The Air Force Science & Technology 2030 Strategy

Video Above: Air War in 2050 – Air Force Research Lab Commander

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

The Air Force is accelerating efforts to break new ground and implement various directives related to its formal Science & Technology 2030 Strategy. The document was first signed in 2019 by former Secretary Heather Wilson, and has been steadily pursued by Air Force weapons developers, scientists and researchers looking for paradigm-changing new technologies.

Air Force Science & Technology 2030 Strategy

The document, supported and refined by subsequent and current Air Force leadership, seeks to optimize areas of scientific focus to ensure the service is prepared and in front as the global threat environment continues to evolve and become more dangerous.

Key areas of emphasis within the strategy pertain to explorations of a number of fast-evolving areas such as hypersonics, AI, manned-unmanned teaming, composite materials, stealth technologies, networking and weapons guidance. With hypersonics, one key area of focus, which is now achieving measurable progress, is in an area called “boundary layer phenomenology,” which pertains to the study of “air flow” surrounding a hypersonic projectile. 

Air War in 2050 – Air Force Research Lab Commander on Hypersonics