U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said Jan. 18 that she wants to increase the portion of the service’s budget devoted to science and technology.
The Air Force currently spends less than 2 percent of its funding on basic and applied research, and Wilson believes that that figure needs to grow to ensure the service keeps its edge in air and space over the long term.
The Air Force’s fiscal year 2019 budget request, which is due to be unveiled in early February, will begin to reflect this increased emphasis on S&T, she said during an event at the National Academy of Sciences. Future funding levels will also be influenced by a year-long review of Air Force research efforts that the service announced in September (Defense Daily, Sept. 18, 2017).
Wilson said that building Air Force support for more S&T is “very difficult” but that the service needs to protect its “seed corn.” According to the service, past S&T spending has yielded such advances as jet engines and the Global Positioning System.
There are “not a lot of advocates within the service itself for that marginal dollar to go to something that may pay off in 20 years,” Wilson said. “It’s hard to explain sometimes why it really matters, but if you look back at history, it has really mattered. We would not have the Air Force we have today if our predecessors hadn’t made those investments 50 years ago.”
The Air Force Research Laboratory announced Jan. 18 that it will hold 14 “innovations workshops” at universities and other research centers across the country from March to July to gather input for the S&T review.