Roper slated to become Air Force acquisition chief

The White House has announced its intent to nominate Will Roper, the head of the Pentagon's Strategic Capabilities Office, to serve as the Air Force's acquisition executive.

Roper is the founding director of the SCO, which is the Defense Department's hub for developing cutting-edge, fast-paced technology.

If nominated and confirmed, he would fill an Air Force role that has been vacant since Bill LaPlante left in 2015, and would enter the job as the service works to more aggressively implement rapid capability principles.

Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the current military deputy for acquisition, told Inside Defense in October the service is developing a charter to establish rapid acquisition authorities for mainstream programs.

Roper previously served as acting chief architect at the Missile Defense Agency and before that, as a national security analyst at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.