US Armed Forces

[Khafee]

Air Force Logistics Commander in Korea Fired Due to Loss of Confidence
30 Apr 2020

Lt. Col. Michael Kearney (U.S. Air Force photo)

A commander of the logistics readiness squadron at Osan Air Base, South Korea, has been removed from his post due to a loss of confidence in his ability to lead.

Lt. Col. Michael Kearney, commander of the 51st Logistics Readiness Squadron, was removed from his post by Col. John Gonzales, 51st Fighter Wing commander, on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson from the 51st Fighter Wing.

“The decision was made due to loss of confidence in Kearney’s ability to effectively lead the squadron,” the spokesperson said in an email.
“Kearney has been reassigned to 7th Air Force, where he will work under the A4 logistics, engineering, and force protection directorate. Maj. Hans Hobbs, 51st LRS director of operations, has assumed temporary command of the squadron until the new commander arrives,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did not provide additional details on whether an investigation precipitated Kearney’s removal.
According to the 51st LRS Facebook group, Kearney has been at the squadron at least since 2017.

The 51st LRS contributes to the wing’s operations through planning and direction for the distribution of equipment.

Last year, airmen from the squadron helped prepare for President Donald Trump’s visit to the region for the second U.S. and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam, according to a release.

The airmen assisted in “securing diplomatic clearances for the cargo” in addition to coordinating plans between Osan, Kunsan, Suwon and Kadena Air Bases in the theater, the release said.

 

[Khafee]

SEALs Tried to Locate US Citizen Taken by Afghan Militants
30 Apr 2020
The Associated Press | By JAMES LAPORTA and ERIC TUCKER

Mark Frerichs, a contractor from Illinois, poses in Iraq in this undated photo obtained from Twitter that he would include with his resume when job hunting. Frerichs was abducted in Afghanistan in January 2020. Early efforts to locate him have been shrouded in mystery and his disappearance has been the subject of minimal public discussion by the U.S. government. (Twitter via AP)

WASHINGTON — In the days following the capture of an American contractor in Afghanistan earlier this year, Navy commandos raided a village and detained suspected members of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network while the U.S. intelligence community tried to track the cellphones of the man and his captors, The Associated Press has learned.

While the circumstances surrounding the abduction remain unclear, the previously unreported operation described by multiple American officials over the past month shed new light on early efforts to locate Mark R. Frerichs. The disappearance several months ago of the contractor from Illinois has been shrouded in mystery, and the case has been the subject of minimal public discussion by the U.S. government.

The new details emerge as violence and political infighting in Kabul threaten to scuttle a Taliban peace deal with the U.S. Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced frustrations after a failed attempt to mediate a power struggle between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.

Washington has urged Kabul to release Taliban prisoners, which is part of the peace agreement.

But there are no indications Frerichs, a Navy veteran, has been part of negotiations between the U.S. and Taliban leadership, or that his release is part of any peace deal.

“The Taliban kidnapped my brother in January. In February, the U.S. signed a peace deal with the Taliban. My brother wasn’t part of the deal. Now we are arranging for the Taliban and Afghan government to exchange thousands of prisoners,” Charlene Cakora, one of Frerichs’ sisters, said in an emailed statement to the AP. “Why can’t we make an American hostage be one of them?”

Frerichs’ father, Art, said in a statement that though he has faith in President Donald Trump and Pompeo, “I just need them to tell their people negotiating with the Taliban that America won’t lift a finger until my son comes home. He’s a veteran. This is America. We don’t leave people behind.”

The Pentagon and U.S. Special Operations Command declined to comment. The rescue effort is being coordinated through the FBI-led Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, which said in a statement that it was working with its partners to ensure “that Mark Frerichs and all Americans held hostage abroad are returned home.” It urged anyone with information to come forward.

The State Department said it was aware of an American who’d been abducted in Afghanistan and that the “welfare, safety and security of Americans is the Trump Administration’s highest priority."

A former U.S. national security official who is advising the Frerichs family said he specifically urged Washington peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to resolve the situation and bring Frerichs home. The former national security official insisted on anonymity to speak candidly since the official works with the Trump administration.

U.S. officials believe Frerichs, 57, of Lombard, Illinois, was held for at least some time in Khost, an eastern province along the border with Pakistan and its so-called tribal regions, a mountainous area that has historically been a haven for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

The former national security official said that Frerichs has been in Afghanistan for about a decade working on commercial projects and was not a U.S. government contractor.

