Raytheon: AMRAAM and JATM Missiles ‘Complementary’ for Future Force Mix

Sept. 10, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The latest version of Raytheon’s AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile is approaching the “threshold” range required of the new and secretive AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, a company executive said Sept. 10, while suggesting the two weapons may form a high/low mix for future air combat.

John Norman, Raytheon vice president for requirements and capabilities for air and space systems, said the AMRAAM has evolved significantly over its 30-year life. Its range is now “beyond parity” with threat missiles and it will be “complementary” to the AIM-260 JATM built by Lockheed Martin. Norman was speaking on a call with reporters to discuss ways RTX, the parent company of Raytheon, can preserve the credibility of the F-22 now that there is uncertainty about the Next-Generation Air Dominance program.

“The range that we can get with AMRAAM is approaching that threshold capability that the Air Force would like to have with JATM when it’s fielded operationally,” Norman said.

Norman would not discuss specific range performance of the AMRAAM or JATM, but industry sources have suggested the latest versions of AMRAAM can successfully intercept targets at 100 miles, while JATM is intended for targets well beyond 120 miles.

The JATM—built by Lockheed Martin and about which the Air Force has said relatively little—will provide “exquisite capability for the U.S. Air Force warfighters and the Navy warfighters,” Norman said.

JATM will “address the advanced threat, all the countermeasures, the electronic countermeasures that the threats will employ against us. It has exquisite capability against that,” added Norman. Meanwhile, the latest AMRAAM has shown “phenomenal performance” in all those measures during testing with the Air Force.

“Look at AMRAAM as your capacity weapon. … It’s the affordable” weapon, said Norman. JATM, on the other hand, will be the “kick-the-door-down, very expensive weapon.” AMRAAM will be the “capacity weapon, I think, for the foreseeable future,” he said.

Lockheed Martin deferred all inquiries about JATM to the Air Force.

Norman said he believes the the two weapons are “complementary” in the Air Force’s operational assessments of the future.

The latest AMRAAM D3 is the result of collaborative modeling and simulation with the Air Force to address gaps in addressing the threat, Norman said. The service has shared the latest classified threat data with the company and it has recommended ways to close those gaps with weapons either in hand or in development.

Without getting into performance specifics, “what I can tell you is that for what we’re seeing out of the threat analysis today, we have capability with the AMRAAM today with the D3 that counters that threat,” he said.

One improvement is extended range and time of flight. “It’s almost double in the range of what AMRAAM flew before,” Norman claimed.

“We didn’t change propulsion. We just changed the way it flies for long-range shots, so it has more kinetic energy when it hits the target at that range, and it’s able to fly that very effectively. … What that does is, it brings us back into parity [with] a lot of the capability of all the pacing threats worldwide. So it makes AMRAAM kind of ‘future-proof.’”

The missile also has “enhanced capability against all the advanced digital radio frequency modulation [DRFM] jamming techniques that the adversaries employ to try and counter our long-range air weapons, and it’s integrated on significantly more platforms…We’re on 14 different platforms across 43 countries.”

With new cards, the processing time of the D3 is four times faster than the previous iteration, Norman said.

One of the challenges Raytheon faces is getting combat pilots to understand the full capabilities of the new AIM-120, Norman claimed.

“We spend a lot of time out at the Air Force weapons school, with the Air Warfare Center and with the squadrons, with the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, the 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron … so that the fighter pilots truly understand, here’s what the missile is capable of, and here’s some different ways that you’re going to employ it in the future,” he said.

The AMRAAM can also be fired from the ground, using the NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System), which means countries can employ it as either an air-to-air or air-to-ground weapon.

Many countries are donating older AMRAAMs to Ukraine to use in its NASAMS, Norman said, with some of the missiles dating back 30 years.

“They’re still having an effective rate of over 95 percent. And that’s just wild,” he said.

The future of the missile is just as bright, with increased demand and ramped-up production.

“Historically, we produce anywhere between 450 to 650 AMRAAMs a year across all these lots, and I think you’ve seen over the last few lots, the demand has increased up to 1,200,” Norman said. The company is involved in talks with the Air Force and the State Department about whether the weapon could be produced in another country—Japan is a leading candidate—but Norman said demand would have to reach 2,000 per year to make such a plan feasible.

From an industry perspective, Raytheon and “all of our suppliers, we need to see a consistent demand so that it’s there’s value in that investment. It’s not an easy process to stand up a new production. I think we’re exploring all opportunities,” Norman said.

