Brown Visits Philippines and Japan, Pledging to Bolster Ties in the Face of China

July 18, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held meetings with defense leaders from the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea during a trip to the Indo-Pacific this week. In the Philippines in particular, Brown discussed ramping up joint training between the two nations amid Chinese hostility towards Manila.

Brown, the highest ranking U.S. military officer, met with Philippine National Security Advisor Eduardo M. Ano, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. to discuss furthering the defense alliance between the two nations. His meeting with Brawner focused on “enhancing bilateral defense cooperation, strengthening joint military exercises, and addressing regional security challenges,” the Philippines Armed Forces said.

“I do see that the relationship is gaining momentum,” said Brown in a statement, adding that the Philippines’ relationships with other regional allies are also growing. “I think it’s a positive trajectory.”

During his inaugural visit to Manila as Chairman, Brown also toured a “U.S. rotational access site, designated as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement(EDCA),” according to a Pentagon release.

Under the 2014 EDCA agreement between the two nations, U.S. troops have access to designated Philippine military sites for joint training, exercises, and interoperability. In 2023, the countries agreed to add four locations to the agreement, with the U.S. pledging to help modernize the facilities with projects including runway upgrades, building communication systems, and infrastructure. The U.S. now has access to a total of nine bases where they could position aircraft and vessels in the country.

The U.S. and Philippines have boosted their joint training, following last year’s territorial disputes between the Philippines and China over the Second Thomas Shoal. Those incidents have continued, with the latest seeing Chinese coast guard attacking on Philippine fishing vessels with water cannons.

To defuse tensions, China and the Philippines have recently signed a new accord enabling direct hotline between their presidential offices, according to the Associated Press.

After Manilla, Brown traveled to Tokyo to meet with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan as part of the Trilateral Chiefs of Defense meeting between the three nations. The meeting covered China’s escalating regional aggression, North Korea’s persistent nuclear and missile activities, and its deepening military alliance with Russia amidst the Ukraine conflict.

“I expect that the three of us sitting here in Tokyo today will send a message to regional threats,” Brown said July 18 in a statement. “But also, more globally, on the strength of our relationship, our alliances and the work that we need to continue to do together.”

During the meeting, Brown assessed regional security, reviewed progress in trilateral information sharing, and explored ways to deepen security cooperation with Japan’s Gen. Yoshida Yoshihide, Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff, and South Korea’s Adm. Kim Myung-soo, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Since last year’s presidential summit between Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo, the three allies launched a missile data sharing system and have held several joint exercises, including the latest ‘Freedom Edge’ exercise in June, focused on ballistic missile and air defense, as well as antisubmarine warfare.

B-2 Gets Big Upgrade with New Open Mission Systems Capability

July 18, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has been upgraded with a new open missions systems (OMS) software capability and other improvements to keep it relevant and credible until it’s succeeded by the B-21 Raider, Northrop Grumman announced. The changes accelerate the rate at which new weapons can be added to the B-2; allow it to accept constant software updates, and adapt it to changing conditions.

“The B-2 program recently achieved a major milestone by providing the bomber with its first fieldable, agile integrated functional capability called Spirit Realm 1 (SR 1),” the company said in a release. It announced the upgrade going operational on July 17, the 35th anniversary of the B-2’s first flight.

SR 1 was developed inside the Spirit Realm software factory codeveloped by the Air Force and Northrop to facilitate software improvements for the B-2. “Open mission systems” means that the aircraft has a non-proprietary software architecture that simplifies software refresh and enhances interoperability with other systems.

“SR 1 provides mission-critical capability upgrades to the communications and weapons systems via an open mission systems architecture, directly enhancing combat capability and allowing the fleet to initiate a new phase of agile software releases,” Northrop said in its release.

The system is intended to deliver problem-free software on the first go—but should they arise, correct software issues much earlier in the process.