Though no formal demands are known to have been made, U.S. intelligence officials believe Frerichs was captured by members of the Haqqani network, a militant group that is aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan and that was designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2012.

Though the Haqqanis are known to carry out assassinations and kidnappings for ransom, Taliban leadership has not acknowledged Frerichs’ capture.
Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican and Army veteran who led the teams that searched for Bowe Bergdahl after the Army soldier abandoned his post and wound up captured by the Taliban, said the Taliban frequently hides American hostages until they can move them over the border into Pakistan.

He said he had “real concerns about suggestions that the Taliban are serious about peace."

The SEALs involved in the Frerichs effort had spent late January working to recover the bodies of two American service members who died when their aircraft crash-landed in Ghazni in central Afghanistan, according to the senior U.S. government official.

The bitter winter weather that limited overhead surveillance of the airplane wreckage by U.S. military drones also worked against officials during the later SEAL operation on the night of Feb. 3. Periods of poor-to-nonexistent visibility ultimately delayed a planned intelligence-gathering operation on a known Taliban location, said the senior U.S. government official.

Once the weather cleared, the SEALs loaded onto helicopters and flew to the undisclosed location. The senior official declined to disclose the exact location of the province for operational security reasons.

The senior U.S. government official and the Defense Department source with knowledge of the raid, who also requested anonymity, said the SEAL platoon was not met with Taliban resistance and that once at the compound, they detained several alleged Haqqani militants and uncovered a weapons cache.

The suspected Haqqani members were questioned about Frerichs’ whereabouts and were ultimately turned over to the Afghan government, according to the senior U.S. government official.

On Feb. 4, American intelligence officials received a report that Frerichs had possibly been moved to Quetta, Pakistan, a historical safe haven for the Taliban, the two officials said. But the information was deemed not credible enough to warrant a special operations mission, according to the senior U.S. government official.

The report also conflicted with signals intelligence — information gathered from electronic signals broadcast from devices like portable radios and cellphones — that U.S. officials had at the time.

U.S. intelligence officials continued to receive location pings from the suspected cellphones of Frerichs and his captors, but the trail went cold on Feb. 5, according to the senior U.S. government and Defense Department officials.

“Operationally, the reason why time is critical in a kidnapping is because you can close the distance quicker, ideally immediately or by utilizing sources,” said the senior U.S. government official. “This is not the case right now. He could be two houses down from where he was taken and we would not know.”

 

[Khafee]

US Troops Who Suffered TBIs in Missile Attack Recommended for Purple Hearts
30 Apr 2020
By Richard Sisk

In this Monday, Jan. 13, 2020 photo, U.S. Soldiers stand near their residence area that was destroyed by Iranian bombing at Ain al-Asad air base, in Anbar, Iraq. (AP Photo/Qassim Abdul-Zahra)

An unspecified number of the more than 100 troops who were treated for traumatic brain injuries suffered in a January missile attack on Al Asad air base in Iraq have been recommended for Purple Hearts, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday.

Officials have previously stated that Purple Heart recommendations have come from unit commanders and the individual military branches for those injured in the Jan. 8 Iranian missile strikes on the air base.

"The Purple Heart submissions remain under review and are being processed in accordance with Defense Department and military service regulations," Pentagon spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell said in a statement Wednesday. "Upon completion, service members entitled to receive the Purple Heart will be notified by their leadership."

She gave no timeline for the process, but CNN, citing three defense officials, reported that "final decisions" on awarding possibly dozens of Purple Hearts could be coming soon from Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve and the Defense Department.

At a Feb. 3 news briefing, Pentagon chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman cited general standards for awarding the Purple Heart -- standards that appeared to qualify most of the troops who were treated for TBI after the Iranian missile strikes.

He said Purple Heart eligibility for TBI required a doctor's diagnosis and confirmation that the injury forced the service member to miss at least two days of duty for treatment.

Some of those injured in the Al Asad attack were evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and to the states for treatment and would appear to qualify for Purple Hearts.

Hoffman said recommendations for Purple Hearts were mainly "a question for the services" with final approval coming from the Defense Department.

"The process is going to play out," he said. "Fortunately, all the cases to date have been characterized as mild TBI, which is the equivalent of concussions."

In the early years of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the military appeared reluctant to award Purple Hearts for TBI, but awards have been made more regularly as TBI from improvised explosive devices and other blasts became known as the "signature" combat injury of the wars.

In 2011, DoD updated the criteria for awarding the Purple Heart in cases of TBI, stating that the injury had to be caused by enemy action or suffered in action against an enemy, and had to require treatment by a medical officer or certification that it would have required treatment if available.

