Air Guardsmen Keep Aging F-15Cs Flying With Spare Parts Made In-House

Nov. 30, 2023 | By David Roza

The average age for America’s fleet of F-15C Eagles is about 38 years old, and many of the aircraft’s spare parts are no longer produced or can take days to order from a manufacturer. Luckily, the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing has a metals technology shop at Portland Air National Guard Base where Airmen fabricate parts in-house to keep the wing’s elder Eagles flying.

“We have the ability as a unit to say, ‘Hey, stop what you are doing. We need to have this part made,’ and then have that part made in hours or even minutes,” Staff Sgt. Nathan Carssow, an aircraft metals technology craftsman with the 142nd Maintenance Squadron, said in a Nov. 29 news release about the shop.

Some of the parts help hold the plane together. Recently, the craftsmen made an aluminum stringer for the F-15C’s tail cone. The stringer is one of three stiffeners that provide a framework for the tail cone assembly that airframe skins and smaller parts attach to, Master Sgt. Steph Sawyer, a spokesperson for the 142nd Wing, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

f-15 — Tech. Sgt. Nate Brown, a 142nd Maintenance Squadron metals technology craftsman, observes a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) mill as it carves a piece of solid aluminum into a stringer, an essential aircraft part, Nov. 4, 2023, Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Sean Campbell

Another type of key part are bushings, which often look like small thin tubes that reinforce functional holes in the aircraft which have weakened with wear.

“In the more intricate parts of our job, if an aircraft is in need of something, like the bushings, it’s not going to fly until our shop finishes the project,” Tech. Sgt. Nate Brown, a 142nd Maintenance Squadron metals technology craftsman, said in the release. “ … When a job is serious enough to need metals tech, it’s not going to fly until we finish the project that’s been given to us.”

Turning metal into a part ready for the demands of military aviation requires special tools, including manual lathes, CNC (Computer Numerical Control) mills, 3D printers, and welding tools. Other tasks are less demanding but just as important, like removing screws stuck in removable panels or skins.

“Stuck screws can cause a work stoppage due to the maintainers being unable to access those areas to accomplish maintenance or inspections,” Sawyer said.

Staff Sgt. Nathan Carssow, a 142nd Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology craftsman, machines a stringer for a tail cone, a part that has become un-procurable, November 4, 2023, Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Sean Campbell

Despite fewer than 10 Airmen working there, the shop has made quite a dent, saving $1.2 million in Air Force Repair Enhancement Program (AFREP) funds in fiscal year 2023 alone. When Airmen fix a part through AFREP, the unit can take the money that would have gone towards a replacement part and instead use it on capital improvements or new equipment. The same goes for non-aircraft parts, such as those used by aerospace ground equipment, ammunition, or other shops that keep the service running.

Metal shops can be especially helpful for older aircraft like the F-15 or the RC/WC-135, but even younger jets sometimes need creative in-house fabrication. For example, the Air Force’s fleet of F-35 fighters is just four years old on average, but AFREP Airmen at Hill Air Force Base, Utah saved the base thousands of dollars by designing better F-35 sensor covers and better diagnostic tools for the stealth jet.

That means when the Oregon Air National Guard starts flying brand-new F-15EX Eagle IIs in fiscal year 2025, the Airmen at the metals shop will probably still have plenty opportunities to test their mettle.

New Schedule for Sentinel Coming Soon, Says ICBM Modernization Boss

Nov. 30, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

The head of a new office created to oversee the modernization of the Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile fleet said schedule changes for the Sentinel program are due “at the end of the year” from contractor Northrop Grumman.

While concern has grown over potential delays, Brig. Gen. Colin J. Connor, head of Air Force Global Strike Command’s new ICBM Modernization Directorate, declined to share details at an event hosted by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center.

“It would be premature for me at this point to talk anything about a delay and get in front of the acquisition community,” Connor said Nov. 29.

But Connor did acknowledge the scale and scope of the Sentinel project, which Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has previously called among the most ambitious and difficult the service has ever undertaken.

“It is the most complex thing we’ve done, I’ll say, since the 1960s,” Connor said. “And I would say even then, because of technology that we’re trying to equip, whether it’s [nuclear command, control, and communications] technology, digital engineering aspects to it, it’s even different than what was done in the 60s.”

Kendall said earlier in November that Sentinel is “quite honestly, struggling a little bit,” and in August, the Government Accountability Office reported that Sentinel was already a year behind schedule. Initial operational capability is expected between April and June 2030, GAO said—skating close to the no-fail IOC of September 2030 required by U.S. Strategic Command.