The SR 1 was “fully developed inside the B-2 Spirit Realm software factory that was established through a partnership with Air Force Global Strike Command and the B-2 Systems Program Office,” Northrop said.

The Spirit Realm software factory came into being less than two years ago, with four goals: to reduce flight test risk and testing time through high-fidelity ground testing; to capture more data test points through targeted upgrades; to improve the B-2’s functional capabilities through more frequent, automated testing; and to facilitate more capability upgrades to the jet.

The Air Force said B-2 software updates which used to take two years can now be implemented in less than three months.

In addition to B61 or B83 nuclear weapons, the B-2 can carry a large number of precision-guided conventional munitions. However, the Air Force is preparing to introduce a slate of new weapons that will require near-constant target updates and the ability to integrate with USAF’s evolving long-range kill chain. A quicker process for integrating these new weapons with the B-2’s onboard communications, navigation, and sensor systems was needed.

The upgrade also includes improved displays, flight hardware and other enhancements to the B-2’s survivability, Northrop said.

“We are rapidly fielding capabilities with zero software defects through the software factory development ecosystem and further enhancing the B-2 fleet’s mission effectiveness,” said Jerry McBrearty, Northrop’s acting B-2 program manager.

The upgrade makes the B-2 the first legacy nuclear weapons platform “to utilize the Department of Defense’s DevSecOps [development, security, and operations] processes and digital toolsets,” it added.

The software factory approach accelerates adding new and future weapons to the stealth bomber, and thus improve deterrence, said Air Force Col. Frank Marino, senior materiel leader for the B-2.

The B-2 was not designed using digital methods—the way its younger stablemate, the B-21 Raider was—but the SR 1 leverages digital technology “to design, manage, build and test B-2 software more efficiently than ever before,” the company said.

The digital tools can also link with those developed for other legacy systems to accomplish “more rapid testing and fielding and help identify and fix potential risks earlier in the software development process.”

Following two crashes in recent years, the stealthy B-2 fleet comprises 19 aircraft, which are the only penetrating aircraft in the Air Force’s bomber fleet until the first B-21s are declared to have achieved initial operational capability at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. A timeline for IOC has not been disclosed.

Air Force Scholarship Puts Aviation Rookies on the Path to Become Rated Officers

July 18, 2024 | By David Roza

Kristopher Koberg was a sophomore at the University of Iowa in 2021 when he saw an Instagram ad for a new program offering free flight hours for high school and college students. An Air Force ROTC cadet hoping to fly for the Air Force, Koberg applied, though he was skeptical at first.

“I tried to find information on the Aim High Flight Academy and I couldn’t find anything online, so I was like ‘man, I hope this is real,’” Koberg told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

As it turns out, it was real, and a few months later Koberg traveled to Milton, Fla., where he and about two dozen other students took part in the first class of Aim High Flight Academy, an aviation scholarship funded by the Air Force that offers a three-week introductory flight program for teenagers and young adults to earn up to 15 flight hours and give them a leg up should they pursue a career in aviation.

The program is intended for aviation outsiders: applicants must have fewer than five powered flight hours to be considered. For Koberg, it was a life-changing experience.

“Those three weeks were the most impactful three weeks on my Air Force career,” said Koberg, now a second lieutenant just starting Air Force pilot training. “It put me on a different trajectory because of the connections I made, the friends I made, and understanding the possibilities that can happen in the Air Force.”

aim high flight academy — A student from the Air Force’s Aim High Flight Academy gets ready to fly solo as the culmination of a three-week aviation course in 2021 at an airfield in Milton, Fla. (Courtesy photo)

The program started in 2021 after the Air Force realized that a small amount of flight experience can make a big difference in early assessments for pilot training. To become aviators, candidates must score well on the Air Force Officer Qualification Test and the Test of Basic Aviation Skills (TBAS), a kind of cockpit simulator that measures hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and multitasking.