The Iranian missile strikes on Al Asad were in response to the Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike at Baghdad International Airport that killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani.

President Donald Trump and Pentagon officials initially said there were no U.S. casualties from the missile strikes on Al Asad, but symptoms of TBI can often take days to appear.

On Jan. 16, U.S. Central Command stated that several of the troops at Al Asad "were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed."

When asked about the growing number of concussions, Trump told reporters in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22 that, "I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I would say and I can report that it's not very serious. I don't consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries that I've seen."

The Pentagon has since said that at least 109 troops at Al Asad on the night of the attacks suffered mild TBI.

In the early morning hours immediately after the missile attacks, and after briefing Trump at the White House, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said off-camera at the Pentagon that the launches "were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment, and to kill personnel. That's my own personnel assessment."

His initial judgment was that the missiles carried 1,000-2,000 pound warheads.

On April 7, Air Forces Central Command published accounts from more than 20 Airmen at Al Asad testifying to the ferocity of the attacks that lasted an estimated 90 minutes.

Capt. Nate Brown recalled taking cover with others in a bunker.

Then, "the next wave hits. Then the next, and the next. I have no idea if anyone is alive outside this bunker."

 

[Khafee]

Lockheed Martin to design and upgrade submarine EW system
30 April 2020

Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Syracuse, New York, is awarded a $13,227,000 engineering services, cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded delivery order under indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the design, prototyping and qualification testing for the TI-20 AN/BLQ-10.

The contract includes the design, prototyping and qualification testing for the TI-20 AN/BLQ-10.

The AN/BLQ-10 system is an open architecture platform to accommodate current and future mission needs and technology upgrades.

The AN/BLQ-10 submarine EW system processes radar signals through masts and periscopes to detect threats such as counter detection, collision and target locations. Crews can rapidly analyse and identify critical signals to determine hostile, neutral or friendly situations.

The system's first technology insertion in 2008 added a subsystem to intercept some low-probability-of-intercept radar signals. Fielded upgrades from the 2010 technology insertions updated commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors and displays, and Improved Communications Acquisition and Direction Finding (ICADF) system.

Work will be performed in Syracuse, New York, and is expected to be complete by February 2021.

 

[Khafee]

US Navy Large Unmanned Surface and Undersea Vehicles: Background and Issues
30 April 2020

The Sea Hunter, a Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV) (Picture source: US Navy/John Grady)

The Navy in FY2021 and beyond wants to develop and procure three types of large unmanned vehicles (UVs).

These large UVs are called Large Unmanned Surface Vehicles (LUSVs), Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicles (MUSVs), and Extra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUVs).

The Navy is requesting $579.9 million in FY2021 research and development funding for these large UVs and their enabling technologies.

Congressional Research Service Report Summary*

The Navy wants to acquire these large UVs as part of an effort to shift the Navy to a more distributed fleet architecture. Compared to the current fleet architecture, this more distributed architecture is to include proportionately fewer large surface combatants (i.e., cruisers and destroyers), proportionately more small surface combatants (i.e., frigates and Littoral Combat Ships), and the addition of significant numbers of large UVs.

The Navy wants to employ accelerated acquisition strategies for procuring these large UVs, so as to get them into service more quickly. The Navy’s desire to employ these accelerated acquisition strategies can be viewed as an expression of the urgency that the Navy attaches to fielding large UVs for meeting future military challenges from countries such as China.

The Navy envisions LUSVs as being 200 feet to 300 feet in length and having full-load displacements of 1,000 tons to 2,000 tons. The Navy wants LUSVs to be low-cost, high-endurance, reconfigurable ships based on commercial ship designs, with ample capacity for carrying various modular payloads—particularly anti-surface warfare (ASuW) and strike payloads, meaning principally anti-ship and land-attack missiles. Although referred to as UVs, LUSVs might be more accurately described as optionally or lightly manned ships, because they might sometimes have a few onboard crew members, particularly in the nearer term as the Navy works out LUSV enabling technologies and operational concepts.

In marking up the Navy’s proposed FY2020 budget, some of the congressional defense committees expressed concerns over whether the Navy’s accelerated acquisition strategies provided enough time to adequately develop concepts of operations and key technologies for these large UVs, particularly the LUSV.

