Roper: COVID-19 impact on USAF acquisition programs will 'evolve daily'

Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper said today he's been "amazed at how little disruption" the COVID-19 outbreak has caused to Air Force and Space Force programs, but said the service continues to monitor the effects of the pandemic.

"As we complete our first week of response, our teams navigated potential work stoppages, changing local and state directives, halted supply chains, and gearing up to support any national Defense Production Act requirements," Roper said in a statement. "Ongoing dialogues -- including those with other departments and industry leaders -- are focused on further empowering the field, providing additional resources, and managing cost and schedule impacts flexibly."

The statement comes as Boeing announced it will halt all production in the Puget Sound area for two weeks -- a pause that will temporarily suspend KC-46 airborne refueling tanker production. A Boeing spokesman said the production hold won't impact March deliveries, as the company has already delivered the two tankers it had planned for the month. Work to improve the tanker's troubled remote vision system will continue off-site, the spokesman confirmed.

Roper noted in his statement that the service is working to maintain a long-term focus even as near-term impacts of the coronavirus loom.

"There were so many examples of innovation this past week -- it makes me exceptionally proud to serve on this team and exceptionally hopeful we will slalom through the obstacles next week and weeks after," he said. "I have the utmost confidence that our Air Force and Space Force acquisition team will get through this unprecedented time and be a stronger department for it."