Will Commercial Specifications Meet Our Future Air Power Needs?

To meet today's National security challenge, the Air Force must maintain its technological superiority by using and maintaining a strong industrial base. The Air Force must do this in an environment of declining defense spending and rapidly paced development of key technologies in the electronics market. In order to meet this challenge, the Air Force must reduce its acquisition costs and remove any barriers to ensure greater access to the latest commercial technologies. On 29 June 1994, Secretary of Defense William Perry issued a memorandum that gave preference to performance and commercial specifications over Military specifications (MILSPECs) and standards (MILSTDs). While the intent of the memorandum is good, its implementation has been overzealous with the banning of MILSPECs with no regard for the phase of the acquisition, performance information or whether a commercial specification or standard is available. The Air Force must carefully manage the use of specifications and standards, be it military, commercial or performance, to ensure access to the latest available technologies while still obtaining a quality product, at the lowest possible cost, that will be supportable in the field.