WASHINGTON — Troy Meink, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Air Force, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee March 27, and made the case that the U.S. must accelerate its space capabilities to counter rapidly advancing Chinese threats.
If confirmed, Meink — currently deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) — would oversee both the Air Force and the Space Force at a time of heightened competition with China and Russia. His extensive background in national security space programs and defense acquisition drew broad interest from lawmakers eager to assess his approach to modernizing U.S. air and space capabilities.
Meink was asked about how he would ensure the Space Force can maintain technological superiority over adversaries. Meink characterized space as a contested domain requiring urgent investment.
“Space is critical,” Meink told the committee. “This is actually one of the areas that we’re most challenged, I believe, from the rapidly evolving threat from China and others, both the direct threat to our systems as well as the threat those systems pose to our operations across the department in general.”
Need for skilled space workforce
Meink stressed the need for a skilled workforce within the Space Force, particularly in acquisition and operations. “These are some of the most complicated systems, and if the U.S. is going to maintain our advantage, which we need to do in space, we need to make sure we have the right workforce.” He signaled his intent to push for additional resources, stating, “We need the right number of guardians, but we also need the skills training, support, and focus to deliver and operate those systems.”
Meink warned that the U.S. risks falling behind if it does not accelerate innovation.
“Near-peer competitors such as China are evolving faster than we are in some cases, which will eventually result in the U.S. losing our technological advantage,” he said. “Some competitors, such as Russia, are fielding highly escalatory asymmetric capabilities.”
Meink also positioned himself as an advocate for innovation, citing his work at the NRO in leveraging commercial technologies to streamline acquisitions and reduce costs.
“I spent the last decade increasing competition and expanding the industry base, which has significantly accelerated delivery of capability and at a lower cost,” he said. “I intend to bring that same drive for innovation to the Department.”
He suggested a shift in space acquisitions, moving away from “legacy practices of bespoke, siloed systems” toward integration with commercial solutions. “Top-level requirements need to be written in broad mission areas, which allows the acquisition community to decompose them in ways that allow for rapid technological insertion, increased adaptation of commercial capabilities, and the flexibility to trade performance for speed in certain circumstances.”
Meink’s testimony generally received a positive reception from the committee, with several senators lauding his space expertise and experience leading classified defense programs.
