaries are rapidly expanding and enhancing their space capabilities to challenge the U.S. I would also like to understand more about plans for the Golden Dome missile defense shield. This Committee needs to have a clearer understanding of the Golden Dome concept. Specifically, what is Golden Dome? Is it technically feasible?  How much will it cost?  And who is in charge? Overall, I remain very concerned that the Department of Defense continues to struggle with delivering critical capabilities on time and on budget. 

To be blunt, I think the Defense Acquisition system is broken and urgent action is needed to address these problems.  So, I was pleased to see that the President signed an Executive Order earlier this month directing the Secretary of Defense to review the antiquated defense acquisition process, address burdensome regulations, and make recommendations to incentivize the acquisition workforce to utilize innovative acquisition authorities and take measured and calculated risks. I would like to note that nearly 50 years ago, Admiral Hyman Rickover—Father of the Nuclear Navy—testified before this subcommittee about the core problem in managing complex development programs. 

Rickover observed that the military rotation system where program managers are replaced every 2-3 years was a major cause of problems. Rickover testified that due to the short duration in the job, program managers “have only the shallowest knowledge of the theory of the techniques they must deal with and little experience with the practical problems involved. And they are never kept long enough on the job to acquire such skill and knowledge. Before the results are in, the manager will have moved and a new manager, equally unqualified technically, will take his place.” Rickover continued, “naturally the new manager will feel no responsibility for prior decisions and actions; his primary ambition will be to keep the project moving in the hope that it will not fail during his own tour.  Thus, responsibility cannot be fixed and there is bound to be little continuity in technical direction for most of the defense developments underway today”. I believe Rickover’s assessment is as true today as it was then.  So, I hope senior leadership in the Department takes Rickover’s assessment to heart because fixing acquisition will be critical for the Department to deliver the weapons systems and capabilities the nation needs.

Furthermore, you are keenly aware of my unwavering support for innovation. The Department has made progress in this area through the Defense Innovation Community of Entities, often referred to as DICE, which includes several of your organizations. The Defense Innovation Unit (D-I-U) leads the DICE. It is my expectation that the Services collaborate with D-I-U and optimize the rigor of mature Program Executive Offices with D-I-U’s flexibility and proximity to extraordinary technological hubs to partner on innovative solutions addressing Combatant Commanders’ needs.  

Finally, it is worth noting that we are in the process of consultation directed by the full-year continuing resolution for defense. While we are all disappointed that we did not complete a regular defense appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2025, I am interested in hearing how the Department of the Air Force will navigate the remainder of the year. We will work closely with you throughout this budget process to find ways we can accelerate the fielding of the platforms needed by our warfighters today. With that, I’ll yield to the Ranking Member, Ms. McCollum, for any opening remarks she would like to make.