In response, the Navy’s FY2021 budget submission proposes to modify the acquisition strategy for the LUSV program so as to provide more time for developing operational concepts and key technologies before entering into serial production of deployable units. Under the Navy’s proposed modified LUSV acquisition strategy, the Navy is proposing to use research and development funding to acquire two additional prototypes in FY2021 and one more additional prototype in FY2022 before shifting in FY2023 to the use of procurement funding for the procurement of deployable LUSVs at annual procurement rates in FY2023-FY2025 of 2-2-3.

The Navy defines MUSVs as being 45 feet to 190 feet long, with displacements of roughly 500 tons. The Navy wants MUSVs, like LUSVs, to be low-cost, high-endurance, reconfigurable ships that can accommodate various payloads. Initial payloads for MUSVs are to be intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) payloads and electronic warfare (EW) systems.

The Navy is pursuing the MUSV program as a rapid prototyping effort under what is known as Section 804 acquisition authority. The first MUSV prototype was funded in FY2019 and the Navy wants to fund the second prototype in FY2023.

The first five XLUUVs were funded in FY2019; they are being built by Boeing. The Navy wants to procure additional XLUUVs at a rate of two per year starting in FY2023. The Navy’s FY2021 budget submission does not include funding for the procurement of additional XLUUVs in FY2021 or FY2022.

The Navy’s large UV programs pose a number of oversight issues for Congress, including issues relating to the analytical basis for the more distributed fleet architecture; the Navy’s accelerated acquisition strategies for these programs; technical, schedule, and cost risk in the programs; the proposed annual procurement rates for the programs; the industrial base implications of the programs; potential implications for miscalculation or escalation at sea; the personnel implications of the programs; and whether the Navy has accurately priced the work it is proposing to do in FY2021 on the programs.

 

[Khafee]

Air Force Wants 30 Flying Cars in the Next 10 Years
01 May 2020

NEC Corp.'s machine with propellers hovers at the company's facility in Abiko near Tokyo, Monday, Aug. 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

The popular television show "The Jetsons" gave viewers an animated glimpse of a world where flying cars were so common, they were used as family vehicles. Now, the Air Force wants a fleet of its own airborne vehicles by the end of the decade, according to its top technology official.
"We want to have 30 vehicles in the Air Force by 2030,"said Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, told reporters during a video call Wednesday. "There are multiple companies that can do that."

Once the military proves the safety of these "flying cars" -- part of an initiative known as Agility Prime -- the domestic market stands to benefit as well, he said.

The Air Force kicked off the launch for Agility Prime via a virtual conference focused on the development of flying cars for both the Pentagon and everyday citizens.

The goal of the conference was to outline "the strategic imperative to innovate through collaboration with investors, industry, and interagency partners," for the use of the airborne vehicles, according to the service.

Roper on Wednesday said Agility Prime would not just focus on one vehicle design -- some vehicles tested will be larger for cargo, others smaller and solely for moving people.
"Most of the vendors have a plan to have a pilot as well as autonomous operations," he added.
"Since we have put our hand up and said, 'We want to accelerate this market so that it's dual-use, the military wants to buy the exact same vehicle that would be available domestically,' companies have shared with us privately that they have seen the amount of investment given by venture capitalists go up," Roper said. "And they expect that that will continue the further we go through the door on competition."

The Air Force plans to request funding for flying car research in the fiscal 2022 budget request, in addition to the research funding the service already set aside for the experiment, he said.

While the military demand for flying vehicles would be smaller than that of the commercial market, Agility Prime represents an opportunity for the Defense Department to be a testbed, jumpstarting the initiative and also driving costs down, Roper said.

"We're a great bridge market to not just get companies flight hours and build competence, but to be regulators, certifiers of all types for local and state governments," he said. "And to also let companies start getting production scale up."

Based on the interest from the virtual online conference, Roper predicted that "quite a few companies can compete very successfully."

The Air Force in February made the first move to add non-traditional "flying car"-type aircraft into its inventory through a request seeking prototypes that include "emerging electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing technologies (eVTOL) and urban/advanced air mobility (UAM/AAM) aircraft.

The solicitation follows years of interest from the U.S. military, which is already eyeing a replacement for the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft in the role of battlefield transport and resupply.

The recent program solicitation under the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, requests that as these systems mature toward certified commercial operations, "the government will identify opportunities for early adoption, with the potential for procurement and fielding in the next three years."

Officials at Air Force Materiel Command refer to the vehicles as "ORBs," or organic resupply buses.

ORBs are not necessarily "drones, cars, helicopters, trucks, airplanes, motorcycles, or SUVs, but might support similar missions," or encompass a mix of these roles, the notice states.