He said he expected the Lot 38 buy of AMRAAM to be finalized this week.

Air Force’s First-Ever Private Apartment Complex Officially Coming to Edwards

Sept. 10, 2024 | By David Roza

On Sept. 10, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., held a ground-breaking ceremony for the Air Force’s first-ever privatized apartment complex. While the actual construction and completion date is still to be determined, the ceremony marked the project’s approval by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and the forthcoming complex marks a brave new world for how the Air Force contracts with private housing providers.

The need is urgent: the military construction budget process is moving too slowly to stem a nationwide affordable housing shortage felt even more acutely at remote military bases such as Edwards, which is short accommodations for 307 unaccompanied service members.

“Just about everyone has more demand than they have availability. We’re no different,” Col. Joel Purcell, commander of the 412th Civil Engineer Group at Edwards, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “But we hope that we’re going to be able to take care of some of the 307 unaccompanied member shortage with the apartments.”

Planners hope to complete the project by summer 2026, though the official goal date is still being worked out. Once complete, the apartment complex at Edwards will feature 246 total beds split among 142 apartments. Of those apartments, 38 will be one-bedroom, one-bath, while 104 will be two-bedroom, two-bath.

Dr. Ravi Chaudhary, assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy, installations, and environment, said at the ceremony that the complex will include six to eight separate, three-story buildings. He also said the amenities at the complex will include a park with a barbecue area, a fitness center, a pool, electric vehicle charging stations, and more.

The target demographic is service members who are no longer eligible for on-base government-owned dormitories—inhabited mostly by very junior service members fresh out of training—but who are not quite ready for the tight off-base housing market.

For example, a tenant of a one-bedroom unit might be an unaccompanied company grade officer like a student at Edwards’ test pilot school. Meanwhile, two post-dormitory enlisted Airmen should be able to afford a two-bedroom unit if they pool their basic allowance for housing (BAH), an allowance the military provides to offset the cost of non government-provided housing.

The exact rent cost for those units is still being worked out, but Purcell emphasized that Edwards is doing everything it can to keep it within a few hundred dollars of the BAH allotted for the target demographic in the Edwards area.

The rates for privatized military family housing is based completely on BAH rates, Purcell explained. The apartment complex is based on market conditions, but the contractors, from a company called Mayroad, “are doing absolutely everything in their power to ensure” that the units are affordable for the target demographic, he said.

Mayroad is a privatized family housing contractor with properties at Edwards, Hurlburt Field, Fla.; Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.; McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.; and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

“At the end of the day, Mayroad partnering with the Air Force, we are doing everything we can to ensure minimal, if any, out-of-pocket expense from those Airmen and company grade officers to be able to live in these apartments,” the colonel added.

A typical view from the roads surrounding Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)

Also unlike military family housing, where the BAH goes directly to the contractor from the service member’s paycheck, apartment complex residents will be responsible for writing a check to Mayroad. The arrangement will be much like a commercial apartment complex off-base, except instead of being in a nearby city, this one will actually be on base, specifically on property within the Mayroad privatized family housing area, next to the Mojave Sky Community Center.

“The Air Force is not going to be supplementing in any way,” Purcell said. “For practical purposes, this would really be no different than if Mayroad were to finance and build an apartment building in Lancaster or Palmdale.”

Oversight

Not everyone is thrilled about the idea of privatized housing for unaccompanied Airmen. Privatized military family housing has a poor reputation stemming from inconsistent oversight and insufficient standards that led to unsafe housing and unaccountable contractors across the armed forces.

Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), ranking member of the House Appropriations subcommittee on military construction and veterans affairs, expressed concern at a March hearing that privatized barracks would have the same problem.

“I would envision us having, in the not-too-distant future, hearings like we had with family housing companies,” she told senior enlisted service members from each branch, “because the privatization process is a failure in terms of maintaining the quality of life of housing.

“They [private housing contractors] are willing to take massive fines just as the cost of doing business, and then they do it again,” she added.

When asked what oversight mechanisms will be in place for the Edwards complex, an Air Force spokesperson said the project will adhere to the same Military Housing Privatization Initiative currently in place for the family housing program.

“This includes the enhanced standards for safe, high-quality housing and services outlined in the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) MHPI reform requirements,” the spokesperson said. “Additionally, the project incorporates the best practices and lessons learned from the family housing program to further ensure the protection of the Government’s interests.”

air force dormitory — Staff Sgt. Collin Barker, 9th Civil Engineering Squadron airmen dormitory leader, inspects a light fixture on Beale Air Force Base, California, Nov. 27, 2019. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Jason W. Cochran.