The scores from those two tests factor into a candidate’s Pilot Candidate Selection Method (PCSM) score; the higher the PCSM score, the better chances he or she has of landing a rated slot, which includes pilots, combat systems officers, and air battle managers. Prior flight experience helps strengthen the skills tested by TBAS, and the total number of previous flight hours also counts towards the PCSM score. But flight lessons are expensive.

“Right or wrong, people who have more money can pay for flight lessons and those hours will increase your score, no matter what,” said Capt. Adam Ozols, director of Aim High Flight Academy.

In turn, candidates with higher scores have a better chance of making it through the pilot training pipeline: a 2018 RAND report found that more than 20 percent of candidates in the bottom quarter of AFOQT and TBAS scores failed initial flight training, while less than 2 percent of candidates in the top quarter did the same.

Past flight experience showed a similar correlation. “Candidates with more hours of flying experience were also less likely to be eliminated” from initial flight training and primary pilot training, RAND wrote.

Amid an ongoing pilot shortage, Aim High Flight Academy is an effort to “level the playing field,” Ozols said. “Those 15 hours will go a long way and it will increase your score and make you more competitive.”

The Air Force itself does not teach Aim High students: instead, the students are split among nine universities with aviation programs around the country, where they receive three weeks of flight training from FAA-certified flight instructors. Travel, training, food, and lodging are all paid for by the Air Force, and some students even fly their first solo flight by the end of it. The program started with about 72 students in 2021 and has grown to 268 students this year.

Last year, 70 percent of the students came from underrepresented demographic groups, and this year’s share is 68 percent. Ozols emphasized that the goal is not diversity for diversity’s sake, but rather to draw talent from as wide a pool as possible in order to strengthen the Air Force. He compared it to a college football team bringing athletes in from all over the country rather than just one state.

“You want that diversity and inclusion so that you can have the best people on your team,” he said.

Aim High Flight Academy students practice in a flight simulator. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Aim High is one of several programs under Air Force Recruiting Service’s Detachment 1, where one of the goals is to boost the diversity of the Air Force pilot corps, the vast majority of which are White men. Another program is Aviation Inspiration Mentorship (AIM) teams: rated officers, non-rated officers, and enlisted Airmen who field questions about military service and build relationships through community outreach events.

AIM mentors play an important role at Aim High, since so few Americans have a family member in the military today, said Leslie Brown, chief of public affairs for the Air Force Recruiting Service.

“The questions can be quite basic: Can I have a family? Can I have a pet? Can I have a car? Can I wear civilian clothes?” Brown said, referencing the questions she heard during an “Ask an Airman” event in 2018. “That’s how much of a disconnect there is.”

It can also be helpful for ROTC cadets; chatting with Air Force aviators was one of the highlights of Koberg’s Aim High experience.

“Each and every one of them said their plane was the best,” he recalled. “That meant wherever I end up, I will fall in love with it, so having that security was just fantastic.”

Years later, after commissioning as a second lieutenant, Koberg paid it forward by mentoring at an Aim High class earlier this summer at Tennessee State University.

“I think just us being there really allows the students to connect a face to what the uniform is,” he said. “We’re not just a bunch of random people: we have a story, we’re real, and we help them out.”

Though the program was just three weeks long, Koberg found himself building deep bonds with the students, talking about life goals, interpersonal relationships, and the joy of flying. It was a “full circle” moment.

“You’re not just an Air Force member, you’re a mentor to them,” he said.

The impact of Aim High Flight Academy is hard to quantify, because the Air Force cannot collect data on people under the age of 17, Brown said. The next step is to reach back to past students and ask if they wound up joining the military, going to college, pursuing a career in aviation, or some other path.

In the meantime, another challenge is meeting the rising tide of applicants. Last year Aim High received around 1,500 applications, Ozols said. While any plans to possibly expand the program are above his pay grade, Ozols hopes it will continue.

