Reversing the Propulsion Stagnation: Sneden Outlines the Path to Speed and Scale

  • Published
  • By Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Public Affairs
DAYTON, Ohio — During an address at the Turbine Engine Technology Symposium (TETS) at the Dayton Convention Center on August 31, John Sneden, Air Force Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Propulsion (PAE), shared an ambitious vision for the future of U.S. Air Force propulsion.

While acknowledging the challenges of the past three decades, Sneden emphasized that the Air Force is actively turning the page and building momentum.

“After a period that produced only one new non-derivative military aircraft engine since the 1990s, we are embracing a bold transformation designed to restore America’s propulsion edge,” Sneden said. “We are accelerating our technology pipelines and fundamentally strengthening our business partnerships.”

A New Enterprise Operating Model

At the core of Sneden’s vision is a shift from fragmented, program-specific stovepipes to a horizontally integrated propulsion portfolio. He is organizing the workforce and portfolio around three areas:

The Fielded Fleet — Focused on strengthening supplier capacity, resolving single-source vulnerabilities, executing long-term multi-year sustainment contracts, and stabilizing operational readiness across active aircraft fleets.

The Fast Fleet — Accelerating the delivery of upgraded capabilities at the speed of relevance through digital twins, advanced and additive manufacturing, and rapid prototyping efforts.

The Future Fleet — Serving as an innovation incubator for next-generation capabilities, while establishing Government Reference Architectures (GRA) to prevent vendor lock and preserve competition.

To govern this approach, the Air Force has empowered a cross-functional decision-making body called the Capability Trade Council (CTC) to govern this approach. Sneden will act as chair and will serve alongside other propulsion leaders, weapon system PAEs, and other key stakeholders to make enterprise-level trades.

Sneden highlighted several initiatives already delivering promising results:
 
  • Digital twins are rapidly moving from concept to reality. The completed digital twin for the F100 engine recently validated a major repair in a virtual environment, saving approximately 1,000 engineering hours.
  • Advanced manufacturing and additive techniques have achieved dramatic improvements, including a 50 percent reduction in unit costs and a 30 percent increase in manufacturing throughput on small turbine engine programs.
  • Flexible contracting vehicles — including the Propulsion Consortium (using Other Transaction Authority) and the Advanced Propulsion Acquisition Contract — are creating faster pathways for technology maturation and broader industry participation.
  • A planned 10-year joint enterprise sustainment contract that links four Services across the Department of War aims to provide the stable, predictable demand that industry needs to invest with confidence.
Sneden stressed that the government is moving toward longer-term, performance-based partnerships and predictable demand signals. In return, he expects industry to respond with serious investment and speed.

He called on industry partners to invest their own capital, upgrade facilities, upskill their workforce, adopt digital engineering standards, and increase manufacturing capacity and agility.

Sneden closed by framing the effort as far larger than any single program.

“We’re one enterprise executing one unified strategy to deliver absolute propulsion advantage in the United States Air Force and our industry partners,” Sneden said. “I look forward to working with all of you to transform the propulsion enterprise.”