Apartment complex tenants will have access to the same method of reporting maintenance issues as family housing tenants. Mayroad will be responsible for coordinating and completing those maintenance requests while the Air Force will conduct annual site visits, inspect each unit for safety and cleanliness every time it changes tenants, and provide oversight for service requests and other reported issues.

The Air Force and Mayroad “will also evaluate the established rental rates in alignment with annual changes to the basic allowance for housing (BAH) and consider any local market factors that could impact demand and affordability,” the spokesperson wrote.

“While the Edwards AFB UH Apartments Project represents a new venture for the DAF, the standards and expectations for services and quality will remain consistent with those of the family housing program,” the spokesperson added.

As a privatized family housing contractor, Mayroad appears to have a history of tenant satisfaction. The company claimed to be the only one to receive a “very good” rating on a 2021 military tenant satisfaction survey. At the time, Mayroad oversaw 4,000 homes at bases across the country. The Air Force could not immediately provide a copy of the survey.

Chaudhary spoke highly of Mayroad at the groundbreaking ceremony, which Heath Burleson, Mayroad’s president and CEO, also attended.

“When I talk to our families and hear about what they’re saying about Mayroad … while there are work areas, Heath, your team’s commitment and service is palpable and shows from their feedback every single day,” Chaudhary said.

Earlier in March, the assistant secretary told Air & Space Forces Magazine that “If we didn’t capture all of the lessons learned from privatized housing, we wouldn’t be worth our salt,” and he indicated at the groundbreaking ceremony that he’ll be keeping an eye on the project.

“I hope you’re up for the challenge Heath,” he said. “I know you are, but you can be sure I’ll be back here soon for a progress update.”

The B-21 Raider continues to conduct flight tests in 2024 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. USAF

Future Homes

Even when the complex is built, Edwards will still be short about 61 unaccompanied accommodations, on top of a shortage of about 119 single family homes. That gap is likely to grow as Edwards meets a surge in testing requirements for new weapons and platforms.

Col. Douglas P. Wickert, commander of the 412th Test Wing, Edwards’ host unit, said the number of student test pilots is set to double amid a “booming” aerospace economy surrounding them in the Antelope Valley, “so the housing shortage here at Edwards is only going to get worse.” Highly paid civilian aerospace workers often out-compete the comparatively small rates covered by BAH, Task & Purpose reported in March.

In the meantime, Purcell said Edwards has invested “a significant amount of money” in renovating one of its older dormitories. He said the base is also working with local partners “to ensure that they are doing everything they can to increase the availability” of rental family housing and apartment units.

“What we stress is that we are really looking for clean, safe, and affordable housing,” he said.

Edwards has a history of suboptimal housing due to its harsh desert climate and remote location. The legendary test pilot Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager lamented the effects of the dust and sun on his young family in his memoir “Yeager.” Wickert said married troops in the 1940s lived in a cluster of thin-walled wooden duplexes where dust blew in through the cracks in the wood and where the ever-present smell of gas used for heating and cooking gave it the nickname “Kerosene Flats.”

“I don’t think anybody shed a tear when Kerosene Flats was torn down in 1954,” he said.

Edwards is far from the only remote Air Force base in need of safe, clean, or affordable housing, which is why dignitaries at the ceremony said the apartments there could set a template for the rest of the service.

“Today isn’t just about inaugurating a new building,” Chaudhary said. “It’s about setting a world class standard for our Airmen and our Guardians, especially at remote and isolated installations.”

The base has a long record of firsts, including Yeager’s first flight beyond the speed of sound and the first flights of countless weapons and platforms. This could be the first flight of a very different, but equally important, part of Air Force history, Wickert said.

“It is your turn to ring the bell at Pancho’s on Friday,” he told the 412th Civil Engineer Group, “because you’ve got the latest first.”

How the Pentagon’s Weapons ‘Production Diplomacy’ Is Helping Arm Ukraine

Sept. 10, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. is pushing to expand the production of key munitions for Ukraine, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said recently.

The weapons include AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, AIM-9X Sidewinders, and PAC-3 MSE surface-to-air interceptors.

“From an industrial base perspective, it’s largely been a battle of attrition,” William A. LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told reporters while traveling last week to a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), which coordinates aid for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

LaPlante co-chairs the National Armaments Directors forum with Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister retired Maj. Gen. Oleksandr Serhii. That forum has met 12 times since being established in September 2022, and includes officials from some 40 countries, NATO, and the European Union.