The GAO report criticized the Sentinel program office, saying the master schedule’s deficiencies meant it not be used to effectively manage the program.

“The prime contractor and the program are conducting a high-level review and discussing potential changes to the schedule,” according to the report, which was based on data from January 2023.

Months later, Connor indicated an update is coming soon.

“As we await a schedule from Northrop Grumman to arrive, we expect that to arrive at the end of the year,” he said.

Connor also noted that Northrop and the Air Force continue to refine cost estimates, acknowledging that initial estimates are likely to too low.

“Not to be flippant, but show me a program that doesn’t have higher costs at the end than what were initially projected,” Connor said. Inflation, the changed economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the significant technological challenge at hand, are all cost factors.

Amid such challenges, Global Strike Command recently stood up the new ICBM modernization directorate, a spokesman told Air & Space Forces Magazine. Labeled the “A10,” in line with the Air Staff’s A10 directorate for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, the office aligns with the “A Staff” structure Air Force leadership has sought to promulgate across the service.

The LGM-35A Sentinel in this illustration is the Air Force’s newest weapon system, known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent. The new designation modernizes the ICBM leg of the nation’s nuclear triad. **USAF/illustration**

It also fulfills a requirement in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that the Air Force establish an ICBM Modernization Site Activation Task Force to “oversee and coordinate” the planning, construction, and installation that will go into getting Sentinel online while keeping the existing Minuteman III missiles viable.

“We are working with both the contractor and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center from the acquisition standpoint, to work the operational fielding of the system, the transition between two systems,” Connor said. “The role for Global Strike A10 … is to facilitate that, from an organize, train, and equip perspective; to make sure that the Airmen in the field have what they need, working both with the acquisition community and the contract force that will be doing a lot of the work out there, as we work this transition.”

Sentinel is not merely a new missile, Connor said. “We’re not putting ‘Minuteman IV’ in the ground,” Connor said. “It’s a different missile that’s more capable.”

Also coming are new launch control centers with equipment adopted or adapted from commercial solutions, and new nuclear command, control, and communications capabilities that will bring today’s decades-old technology up to a “more modern approach,” he said.

“We’re not just gutting the launch facilities, repainting them, and putting the same equipment back in,” Connor said. It’s going to be a whole new nuclear enterprise.

S. Korea Spy Satellite to Lift Off at Vandenberg Days After N. Korea Launches One

Nov. 30, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Editor’s Note: This story was updated Dec. 1 after SpaceX announced a new date for the launch.

South Korea is set to launch its inaugural homemade reconnaissance satellite on Dec. 1 (Dec. 2 in Korea) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.

The electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) satellite, to be carried by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is Seoul’s first of five planned satellites. Following the initial positioning of the satellite, the country plans to launch four more Synthetic Apertures Radar (SAR) satellites.

South Korea has long relied on the United States for surveillance imagery, particularly for detecting activities in North Korea. When its entire constellation of new satellites is in orbit by 2025, Seoul expects to be able to detect, identify, decide, and strike within 30 minutes of an initial indicator.

The first launch, slated for Nov. 30, was postponed due to adverse weather conditions, according to the nation’s defense ministry. Falcon 9 rocket launches adhere to guidelines that prohibit launches when sustained winds exceed 30 mph at the 162-foot level of the launch pad.

While South Korea looks to build up its space surveillance capabilities, North Korea claimed the successful positioning of its first spy satellite from its launch last week, following two failed attempts earlier this year.

Pyongyang’s state media claimed to have captured images of the White House, the Pentagon, and Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. So far, none of the said pictures have been released.

In a briefing with reporters, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder downplayed the importance of such imagery, noting “there are plenty of images of the Pentagon and the White House online.”

Ryder, however, did acknowledge that North Korea’s satellite entered the orbit and the launch involved ballistic missile technology.

Washington, along with its allies including Seoul and Tokyo, have condemned the use of such technology as a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

North Korea’s ambassador made an appearance at the United Nations Security Council on Nov. 27 to defend the satellite launch, asserting Washington is “threatening” Pyongyang with its nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service speculates Russia aided North Korea with its reconnaissance satellite launch. But Seoul’s Defense Minister Shin Won-sik is dismissive of North Korea’s statement regarding its surveillance satellite technology.

The Minister appeared as a radio guest on the country’s national broadcaster last week and stated Pyongyang’s claim of capturing image of Guam after only two days of the satellite launch is “exaggerated,” given the necessary time for the satellite to come online and properly calibrate after entering orbit.