“It can be really expensive to get flight hours, so for us to be able to spread that wealth out and give young adults the chance to do that is what we really focus on,” he said.

The application window for the 2025 Aim High Flight Academy runs from Oct. 1-31, and application details can be found on the Air Force Recruiting Service website.

“It’s for anyone and everyone that has maybe a little bit of interest in aviation,” Koberg said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from or who your parents are. We want anyone who’s interested to have that opportunity.”

After SpaceX Rocket Mishap, SPACECOM Boss Has ‘Full Confidence’ in Fast Return to Launch

July 18, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The head of U.S. Space Command said he was confident launch provider SpaceX will soon be back to regular operations after a rare mishap involving one of its Falcon 9 rockets, but he was also grateful that the U.S. has more than one family of launch rockets to choose from at a time when the Space Force is trying to fortify its presence in Earth orbit.

The mishap occurred July 11 when the engine of the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket malfunctioned during a commercial launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.

The first stage of the launch went as expected, but reports indicate the upper stage engine had a buildup of ice. A livestream of the launch ended, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later said the engine exploded. It is the first Falcon 9 failure since 2016, prompting all Falcon 9s to be grounded.

“It just so happened that last Friday morning [July 12] I was in Seattle, Wash., visiting SpaceX Starlink,” Space Force Gen. Stephen N. Whiting said July 17 at the Aspen Security Forum. “We showed up, and some of their senior leaders were there, and they were very transparent, giving us insight into what had happened.”

SpaceX has reportedly asked the Federal Aviation Administration to allow Falcon 9 to return to flight while an investigation into the mishap proceeds. The rocket has become a key part of U.S. access to space, accounting for the vast majority of American launches in 2023.

For the Pentagon in particular, Falcon 9 has already conducted two National Security Space Launches in 2024—carrying missile warning/missile tracking satellites for the Missile Defense Agency and Space Development Agency in February, and a Space Force weather satellite in April. That’s in addition to a Space Systems Command smallsat as part of a “rideshare” in March.

“I personally have full confidence in SpaceX working with the FAA, working with NASA, working with the Space Force, to figure out what happened and continue launching,” Whiting said. “They’ve launched the Falcon 9 hundreds of times. I’m sure they’ll figure this out quickly.”

Any delays could have a ripple effect, especially as SDA plans multiple launches in succession this fall to fill out its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX has been awarded the vast majority of those missions.

Yet Whiting projected confidence that there will be no delays.

“It also speaks to the wisdom of our national space transportation policy that says we as a nation need two independent families of launch rockets to get to all of our orbital regimes,” Whiting said. “And certainly SpaceX is providing one of those. And we have another through United Launch Alliance. And that’s a great thing for the nation, that we can continue to launch even while these investigations go on.”

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies presented a Schriever Spacepower Series with Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, Commander, United States Space Command, United States Space Force on Monday, June 24, 2024, at AFA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/Air & Space Forces Magazine

ULA is in the process of certifying its new rocket, Vulcan Centaur, for National Security Space Launch missions, needing one more successful launch. But even beyond the two major providers in ULA and SpaceX, the Pentagon has made a concerted effort in recent months to bolster competition in the launch industry—and ensure “assured” access to space.

In June, the Space Force announced it was adding newcomer Blue Origin to the NSSL program as part of a “lane” intended for less critical missions with a higher tolerance for risk. Still other companies will be able to join the program through annual “on-ramps.”

Earlier this month, the service authorized Blue Origin and Stoke Space to compete for launches under its Orbital Services Program-4, for fast-turnaround launches and small payloads—a companion program to NSSL.

Pentagon Experts Call for More Practical AI to Manage Mundane Tasks

July 17, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

A pair of chief information officers for Pentagon organizations argued for a more practical approach to artificial intelligence focused on things like streamlining organizational tasks across the Defense Department.

