CATEGORY: INNOVATION IN OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
Determining Priorities in a Cluttered and Turbulent Environment by NATHANIEL CREGIER, U.S. AIR FORCE
I had a busy summer in 2019. I pinned on my new 1st Lieutenant rank, completed two years as an acquisition officer for the USAF, and started a new assignment in the F-15 system program office on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The air was always buzzing in the F-15 office because it’s packed with as much energy, history, and innovation as the airframe it supports. I was assigned to the Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) team, where the buzzing seemed to reach an apex. It wouldn’t take long for me to realize why. EPAWSS is the new electronic warfare system for the F-15, responsible for protecting the airframe and its Airmen from Radio Frequency threats. It is the largest modification to the F-15 and is integrated throughout the entire airframe. It has been a program of record since FY13 [Fiscal Year 2013] 1 and entered into the Engineering, Manufacturing, and Design (EMD) phase after a successful Milestone B in November 2016 2 . If everything had gone according to plan, EPAWSS would have completed EMD and entered into the procurement phase of the program in late FY19 shortly after my arrival, but the program hit some turbulence. In the spring of 2019, the team was formally notified by the prime contractor of an Over Target Budget (OTB) and an Over Target Schedule (OTS) on the Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF) EMD contract for EPAWSS. The OTB and OTS were both almost double the baseline budget and schedule. Since the baseline budget profile assumed that the EMD phase was going to end in FY19, with minimal Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding required in FY20 to transition the program into the procurement phase, it was clear that EPAWSS would not be able to cover the additional costs with its baseline budget profile (Table 1).
Table 1. FY16-FY20 Total Enacted RDT&E Budgets
Total Enacted Budget (Dollas in Thousands)
Program Element Number
Published Date
Item Source
FY16 FY17
FY18 FY19 FY20
027171F 027171F 027171F 027171F 027171F
F-15 EPAWSS FY17 PB Jan 2016 180,681
F-15 EPAWSS FY18 PB May 2017 F-15 EPAWSS FY19 PB May 2017 F-15 EPAWSS FY20 PB May 2017 F-15 EPAWSS FY21 PB May 2017
256,669
209,847
137,095
47,322
Source: Compiled by author on information from Air Force projected budget figures for research, test, and evaluation for Fiscal Years 2017-2021.
Figure 1. Baseline and Post-OTS Schedule for EPAWSS EMD Program as of 3Q FY19 3
Source: Compiled by author from data in Selected Acquisition Report for F-15 EPAWSS as of Fiscal Year 2020.
Due to the timing of the notification, there was not enough time to increase the program’s RDT&E budget for FY20 through the normal budgeting cycle, and efforts to secure additional funding outside of the budgeting cycle were unsuccessful (Figure 1). The team had not yet prepared a contingency plan in the event that EPAWSS received no ad- ditional RDT&E funding in FY20, which looked more likely by the day. Shortly after my arrival and with only 2 months until FY20 began, I brought this concern to my leadership and was treated according to the customs of our military heritage. I was told some variation of the line, “You’re right, thanks for volunteering to lead the solution. You should really get a move on.” I was off to the races.
May-June 2025 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION
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