“It’s really all about getting delivery,” LaPlante said Sept. 5. “Getting things to Ukraine, getting it faster, and making sure we’re helping each other deliver to Ukraine.”

“We call it production diplomacy,” he added.

Russia has turned to several partners to boost the arsenal since the start of its invasion of Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sept. 10 that Iran has begun to send short-range ballistic missiles to Russia in addition to drones. North Korea is providing aiding Russia with ammunition and ballistic missiles.

China, while not providing weapons, has provided vital components for Russia’s defense industry so Moscow can make its own arms.

LaPlante has been on the front lines of the West’s response as it has scrambled to provide Ukraine with enough artillery and air defenses to keep up with the threat.

“National armaments directors are helping to translate Ukraine’s needs into expanded production lines around the globe and into accelerated deliveries of key capabilities,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III told reporters after the UDCG meeting on Sept. 6.

The U.S. imposed fresh sanctions on Iran for its recent provision of ballistic missiles to Russia, which the Pentagon said have a range of around 75 miles.

“What this does is it would enable Russia to employ this capability while preserving its longer range capabilities for use throughout the battlefield, thus deepening Russia’s arsenal,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters Sept. 10

Ukraine must be focused “protecting close in, but you’ve got those broader threat rings in terms of medium- and long-range. You’re also protecting strategic centers of gravity … population centers, energy infrastructure, defense capabilities,” Ryder added.

Ballistic missiles are challenging to intercept, especially since Moscow is trying to saturate Ukraine’s air defenses. The Russian threat is complex, from small quadcopters to Iranian-designed one-way attack drones to Russian stand-off cruise missiles, glide bombs and aircraft. Ukraine has taken down 97 Russian combat aircraft since the start of the war, Austin said in remarks at Ramstein.

“We have defenses against all of those,” LaPlante said. But the challenge, he said, was “matching the right defense, that’s the right cost point, to the right capability, and making sure that we continue to provide the Ukrainians with this with the equipment.”

One key air defense munition that will continue to be in high demand AIM-120 AMRAAMs.

Variants of the AMRAAM are used as interceptors for Ukraine’s National Advanced Surface-to Air-Missile (NASAMS) air defense systems.

AMRAAMs will also be employed by Ukraine’s new F-16 fighters.

The armament directors forum has already worked on the “integration of thousands of air-to-ground munitions donations for employment from Ukraine’s current aircraft and donated F-16s,” according to a Pentagon fact sheet.

AMRAAMs are a mainstay of U.S. and Western air forces’ fighter payloads to take down aerial threats. The U.S. recently reached an agreement with Japan to step up the co-production of AMRAAMs on a July trip Austin and Blinken made to Tokyo.

“They’re not just an air-to-air weapon. They are an air defense weapon,” LaPlante said. “And so once you realize that the demand, the worldwide demand for this is going to be high, and it’s going to be high for a long time, then it’s a prime system to do co-production.”

“We want to up the production because up until now, AMRAAMs are only produced in the United States, and that’s going to change,” he added.

Defense industry officials say they are in conversations with the U.S. government, including LaPlante’s team, about possibly expanding production.

“I think that there’s a lot of nations that are getting concerned today, as they’re seeing ongoing, the expenditure of all their stores, all the different weapons, are probably at a higher rate than what they had planned for,” said Jon Norman, vice president of requirements and capabilities for air and space defense systems at Raytheon.

USAF Launches Air Task Force Under New Deployment Model at Scott

Sept. 10, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Air Force stood up one of six Air Task Forces—the 12th Air Task Force—at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., last week, starting the next wave of change for its deployment model.

In the past, the Air Force “crowdsourced” deployments, sending individuals or small groups of personnel down range to meet in the field. Air Task Forces are part of a new approach meant to create and strengthen teams of Airmen who train together before deploying, reviving a Cold War-era practice of building trust before facing a new theater.

“The way we organized, trained, and deployed over the past two decades to fight the war on terror was efficient but not effective to endure global competition,” Lt. Gen. Randall Reed, Air Mobility Command deputy commander said, as he handed the leadership of the 12th Air Task Force to Col. Gabriel Arrington.

The hope is that with more built-in familiarity amongst Airmen, ATFs will have better readiness and performance from the get-go.

Yet the task forces are only a midway point in a changing model. Last fall, the Air Force started deploying Expeditionary Air Base squadrons, drawing together Airmen from U.S. bases in the same region to train and deploy together as a team for setting up a base, establishing and supporting operations, and providing leadership.