“AI will most impact what is seemingly least compelling from the clickbait headline perspective,” Air Force Maj. Michael Kanaan, the military deputy CIO of the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, told the Defense Innovation Board during a July 17 meeting. “The most profound AI impacts will inevitably be—whether professionals from all walks of business learn it sooner or later—in the back-office functions, at least in the short term. But it’s an area overlooked for its lack of glamour compared to warfighting applications.”

Implementing AI does not have to be a sweeping endeavor or focused on the biggest problems, Kanaan said as part of a presentation on “Aligning Incentives to Drive Faster Tech Adoption.” Instead, he listed off a wide range of simpler tasks where the technology could assist service members.

“Personnel generating templates, intelligence analysts doing language translation, pilot scheduling sorties, logisticians, depot maintenance and review, auto form, budget, finance acquisition professionals’ redundancies,” Kanaan said. “Install Python for better pivot tables, and speech writers, quit writing speeches from nothing, chaplains have better sermons.”

In recent years, the Pentagon has launched several efforts to implement different AI programs for everyday tasks. Last year, the Navy deployed an AI program called “Amelia” to handle common tech-support questions. Soon after, the Department of Defense launched a generative AI task force known as Lima to assess, integrate, and manage AI tools, including large language models.

The department’s latest tech leap saw the Air Force launch its own free generative AI chatbot called “NIPRGPT” last month. Tailored for Airmen and Guardians, the software helps them with communications, task completion, and online coding on a secure Pentagon network. The platform interacts with users in a “human-like” manner to answer questions, offering direct access to leadership for clarity without the usual barrage of emails.

“These tasks that clutter the mission offer a lower barrier to entry and present less risk,” said Kanaan, suggesting that AI usage for such problems doesn’t require extensive training of the technology or any major changes to existing processes.

Alexis Bonnell, CIO of the Air Force Research Laboratory, which helped develop NIPRGPT, also emphasized the need to reduce mundane, repetitive tasks to free up resources and energy for more innovative endeavors across the department.

“I’ve learned that toil eats purpose faster than mission can replace it,” Bonnell said at the July 17 meeting. “One of the ironies I found as a leader coming back in is how much toil is removed from my experience … Without taking away all the extra (toil), it becomes very different to do something new or novel.”

However, there are still questions about how useful AI can be and how successfully the Pentagon is adopting it; some experts have raised concerns about the training and operating costs associated with the platform, urging the DOD to establish a long-term budget plan to effectively mature the technology. They have also questioned whether the Air Force and Pentagon may be better off leveraging existing commercial software such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT instead of creating their own systems.

For now, NIPRGPT is a work-in-progress, as the department is gradually advancing the platform through user feedback and vendor discussions.

Besides focusing more on smaller tasks, Kanaan also cautioned against implementing sweeping policy changes or new frameworks based on exaggerated expectations surrounding AI, which could impede progress.

“There exists a prevailing human bias for action and novelty, particularly related to AI, for ‘more change, more policy,’ that leads to misconceptions like the need for entirely new cyber risk frameworks for rhetoric to completely overhaul the rules of engagement for warfare,” said Kanaan, adding that this is usually “spurred on by the overestimation of AI capabilities, or just simply sci-fi imaginations.”

Amid Standards Push, ACC Considers New Rules for Beanie, Fleece Wear

July 17, 2024 | By David Roza

Air Combat Command is considering a supplement to dress and appearance standards that would limit the use of cold weather clothes such as beanies and fleeces to only certain colors, places, and times of year for Airmen assigned to ACC.

The supplement, which is still in draft form and has no expected date of implementation or publication, is part of a wider push at ACC to pay closer attention to military standards.

“The supplement is aligned with ACC’s efforts to recommit to high standards of conduct, dress and appearance, physical fitness, and customs and courtesies,” a spokesperson for the institutional command told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The document was posted to the unofficial Air Force subreddit on July 15. If implemented, it would add on to Department of the Air Force Instruction 36-2903, which lays out dress and appearance standards for Airmen. The spokesperson cautioned that the supplement, which is dated May 20, is still being reviewed by staff at ACC and its numbered Air Forces, so the regulations are subject to change.