"Given their flexibility, an ORB could act as an organic resupply bus for disaster relief teams, an operational readiness bus for improved aircraft availability, and an open requirements bus for a growing diversity of missions," according to the notice.

Additionally, moving quickly through the acquisition process is an underlying objective, Roper said.

"Examples like the Agility Prime [program] could be everywhere in future," Roper said Wednesday. "They need to be everywhere in the future, as long as emerging markets are commercially oriented."

"It will help make the US. government, particularly the Air Force and Space Force, better partners in commercial innovation," he added.

 

[Khafee]

EA-18G Contract modification
01 May 2020

Boeing won a $9.7 million contract modification provides engineering, manufacturing and development support to integrate BRR3.1 software to the Next Generation Jammer on Boeing EA-18G Growler carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, resulting in BRR3.1 software initial operating capability. EA-18G Growler is an airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft, which operates from either an aircraft carrier or from land-bases. The Growler was developed as a replacement for the United States Navy EA-6B Prowler aircraft that entered service in 1971 and is approaching the end of operational life. Work will take place in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be complete by December 2020.

From the US Dept of Def Website:
The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $9,669,789 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00034) to previously awarded contract N00019-16-C-0032. This modification provides engineering, manufacturing and development support to integrate BRR3.1 software to the Next Generation Jammer on Boeing EA-18G Growler carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, resulting in BRR3.1 software initial operating capability.

Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be complete by December 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,000,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

 

[Khafee]

Trump taps military reserves for anti-narcotics effort in Caribbean
May 1, 2020

The USS Pinckney cruises beside U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Northland during an exercise on Sunday. The vessels are deployed to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility to counter illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Erick A. Parsons/U.S. Navy/UPI

May 1 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump said he's activated units and individual members of the U.S. Armed Forces reserves for an ongoing counter-narcotics effort in the Caribbean.

In an executive order Thursday, Trump authorized Defense Secretary Mike Esper to tap any military reserve unit for as long as a year for the effort to double U.S. capabilities in the region.

The authorization can include up to 200 reservists at any one time, the order said.

The counter-narcotics operation was announced last month by U.S. Southern Command as part of an internationally supported operation "to reduce the availability of illicit drugs and save lives in the United States and throughout the region."

The stated aim is to reduce the flow of illicit drugs, repel international drug cartels and strengthen U.S. ties with 22 nations partnering in the action.

Trump said last month the United States would deploy additional Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft helicopters, Coast Guard cutters and Air Force surveillance aircraft closer to Venezuela after President Nicolas Maduro was indicted on narcotics trafficking charges.

"As governments and nations focus on the coronavirus, there is a growing threat that cartels, criminals, terrorists and other malign actors will try to exploit the situation for their own gain," Trump said at the time. "We must not let that happen."

Esper said the operation targets "corrupt actors like the illegitimate Maduro regime" in the Caribbean region.

 

[Khafee]

Northrop Grumman awarded $123.5M to integrate Navy LAIRCM system
May 1, 2020

Northrop Grumman received a $123.5 million deal to integrate the Navy's Large Aircraft Countermeasure System, shown here attached to a KC-135 Stratotanker, on aircraft for the U.S. military and allies. Photo by Scott Sturkol/U.S. Air Force

May 1 (UPI) -- Northrop Grumman received a $123.5 million contract modification Friday to integrate the Department of Navy Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures system onto aircraft for the U.S. military and two allied governments.

The deal funds integration of the DON LAIRCM system onto aircraft for the Navy, Army and Air Force, as well as the governments of Norway and New Zealand.

The DON LAIRCM system, a variant of the Air Force's LAIRCM system, is a defensive system for aircraft designed to defend against surface-to-air infrared missile threats.

It combines two-color infrared missile warning sensors -- which detect oncoming missile threats and send information to the processor, which then notifies the crew -- with the Guardian Laser Transmitter Assembly.

In May 2019 Northrop Grumman received $132.2 million to integrate the Navy's LAIRCM system onto aircraft for the Army and Navy, as well as those of Britain and Norway.

Work on the contract will be performed in a variety of U.S. locations, with more than half taking place in Rolling Meadows, Ill., or Goleta, Calif.

Work is expected to be complete by July 2022.