Air Task Forces are the next step, centralizing the command and base support layers are one base. Service officials have said this model is a “pilot program” for future operations, setting the stage for entire Combat Wings that can pick up and deploy from a single base.

“The Airmen who make up this task force will be able to train and deploy with greater efficiency and be more mission-ready than ever before,” Arrington said in a release.

Col. Gabriel Arrington, incoming 12th Air Task Force commander, speaks at the activation ceremony for the 12th ATF at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., Sept. 4, 2024. As commander, Arlington leads the establishment, training, certification and deployment of 2,500 Airmen from multiple host wings and major commands in the formation of the ATF combat employment model. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jacob Silva-Dreyer)

Scott is one of six sites selected to host Air Task Forces, along with:

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

Joint Base San Antonio, Texas

Dyess Air Force Base, Texas

Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.

Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.

These bases were chosen for their ability to accommodate the new forces, their proximity to training areas, and their readiness without additional construction. Like Arrington, other ATF leaders will also be colonels, handpicked by the service’s Chief of Staff, Gen. David Allvin.

Each ATF will have a command level with about an expeditionary A-Staff of about 50 people, as well as a Combat Air Base Squadron (CABS) to provide base operating support, mission generation force elements, and attached Mission Sustainment Teams (MST) to facilitate Agile Combat Employment, Air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. Phillip Ventura told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

But the overall size of each ATF will vary from hundreds to thousands of personnel. For instance, an ATF unit may include a single fighter squadron or several, depending on the specific demands of different missions.

Under the new Air Force Force Generation Model’s four phases of six months each, the first three task forces are set to deploy in October 2025—two to Central Command and one to Indo-Pacific Command. After six months, three new task forces will take their place in April 2026.

The previous system pulled Airmen from around 60 units at times, across more than a dozen different Air Force bases. ATFs streamline resources into only a handful of key components to make deployments simpler.

“The ATF model enables teams of roughly 400 Airmen to train together at two to four separate bases, and then come together as a larger team for collective training and certification during the six months prior to deployment,” said Ventura.

Another Air Task Force is likely standing up soon—to gear up for the upcoming 13th Air Task Force activation, a Combat Air Base Squadron (CABS) was rolled out at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., last month as the main support hub. With 340 personnel stationed at Luke, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., the 13th CABS will establish Combat Service Support Teams at each base. These teams will back up the ATF and are prepared to support up to 2,500 deployed personnel.

“This concept, apart from contributing to more predictable deployment schedules, could also help build better professional relationships among the team,” Senior Master Sgt. Olufemi A. Owolabi of the 13th CABS said in a release. “And when the time for deployment comes around, we are already familiar with the various Airmen from other Air Force specialties attached to the squadron from different bases, because we have been preparing together and taking care of each other from the beginning of the deployment cycle.”

New Fighter Drones Will Go on Display at AFA Conference

Sept. 10, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force’s newest aircraft—and the first in the new category of autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft—will be on public display for the first time at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference Sept. 16-18 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.

The Air Force Research Laboratory will position full-scale replicas of two CCA designs, one in each of two AFRL booths at the show:

Anduril Industries’ “Fury” Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment I will be at AFRL’s booth No. 503 and

General Atomics Aeronautical’s Increment I CCA at AFRL’s CCA booth, No. 1834. The model will represent the air-to-air Gambit version of its CCA family.

And General Atomics will display an actual XQ-67 aircraft in its booth at the show, according to a source close to the company. General Atomics has said its air-to-air CCA offering is based on the XQ-67 platform.

The Air Force’s CCA Increment I program is focused on air-to-air combat; crewed fighters will be able to designate targets for weapons carried by the CCA, expanding the volume of weapons available to pilots on a combat mission. CCAs are envisioned as costing under $28 million apiece, a fraction of the $80 million to $100 million cost of a crewed fighter jet.

“If you come to the Air Force Association meeting next week, you’ll see two full-scale models of the aircraft that we’re building,” said Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, speaking at the Aerospace Summit in Washington, D.C., Sept. 10.

“These will be ‘loyal wingmen,’ and they will be controlled by a crewed fighter, either an F-35, in all likelihood, or possibly NGAD [the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter] when we define what NGAD is,” Kendall added.

NGAD and CCA are closely aligned in Air Force plans; NGAD was defined as a family of systems, and CCA were funded out of the NGAD budget line. But Kendall recently said decided the Air Force should “pause” to rethink NGAD, driven by cost, rapidly changing threats, and new concepts for how USAF can achieve air superiority.