Three of the proposed regulations involve the use of watch caps, also known as beanies, which would be authorized only between October and March each year. Only coyote brown watch caps would be authorized for use with the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) uniform, while black watch caps would be authorized only with the formal Class A and B uniforms or with physical training gear. Sage green watch caps would not be authorized.

The proposed regulations are slightly different from the wider DAFI, which also authorizes black watch caps with OCP; sage green watch caps with physical training gear; and coyote brown watch caps with physical training gear. The shorthand for the new rules would be coyote brown for camouflage uniforms, and black watch caps for anything else. But the wider DAFI does not specify the October-to-March timeline as the ACC supplement does.

Another potential change involves the coyote brown fleece jacket. While the wider DAFI says the fleece “may be worn indoors or outdoors,” the ACC supplement would authorize the fleece only outdoors.

Other proposed changes include:

Squadron commanders can approve wear of “distinctive scarves” authorized by their wing commanders where it is practical and appropriate.

Lanyards, access passes, restricted area badges, common access cards, and identification badges cannot be worn outside of the restricted area and must be stowed in a secure area when not being worn.

ACC members on a profile limiting them to wear tennis shoes while in OCPs must wear dark colored shoes (black or navy blue, for example).

Airmen can wear only one earpiece while in uniform when performing official duties except for physical fitness, where both earpieces are authorized.

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Christian Wylie, a 673d Communications Squadron Radio Frequency Transmission Systems technician, demonstrates how to create a radio circuit on the High Frequency Global Communications System at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Jan. 24, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Samuel Colvin)

The regulations involving beanie and fleece use caught some criticism from Airmen on Reddit, where users pointed out that cold weather persists earlier than October and past March at some ACC locations and especially for ACC Airmen assigned to bases in Alaska, North Dakota, Idaho, and Colorado.

Others noted that indoor data centers are often kept cold to help prevent computers from over-heating. There are about 1,000 data centers across 185 Air Force and Space Force bases, Winston Beauchamp, the deputy chief information officer at the Air Force, told Federal News Network in April.

The Department of Defense also has a checkered reputation when it comes to building maintenance, with Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James C. Slife saying in April that elements of base infrastructure “are essentially on hospice care.” Heating and air conditioning units are often broken in junior enlisted housing, the Government Accountability Office noted in September.

The ACC spokesperson said the supplement would apply to all Active, Guard, and Reserve Airmen assigned to ACC, but “waivers may be approved to make adjustments based on local conditions and specific mission requirements.

“An essential element of being part of this elite team is the high standards we hold as an institution,” the spokesperson added. “Adherence to higher standards of conduct, dress and appearance, physical fitness, and the observance of customs and courtesies is critical to our identity as military members.”

The pushback on Reddit comes on the heels of earlier announcements by Air Combat Command boss Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach. Starting in June, the general ordered the nearly 80,000 Airmen under his command to face inspections to make sure they are meeting Air Force dress and appearance standards, citing “a discernible decline” in the commitment and enforcement of those standards.

“What I learned many years ago is if you pay attention to the details, when it gets hard and you need to do something difficult, because you’ve been disciplined to pay attention to the details, you can be good and you can succeed,” Wilsbach noted last week, saying he faced his first open ranks inspection since college earlier this month.

“If we police ourselves, we won’t have to worry about this, but we’ll be paying attention to the details and it will allow us to have discipline to do some very difficult things,” he said.

USAF Sending B-52, Fighters, and More to Major Air Shows in UK

July 17, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The U.S. Air Force will be well represented at the world’s biggest military airshow and one of its largest airshows of any kind, running back to back in the coming weeks.