 

[Khafee]

U.S. B-1 Bombers Conduct 32-hour Round-Trip Mission To South China Sea To Demonstrate Global Reach

A B-1B Lancer assigned to the 28th Bomb Wing takes off from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., support a Bomber Task Force mission in the Indo-Pacific region. This operation demonstrates the U.S. Air Force’s dynamic force employment model in line with the National Defense Strategy’s objectives of strategic predictability and operational unpredictability. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Nicolas Erwin)

The BONEs launched from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota.
Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers (or “BONEs” from B-One, as the bombers are dubbed) belonging to the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth AFB, S.D., conducted an extended deterrence 32-hour round-trip sortie over the South China Sea on April 29, 2020.

According to the Pacific Command, the mission was carried out as part of a joint U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) Bomber Task Force (BTF) mission.
“This operation demonstrates the U.S. Air Force’s dynamic force employment model in line with the National Defense Strategy’s objectives of strategic predictability with persistent bomber presence, assuring allies and partners,” says an official statement released after the mission.

The mission follows a bilateral training where the Ellsworth’s B-1s departed from their homebase integrated with six U.S. Air Force F-16s and 15 Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) F-15s near Japan and returned back home after a nearly 29-hour mission.

“USSTRATCOM has conducted BTF missions (previously known as Bomber Assurance and Deterrence missions) since 2014 as a demonstration of the U.S. commitment to collective security, and to integrate with Geographic Combatant Command operations. The first mission included B-52H Stratofortresses and B-2 Spirits traveling from the continental United States to Joint Base Pearl-Harbor Hickam in April 2014.”

Although such round-trip missions, once dubbed “Global Reach” missions, have been carried out from CONUS (Continental US) every now and then employing both nuclear capable B-52s and B-2s, as well as supersonic B-1 bombers, it’s at least worth noticing that the frequency of these sorties has increased in the last period, likely as a consequence of the end of the “on-site” rotations of bombers to Guam.

Indeed, the USAF has recently completed its last CBP (Continuous Bomber Presence) mission that has been ongoing since 2004 to Andersen Air Force Base; an event that was marked with a final “Elephant Walk” readiness exercise that involved, along with the five B-52s deployed from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, also 6x KC-135 tankers, a USAF RQ-4B Global Hawk drone as well as one of the two U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton that have recently started operating out of the military outpost in the Pacific.

The transition to an employment model that sees the bombers operate in the Indo-Pacific region from their stateside bases is in line with the National Defense Strategy’s objectives of strategic predictability and operational unpredictability. In other words, instead of deploying bombers on 6-month rotations to Guam, the Air Force will leverage CONUS and overseas bases (including Guam, if needed) to project the air power to the Pacifc in a more unpredictable way. In this way, regional opponents, such as China and Russia, can’t directly target and disable a bomber force that is not within reach.

“The rapid employment of airpower directly supports the National Defense Strategy and assures we can provide overwhelming force anywhere, anytime in support of American interests or our Allies and partners,” said Gen. Tim Ray, Air Force Global Strike Command and Air Forces-Strategic commander in a public statement issued on Apr. 22. “This mission [the 29-hour round-trip sortie where it integrated with the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) in the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) area of responsibility] is a demonstration to our friends throughout the region: we will continue to remain fully predictable in our commitment to ensuring peace, while also demonstrating that we have the ability to operate from numerous locations across the globe, even during the global pandemic.”

Interestingly, the last time the B-1 was in the INDOPACOM AOR was during the last B-1’s Continuous Bomber Presence mission at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam in January 2018. The B-1B had started deploying from Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, on Aug. 6, 2016, as part of their first CBP deployment in support of the U.S. Pacific Command’s (USPACOM) deterrence efforts in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region in 10 years. During their deployment to Guam the B-1s belonging to the 37th EBS and then the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron from Dyess AFB, Texas, conducted a variety of joint and bilateral training missions with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, South Korean air force and Royal Australian Air Force, including some symbolic shows of force against North Korea alongside the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B forward based in Japan.

 

[Khafee]

B-52 Stratofortress Bomber Loses Panel During New Orleans Flyover
May 2, 2020

A medical staff member from Overton Brooks V.A. Medical Center stands outside to watch two B-52H Stratofortress aircraft from Barksdale Air Force Base perform a flyover in honor of the medical community in Shreveport, La., April 24, 2020. the 2nd Bomb Wing flew over diffrent medical facilities throughout the cities in Monroe, Shreveport and Bossier City, La., to show appreciation for the hard work local community civilian medical practitioners have done during the COVID-19 pandemic. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Lillian Miller)

A BUFF’s access panel felt onto a private property during salute to COVID-19 essential workers.
On Friday May 1, 2020, Barksdale Air Force Base and Louisiana Air National Guard pilots flew over medical facilities in New Orleans and Baton Rouge to express gratitude for all medical and healthcare professionals who are fighting against Covid-19. Two B-52 Stratofortress bombers, belonging to the 2nd Bomb Wing escorted by two F-15s belonging to the 159th Fighter Wing based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, La., took part in the flyover.