The Gambit model AFRL will display is closely patterned after General Atomics’ XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station.

C. Mark Brinkley, senior director of strategic communications and marketing at General Atomics, said the company has “a lot of surprises” in store for the show, but would not confirm that the XQ-67 would be on site. That aircraft has already flown, a clear distinction between it and the Anduril model. Exactly how different XQ-67 is from the Gambit is unclear.

Anduril and General Atomics were selected to build their respective CCAs in April. A subsequent effort, Increment II, is still in competition, and companies not selected for the first iteration can compete for the second.

In a press release, AFRL said it is displaying the two aircraft “in partnership with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center,” whose directorate for fighters and advanced aircraft manages the program. The CCAs on display are “uncrewed weapon systems leveraging [Department of the Air Force] investments in autonomy and crewed-uncrewed teaming to project power against adversaries.”

Faster, Better on the Edge: Mercury’s Embedded Advantage

Sept. 10, 2024

Mercury Systems Chief Operating Officer Roger Wells talks with Air & Space Forces Magazine Editor-in-Chief Tobias Naegele about the latest advances, opportunities, and needs for edge computing and how Mercury’s systems can provide processing power for the Air and Space Forces.

Kendall: ‘One Size Doesn’t Fit All’ for Deployment Cycles

Sept. 10, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force is making sweeping changes in how it deploys Airmen, but the differences among the major commands’ needs are creating problems in the quest to define a single new deployment model as top commanders push back the idea that one system will work across the entire force.

“The problem with implementing [AFFORGEN] that I’ve seen – and I think it’s widely recognized now – is that one size doesn’t fit all,” said Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall in a livestreamed Facebook discussion Sept. 6. “Every unit doesn’t have the capability, just because of its mission requirements, to do that sort of a model cycle.”

Kendall and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David A. Flosi discussed the new force generation model, known as AFFORGEN, and the drive to change from deploying individuals to deploying wings, as the Air Force’s “units of action.”

AFFORGEN

The AFFORGEN cycle consists of four six-month phases: deploy; rest and reset; prepare; and high-end training to get ready for the next deployment. Officials say the model will help articulate capacity, risk, and readiness to the joint force, make rotations more predictable for Airmen and families, and enhance unit cohesion during deployments.

“Part of our discussion with the MAJCOM commanders … was, ‘We’ve got to have a standard model that we all use, that we can talk about, and be on the same page, particularly as we talk to the Joint Staff,’” then-Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said in 2021.

But Airmen at multiple levels pushed back. In July, before he retied from commanding the 18th Air Force, Maj. Gen. Corey J. Martin told Air & Space Forces Magazine that mobility Airmen would need a modified AFFORGEN because of continuous high demand for airlift and refueling.

“Our Airmen don’t necessarily have the luxury of having a six-month reset in the traditional sense that it was designed,” Martin said in July. ”I understand why we have it, but for the 18th Air Force, as it was designed, it is probably not sustainable, because of the amount of operations we continue to do in that reset band.”

Kendall told the Facebook audience that commanders will be able to tweak the model to fit mission needs.

“What I think [Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin] and I have been encouraging people to do is figure out what kind of a readiness creation and expenditure cycle makes sense for what you do, and then tailor around it,” he said. “So don’t use just the one model and feel like you rigidly have to follow that or force it into your place where it may not be compatible.”

At the same time, Kendall reiterated his belief in AFFORGEN’s “underlying concept”: giving Airmen time to rest, reset, and train after deployments, and that doing so can build back readiness after years of stretching troops and equipment to the breaking point.

Units of Action

Ongoing operations in the Middle East led to the Air Force “crowdsourcing” deployments—sending individuals or small groups from dozens or even hundreds of different units, who to met down-range and had to become a unit instantly. Instead, leaders want to move back to a fight-how-you-train model where Airmen go through workups as a group, first as “expeditionary air bases,” then as task forces, and eventually as wings.

Getting to that system, however, has involved a series of overlapping changes.

In 2022, Air Combat Command started designating “lead wings,” with the idea that squadrons would be assigned those wings, sometimes only for a time. The combined units would then train together in anticipation of a large-scale conflict that would require massive deployments.

Expeditionary air bases started deploying in October 2023, drawing together Airmen from U.S. bases in the same region to train and deploy together as a team for setting up a base, establishing and supporting operations, and providing leadership.

That was followed by Air Task Forces—essentially a command staff and a base support team, all at the same base, with attached Mission Generation Force Elements and Mission Sustainment Teams. The Air Force announced six Air Task Forces in May, and the first one, the 12th Air Task Force at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., stood up Sept. 4.