U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa announced the lineup of flying and static displays for the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, running July 19-21, and the Farnborough International Air Show organizers announced U.S. Air Force participants in that event, which runs immediately after RIAT.

This year’s RIAT, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of NATO, will include:

F-35A Lightning II and F-15E Strike Eagle fighters from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath

F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany

KC-135R Stratotankers from RAF Mildenhall

C-130J Hercules and C-21A Learjet from the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

At the Farnborough show, which runs July 22-26, organizers say the Air Force will send:

B-52 Stratofortress

F-15E Eagle

C-130J Hercules

MQ-9 Reaper

Home bases of the Farnborough display jets has not yet been disclosed.

Boeing will fly the F-15QA, on which the U.S. F-15EX is based, at Farnborough to demonstrate its “combat capabilities,” the company said.

“RIAT is the world’s largest military airshow held annually at RAF Fairford, England, bringing together military and political leaders from around the world,” a USAFE/AFAFRICA release stated. The Air Force’s participation “demonstrates U.S. commitment to our allies and partners, while also reinforcing the strength and unity of NATO.”

The Army and Navy will also deploy aircraft to Farnborough, to include a P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, a CH-47F Army transport, and an AH-64E attack helicopter.

The U.S. typically sends a senior Department of Defense and Commerce delegation to Farnborough to meet with fellow armaments directors and discuss potential arms sales, some of which may be announced at the event. U.S. Senators attending the 2024 Farnborough show will include Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.); Jerry Moran (R-Kans.); John Boozman (R-Ark.) Katie Britt (R-Ala.); Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.); Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and John Kennedy (R-La.).

USAF F-16s Deploy to Poland and Bulgaria

July 17, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

U.S. Air Force F-16s deployed to Bulgaria and Poland this week, putting fighters in multiple locations in eastern Europe and in relatively close proximity to Ukraine, which just started to receive F-16s of its own.

Six F-16s from the Oklahoma Air National Guard’s 138th Fighter Wing arrived at Łask Air Base, Poland, on July 16, while six F-16s from the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, landed at Bezmer Air Base, Bulgaria, the same day.

The Oklahoma F-16s are in Poland as part of a rotational detachment of the 52nd Operations Group—in 2011, the U.S. and Poland signed an agreement establishing a continual detachment of U.S. aircraft in Poland, primarily of F-16s and C-130s.

Six U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons assigned to the 138th Fighter Wing at Tulsa Air National Guard (ANG) Base, Oklahoma, will began operations at Łask Air Base, Poland, July 24, 2024, for the latest cycle of the 52nd Operations Group Det 1 Aviation Detachment Rotation (ADR). Photo By MSgt Juan Vasquez

This latest deployment is a “long-planned, bilateral training between U.S. and Polish air forces to enhance partner interoperability, maintain joint readiness, and preserve a rapid response capability essential to ensuring peace and stability in the region,” U.S. Air Forces in Europe stated in a release.

Łask is located around 200 miles from Poland’s border from Ukraine and has hosted a steady rotation of USAF fighters since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Most recently, four F-35s from RAF Lakenheath, U.K., deployed there in April as part of the NATO air policing mission.

The Aviano F-16s are in Bulgaria for Thracian Viper, a biannual exercise in the Balkan state. Forces from Romania, Greece, Croatia, and Italy will also participate. Bulgaria is slated to get F-16s of its own in 2025, buying the newest Block 70 aircraft from Lockheed Martin, and the exercise will give its Soviet-era fighters an early chance to integrate and work with F-16s.

Bezmer is less than 250 miles from southern Ukraine and close to the Black Sea.

The U.S. Air Force has upped its presence throughout eastern Europe and NATO’s eastern flank over the past several years, policing the airspace for Russian incursions while the war in Ukraine rages on. Other deployment locations have included Romania and Estonia.