During the leg flown over New Orleans, one of the B-52s lost lost a panel that fell onto a private property. No one was injured.

The panel “was quickly recovered by Air Force personnel, in partnership with local authorities,” Capt. Chris Sullivan, public affairs chief for the 2nd Bomb Wing told Military Times. “A safety investigation will be conducted, as is the standard with these types of events.”

New Orleans and Baton Rouge residents watched the formation over their towns for 10 and 20 minutes. The flight was conducted as part of the America Strong flyovers carried out across the nations by U.S. Air Force aircraft as well as the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels display teams.

According to the flying branch, the service performs almost 1,000 flyovers each year, to include air shows, national-level sporting events, and any event in support of a patriotic holiday. “Flyovers are fully functional training missions, designed to maintain the lethality and readiness of Air Force pilots and maintainers; they are conducted at no additional cost to taxpayers and are incorporated into existing flying schedules.”

The tentative flight pattern and times over New Orleans. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Senior Airman Lillian Miller)

Anyway, it’s not the first time a B-52 of the 2nd BW loses a part. At the end of October 2019, one of the four U.S. B-52 bombers deployed to RAF Fairford, UK, as part of Bomber Task Force Europe 20-1 lost a part that landed in a garden in Brailes, Warwickshire. The object, that did not hurt anybody, was later identified as a wing-tip gear door and was retrieved by 2nd Bomb Wing personnel, in partnership with the UK Ministry of Defense Police.

This is what this Author wrote about this kind of accidents:

Even though it’s not normal nor routine, military (as well as civil) aircraft, even those much younger than the +60-year old Buffs, may lose parts while flying: we have reported about a MiG-35 that lost a panel during MAKS on Aug. 30, 2019; same happened to an F-16 that lost an access panel in flight during the Friday, August 2 practice session for the 2019 Thunder Over Michigan airshow at Willow Run Airport in Romulus, Michigan; an A-10 that lost three practice bombs after a birdstrike in July 2019; an F-35 lost a panel near Okinawa in 2017; a U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender belonging to the 60th Air Mobility Wing lost its flying boom that landed in hay-field on Nov. 1, 2016; etc. There are aircraft which lost targeting pods, others losing fuel tanks or even live missiles (as happened to an Italian F-104 during an Alert Scramble many years ago). It has always happened for some reason or another one. Fortunately, no one was hurt in most of these incidents.

 

[Khafee]

Northrop to soon test Communication Network between 5th Gen Jets
May 2, 2020

Lockheed F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighters

Northrop Grumman will begin testing the US Air Force’s gatewayONE net-centric communication system that will connect the service’s fifth generation platforms such as the F-22 and F-35 jets, soon.

“Northrop Grumman Corporation is rapidly working on developing and fielding a gatewayONE prototype, an open system enabling translation and communication across platforms, in support of the Advanced Battle Management family of Systems (ABMS). Testing of a flight-representative configuration will be conducted in a systems integration laboratory, on the ground, and in the air based on the four-month operational demonstration pace,” the company said in a statement Friday.

Work performed under this program will directly support live demonstrations of the Air Force’s developing Advanced Battle Management family of Systems. This capability could be used to network together the types of aircraft being developed through the Air Force’s Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology initiative.

Northrop’s Freedom radio product line will aid in connecting 5th-to-5th generation aircraft of a single type as well as 5th generation to 4th generation platforms — and via ABMS extend this to enable multiple 5th generation platform types to share and integrate data, helping make interoperability a reality.

Freedom multifunction, software-defined radios are the heart of the F-22 integrated avionics suite and F-35 communications, navigation and identification system. Building upon investments, the company is developing affordable variants customized to fit multiple platforms.

Under the contract, awarded by the USAF Life Cycle Management Center’s C3I & Networks Directorate, Northrop Grumman is providing engineering, management and technical assistance for the Air Force’s integration of net-centric 5th-to-5th generation aircraft communications capabilities and other platforms into a modular, open-architecture gateway.