Deployable Combat Wings represent the next phase of this development. The DCWs would deploy as a “unit of action,” with the goal of having some ready to go by the fall of 2026.

“This is a transition period, and we will stay in a state of transition, which is driving multiple methodologies being in the field at the same time,” CMSAF Flosi said, acknowledging the service has disparate plans in place at once.

Adjusting individual rotations to the new schedule will not be instant. Some Airmen have been selected for assignment, deployment, or to relocate in the middle of their AFFORGEN cycle, forcing them to leave their teams in mid-stream.

“We have put people into the lead wing process in the cycle, and they’ll also get tapped for an out-of-cycle deployment, or they will get tapped for PCS four months before the deployment window,” Flosi said. “We are working our way to get much better at that.”

Flosi said personnel specialists are working to prevent such occurrences.

“The codes are coming to stabilize them through the cycle,” he promised.

USAF-Funded Tilt-Duct Aircraft Makes First Flight, Could Be Future Autonomous Rescue Platform

Sept. 10, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Piasecki Aircraft, a firm known for its rotorcraft, conducted the first flight of its uncrewed tilt-duct vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft Sept. 6, partially funded under a contract from AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm.

The aircraft is envisioned as a possible autonomous evacuation and rescue craft or a battlefield resupply platform.

The two proof-of-concept demonstrations on the same day—the first for an autonomous tilt-duct aircraft—were flown with the aircraft tethered to the ground at Piasecki’s Essington, Pa. facilities. The first flight was flown with Piasecki’s Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System Demonstration Vehicle (ARES–DV) alone and comprised a minute of hovering flight. The second flight mounted the Army’s Mobile Multiple Mission Module (M4), and again achieved a minute of hovering flight. This second flight demonstrated “the ability of its triplex fly-by-wire flight control system to sustain a stable hover in multiple configurations and a dynamic ground environment,” Piasecki said in a statement.

The current propulsion configuration is “two turbine engines feeding a combiner gear box (via driveshafts to right angle duct gearboxes, which drive rotor shafts),” a Piasecki spokesperson said. “Future configurations will use a propulsion system that best fits customer mission and needs.”

The Air Force has been looking at technology concepts that could extend the reach of its combat search and rescue aircraft and reduce the number of personnel exposed to fire while recovering downed Airmen close to or behind enemy lines. The tilt-duct aircraft is one such concept; it is being pursued under a November 2023, $37 million joint Air Force/Army Strategic Funding Initiative program. The Air Force element is being conducted under AFWERX.

In addition to ARES work, the contract called for Piasecki to demonstrate VTOL aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The company said the Sept. 6 demonstrations are “the first step to demonstrate the potential of ARES to revolutionize autonomous airborne casualty evacuation [CASEVAC], cargo resupply, and provide other multimission capabilities in support of small, distributed combat units. The flight represents the beginning of the experimental flight test program. The company was not immediately able to expand on how many flights are expected or over what timeline. It also did not disclose the ARES’ takeoff weight or potential operational range.

“From this milestone, Piasecki will continue with flight envelope expansion to demonstrate performance hovering in and out of ground effect and low-speed maneuvering before moving into transition flight test points and eventually forward flight testing,” a company spokesperson said. “Upon completion of flight envelope expansion, the team will simulate a casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) mission with the M4 module.”

The tilt-duct concept allows operation from areas without the need for a runway and could work well with the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment model of operating from large numbers of dispersed and austere locations, supported by small numbers of resupply/logistics aircraft.

Ground crew illustrates the scale of the Piasecki ARES vehicle with the Army mission module attached.

The ARES-DV was initially developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program, but is now continuing development under Piasecki.

The ARES can be operated as uncrewed aerial system or with “an optional manned flight module,” Piasecki said. Its small landing footprint would enable “shipboard and expeditionary operations as well as provide embedded multimission C4 [command, control, communications and computers], ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] combat and logistics support to small, distributed combat forces operating over extended distances and in complex terrain.” The vehicle is meant to be “rapidly reconfigurable” with mission payload modules supported by a common flight module. This approach is intended to “reduce overall logistics footprint and cost.”

John Piasecki, CEO of the company, said the project has progressed “since its origins as a DARPA conceptual design through years of research and development … to mature the technology leading up to today’s landmark achievement,” which the company called an “aviation milestone.”

He said that after “successfully expanding the aircraft’s flight envelope, we will implement modifications to enable flight demonstration of a fully autonomous CASEVAC and logistics resupply capability.”

