“We must do what we’ve done many times in the past – work to maintain air and space dominance,” Meink said. While the U.S. still holds an advantage, he noted, “the ability for us to dominate the air domain has really come under threat a number of times; we’ve had our cage rattled a bit. But we went after it and today the U.S. has dominance.”
Meink emphasised that success depends on faster innovation. “Our job is to maintain that dominance, the advantage that the U.S. has always had. We have to innovate faster. … The only way we will be able to maintain our advantage is to innovate and we have to innovate faster than our adversaries,” he said.
Modernisation is a central element of this approach. To illustrate the point, Meink displayed two photographs taken 30 years apart, both showing him beside the same KC-135 tanker, still in service and providing a critical mission. He said this highlighted why “the Department of the Air Force is undergoing what Meink said is the most aggressive modernization campaign in its 78-year history.”
He cited projects including the F-47 sixth-generation fighter, the in-service F-35, the F-15EX, upgrades to the B-52 bomber, the B-21 bomber programme, the Sentinel project for nuclear deterrence, space control initiatives, and the development of Collaborative Combat Aircraft. He also drew attention to the challenge of scaling production of advanced munitions.
Meink argued that innovation must extend beyond hardware. “We have to be innovative in how we operate. We have to be innovative in how we maintain our systems. We have to be innovative in how we train. We really need to be innovative across the board,” he said. He also highlighted the importance of technical expertise in acquisitions, noting: “There is no replacement for technical skill in acquisitions.”
On readiness, he said he “didn’t appreciate how significant that readiness challenge was.” He identified priorities such as improving survivability in contested environments, boosting spare parts reliability, using data more effectively, and treating installations as integral to operations. “Our facilities are part of our weapon systems. In many cases, we fight from our facilities, both in the Air and Space Force side of the house,” he said.
Finally, Meink stressed that people remain the Department’s most important asset. “People are the most important thing we have; the most critical…I have zero concern about the ability of the Department to employ combat power. We have the best trained, most talented workforce the Department of the Air Force has ever had,” he said. He closed with a challenge to the audience: “If we, as leadership, are not doing everything we can to support you, moving fast and being innovative, then you need to tell us because we will not be successful without that.”
Source: U.S. Air Force.