 

[Khafee]

Lockheed to Continue MDA THAAD System Support Under $618M Follow-On IDIQ
May 4, 2020

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has secured a five-year, $618M to continue product support for the Missile Defense Agency's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system against ballistic missile threats.

The company's missiles and fire control business will help MDA engineer, maintain and secure the weapon system through the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

Work will also involve forward stationing, training, packaging, storage, transportation and safety efforts.

The agency intends to issue a potential $10.4M task order under the IDIQ for battery support services and will obligate $6.3M in fiscal 2020
operations and maintenance funds on the first order.

Contract work will occur in Dallas, Alabama and California. MDA may issue orders through April 29, 2025.

The U.S. military uses THAAD to deter short- to medium-range missiles via a hit-to-kill interception method.

More than 280 vendors nationwide support the program's supply chain, according to Lockheed.

 

[Khafee]

USAF expands hypersonic efforts with plans for another prototype
4th May 2020 - 12:00 GMT | by Jason Sherman in New York

View attachment 12615
The USAF has announced plans to commence a hypersonic cruise missile prototype programme on behalf of the DoD, in an effort to foster a scramjet industrial base and diversify the fledgling portfolio of ultra-fast manoeuvring weapons beyond the current hypersonic boost-glide programme.

On 28 April, the air force published a notice announcing plans for a ‘future hypersonic weapon’ programme, asking industry for proposals to support the goal of a new air-breathing weapon powered by a supersonic combustion ramjet — or scramjet — that could be ready for preliminary design review by Q4 in FY2021.

‘We’re excited about the potential to start that programme,’ Dr Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, told reporters on 29 April. ‘Scramjet is much more mature and ready to go than I originally thought, so we’re preparing to begin a hypersonic cruise missile programme.’

The latest development comes as the USAF narrowed its hypersonic boost-glide prototyping efforts from two to one in February, favouring the smaller of the two candidate weapons: the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon.

‘We will leverage work that is currently ongoing in DARPA as well as our own research laboratory,’ Roper explained, referring to the Hypersonic Air Breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). ‘And the goal is to do what we did with boost-glide technology: get technology out of our laboratories and to help industry start to get ready for production.’

He added that recent advances in scramjet design and fabrication inform his confidence about launching a new programme.
‘I expect that we’ll be able to go pretty quickly on this,’ Roper said. “I don’t expect to be wrong on that.’

‘Scramjet is much more mature and ready to go than I originally thought’
— Dr Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics

On 20 April the Pentagon unveiled a collaborative research project, begun in 2019 with Norway, to prototype advanced technologies needed for a hypersonic cruise missile. The Tactical High-speed Offensive Ramjet for Extended Range (THOR-ER) is exploring advanced solid-fuel ramjet technologies.

Mike White, the Pentagon’s assistant director for hypersonics, said an air-breathing weapon has the potential to be smaller, more affordable, fit on a wider range of platforms and also accommodate a seeker.

‘So, one of the big values it brings to the table is load out and the ability to deliver weapons to the theater,’ White told reporters in February. ‘So, instead of having a small number of weapons on the bomber platforms, we can put weapons -- large numbers on the bombers as well as the fourth- and fifth-gen fighters.’

 

[Khafee]

Boeing ramps-up Red Hawk testing
04 May 2020

Boeing has two production representative jets, with a further five to join the programme under the EMD contract. Source: Boeing

Boeing has ramped-up flight trials of the T-7A Red Hawk jet trainer, noting its "busiest week ever" on 1 May.

According to the manufacturer, the production representative jets (PRJs) flew 11 engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) test flights out of its St Louis production facility in Missouri.

Developed in partnership with Saab, the Red Hawk was selected under the T-X Advanced Pilot Training Program (ATP) to replace the US Air Force's (USAF's) Northrop T-38 Talon that has been in service since the 1960s.

With two PRJs currently flying, the current EMD phase of the contract covers the five further aircraft and seven simulators. Previously, Boeing's partner, Saab, declined to say when the first EMD aircraft will fly, noting that "this is very sensitive information for the USAF".

The announcement of the ramp-up of EMD flight trials came a month after Boeing and the USAF concluded the critical design review (CDR) for the ground-based elements of the jet trainer. The T-7A Ground Based Training Systems (GBTS) CDR was a five-day conclusion to 18 months of development work on the systems, and its completion paves the way for manufacturing to begin on the ground-based elements of the USAF's aircrew training system.

With the first of 351 aircraft set to be delivered to Randolph Air Force Base (AFB), Texas, in 2023, initial operational capability (IOC) is scheduled for 2024.