Barth Shenk, Air Force Research Laboratory program manager for ARES, said the aircraft “creates a new baseline for VTOL technology applied to heavy-payload, time-critical logistics crucial for dispersed operations.”

Honeywell Aerospace provides the ARES’ compact fly-by-wire integrated flight control system, which Piasecki said is “designed to fit into the limited space available on smaller aircraft.”

The system provides “safety-critical flight control capabilities typically found in much larger airliners and advanced fighter aircraft,” Piasecki said, enabling “precise handling and stability across a wide range of flight conditions.”

Piasecki acquired Lockheed’s Sikorsky Heliplex in Coatesville, Pa., in mid-2023, planning to convert the facility into a state-of-the art development and testing site for VTOL and uninhabited aircraft.

The Air Force has also pursued electric VTOL capabilities through its Agility Prime program, also through AFWERX, purchasing aircraft from Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation.

Space Force Studying How It Will Bolster GPS: Vice Chief

Sept. 9, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Despite the Space Force’s “laser-focused” effort to accelerate an initiative to bolster its GPS constellation, the service’s No. 2 officer said the effort is mostly in the study and analysis phase.

“I don’t think we’ll ever move fast enough,” Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael A. Guetlein said at the Defense News Conference last week. “There is an enormous amount of attention from the White House on position, navigation and timing (PNT) and how to shore up those signals, looking at alternative capabilities. Is there another way we could be doing this, that’s more resilient, more survival against the threat? I would say we could be doing more in this area.”

One of service’s main efforts in the area is dubbed Resilient GPS, or R-GPS. The idea is to add around 20 small, cost-effective GPS satellites to the existing 31, addressing rising concerns about over-reliance on the existing satellites and the possibility of an attack on them.

The initiative first emerged in February when Space Systems Command began exploring the commercial market for a constellation of GPS satellites, seeking “ways to reduce lifecycle cost and increase the pace of GPS satellite development, production and on-orbit deployment.” In April, the Department of the Air Force revealed it had chosen the program as one of the first to take advantage of its new ‘Quick Start’ authorities.

But the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense turned down the service’s request to reprogram $77 million for Resilient GPS in the 2025 budget in June. They cited unclear benefits, questioning whether the additional satellites would better protect against GPS jamming compared to other methods, and noted the program for focusing solely on satellites while overlooking the need for the M-code equipment—an encrypted GPS signal essential for jamming resistance. They also questioned whether the program should have followed the regular budget process.

While details on the R-GPS program’s direction is scarce, experts share lawmakers’ reservations regarding the new initiative.

“Whatever solution the Space Force pursues, it must address the variety of the most likely and most dangerous threats, such as jamming, cyber and potential threats to the on-orbit architecture,” said Charles Galbreath, senior resident fellow at Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “But if the resilient GPS architecture that they’re putting forward does not address all these concerns, the service may need to rethink their strategy to gain Congressional support.”

The question centers on whether the new system will simply add more of the same GPS satellites or include satellites with different waveforms to better counter jamming. Guetlein noted that the service is currently exploring these areas of concern, with the Space Warfare Analysis Center leading the effort.

“What can we do to shore up the civil signal and the military signal on GPS, to get more resilience during times of crisis—that study is going on right now,” said Guetlein. “We’re looking at, can we proliferate it? Can we disaggregate it? Or is there an alternative, technically, that we should be pursuing? Those studies are ongoing, the discussions are happening in the Pentagon as we speak.”

Guetlein noted that should be GPS be disrupted for even just 15 minutes, the U.S. would face a $1 billion hit to the economy, and that it would “dwarf anything that we’ve seen since COVID.”

“If we lose GPS in this nation, we can’t get crops out of the field, we can’t get goods off the shelf or off the boat, we can’t get ambulances to your house, and you can’t travel,” Guetlein warned.

The vulnerability of GPS could seriously amplify the chaos in a conflict. If the Space Force’s constellations face interference, similar to what China, Russia, and others have demonstrated, it could disrupt U.S. military logistics and navigation on land, sea, and air. This would also hurt the accuracy of GPS-guided munitions, leading to more flights needed to hit targets and putting additional American and coalition aircrews at risk, while also raising the chance of collateral damage.

“We are laser-focused on guaranteeing space capabilities will be there when needed, which means we need more SATCOM, more resilient position navigation and timing, or GPS,” added Guetlein. “We’re waiting on the 2025 budget on the Hill to see what that shakes out.”