Meanwhile, countries in the region like Poland and Bulgaria have sought to upgrade their air forces with new fighters. While Bulgaria is buying 16 F-16s, Poland is purchasing F-35s. Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium have all pledged F-16s to Ukraine and are in the process of buying F-35s as well.

At the recent NATO summit in Washington, D.C., officials announced that F-16 deliveries to Ukraine are underway, and the Ukrainians will start to fly them operationally this summer.

Fighters from Around the World Join in on Massive Exercise in Australia

July 16, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Australia’s ‘Pitch Black’ air combat exercise kicked off this week with an array of fighters that marks its biggest iteration ever since starting in 1981.

“With approximately 140 aircraft and over 4,000 personnel from 20 nations participating, this year’s iteration of exercise Pitch Black is the largest participation in its 43-year history,” the Australian Department of Defense said in a statement.

The three-week exercise, running from July 12 to Aug 2, is primarily based at Royal Australian Air Force bases Darwin and Tindal in the country’s Northern Territory, strategically located for the host nation’s defense cooperation with regional partners.

The U.S. Air Force sent six F-22 Raptors from the 27th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., to Tindal earlier this month.

“This will be the first time the F-22A has participated in this exercise,” a Pacific Air Forces spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The spokesperson explained that the Air Force deployed Raptors to Tindal during the previous iteration of the exercise in 2022, but the F-22s did not participate in the joint fighter training.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Austin Diaz, 27th Expeditionary Fighter Generation Squadron crew chief, starts up a stored energy system to supply air to an F-22A Raptor during Exercise Pitch Black 2024 at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Tindal, Australia, July 15. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Andrea Posey

Among the 20 participating nations, 16 countries are deploying aircraft for combat training, while four will contribute personnel to observe and contribute to the exercise.

“For the first time, aircraft and personnel from Philippines, Spain, Italy, and Papua New Guinea and embedded personnel from Fiji and Brunei will participate in the exercise,” the Australian statement noted.

The Philippines, making its debut at the biennial exercise, sent FA-50PH Fighting Eagle aircraft to join the event last week, landing at Darwin, marking the first deployment of that air force’s aircraft for an internationally hosted exercise outside their own territory.

“The big thing that we’ll take away is a strong friendship with the Philippines and exercises like this will continue to strengthen that,” Australian Air Commodore Pete Robinson, who is leading the exercise, said in a statement. “We’ll walk away with a stronger partnership together.”

Additionally, the exercise will feature aircraft from France, Germany, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Kingdom, along with personnel from Canada and New Zealand.

Italy, another first-timer in the combat training, has sent six F-35A and F-35B aircraft, four Eurofighters, a KC-767 refueling aircraft, and an E-550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning aircraft as a command-and-control platform, along with approximately 400 air force members.

The continued presence of the German, French, and Spanish air forces will be evident in the coming weeks as part of their Indo-Pacific fighter deployment mission called Pacific Skies. The initiative spans five exercises, starting with Arctic Defender in Alaska earlier this month. They will maintain their fighter commitment in the area with the Rim of the Pacific exercise in Hawaii, followed by two additional exercises in Japan and India throughout August.

This year’s Pitch Black serves as a platform for several NATO members to train for the first time with the alliance’s partner nations of the region. The European nations’ concerns over China’s military ties with Russia have prompted NATO to increase its focus on Indo-Pacific partnerships. At its 75th summit in Washington, D.C., last week, the 32 member states called China to “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” casting direct blame on Beijing for its role in Russia’s ongoing conflict in Ukraine for the first time.

“What happens in Ukraine today can happen in Asia tomorrow,” outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said July 11.

On top of fostering new partnerships, the training will immerse advanced fighter jets in complex scenarios, focusing on tactical execution of large force employment, offensive counterair, and ground operations.

“We’ll see the complexity rise throughout the exercise,” explained Robinson. “So relatively simple to start with, but the last week of the exercise, it’s fairly complex, building on all the lessons learned over the three weeks to be able to do those complex tasks.”