Airpower Experts: US Needs More than 100 B-21s to Meet Future High Demand

Nov. 29, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

The B-21 bomber will be needed for so many missions in a future conflict—from pathfinding through enemy air defenses to airfield attack to minelaying to direct conventional attack and nuclear deterrence—that demand could easily outstrip available aircraft if no more than the 100 planned are bought, top defense analysts said Nov. 29.

None, however, offered a guess as to how many B-21s are actually needed.

The Air Force initially said the B-21 program would be “80-100 bombers,” noted Rebecca Grant of IRIS independent research during a Hudson Institute event. But the service only quoted such a low figure “to get the program started” within an acceptable dollar amount, she said.

“This number has not been through the standard calculation,” Grant said. “It’s time to look at this, and say, ‘how many do we need,’ and add an attrition reserve,” she said. The Air Force used to buy extra aircraft in case of accidents and battle losses, she said, and should go back to that habit and establish a bigger number for the B-21.

Christopher Bowie, an author and airpower and national security analyst, said the B-21 will be the only bomber that can perform direct attacks on targets deep inside China and Russia and could be used to clear a path through enemy air defenses for other aircraft or to attack Chinese ships in a Taiwan scenario, among many other missions—in addition to being the principal element of the air leg of the nuclear triad. All those demands will quickly overwhelm the number available, he said.

“We should plan to build more than the 100 currently on the books,” Bowie said. “No matter how capable an aircraft, it can only be in one place at one time.” The B-21 will be asked to do so much in a conventional war that if there is a threat the conflict will go nuclear, “this would generate significant dilemmas for our nation’s leaders,” Bowie said. “Do you pull aircraft out of theater to bolster our nuclear deterrent posture? Or do you to degrade the triad in order to increase operational tempo in conventional operations?”

Grant noted that the B-21 will also likely be pressed into new missions, such as striking ground-based anti-satellite systems or satellite-launching areas far behind enemy lines.

Jennifer Bradley, a senior deterrence analyst in the plans and policy directorate of U.S. Strategic Command—who said she was speaking for herself only and not STRATCOM—said “right-sizing the B-21 force [is] critically important, not only for enhancing the strategic deterrence capabilities of the United States, but also for assuring U.S. allies of Washington’s commitment to extended deterrence.”

The fact that the U.S. now faces two nuclear peers, coupled with “an unpredictable North Korea, make this a difficult challenge and increases the demands on the US strategic deterrent,” she said. “[The U.S.] has to be capable of conducting attacks in one theater while simultaneously responding to attacks in a different theater.”

Given the B-21’s flexibility, it risks becoming a “low-density/high-demand asset, but only if the United States fails to invest in sufficient numbers,” Bradley said.

The U.S. has pledged to defend Australia, Japan, and South Korea with its nuclear deterrent and they in turn have not pursued their own nuclear weapons. If there are not enough strategic weapons to deter two or three nuclear powers, though, Bradley said those allies may pursue their own nuclear weapons, and this would sharply complicate the world security situation.

A sufficient number of B-21s will “help ensure the health of the US alliance relationships for the next several decades.”

All the analysts said that the existing bomber fleet is too small and too old, and the B-21 will likely be taking on a significant share of the missions they already perform.

Mackenzie Eaglen, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said the B-21 is programmatically doing well, as evidenced by its seven years from contract award to first flight, which she deemed “record time” by Pentagon standards.

The program has benefitted from limited oversight, streamlined management through the Rapid Capabilities Office, and agreement between Congress and the Pentagon that there was no time to waste after a previous bomber program was canceled, compelling the Pentagon to make due to with an inadequate force of penetrating bombers, she said.

Kari Bingen, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that the B-21 “was designed from the outset for easy maintenance, higher operational tempo or turnaround” and it should be easier to deploy for Bomber Task Force missions, which have been shown to have a dampening effect on belligerent rhetoric in certain regions.

“It’s not a panacea” for all the U.S.’s capacity issues, but “it is an incredibly flexible platform to create dilemmas for adversaries,” she said.

“We need more strategic options and conventional options,” she said. Other than ICBMs, and slow-moving cruise missiles, the B-21 alone will offer the U.S. options to attack any place on earth, she said, and go after hardened and deeply-buried targets against which cruise missiles are not effective. The B-21 is likely to be able to carry the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a bomb too large to be carried by anything other than a bomber, the panelists said

“I think we owe it to a president to give him more options, including those below the nuclear threshold,” Bingen said, and the B-21 offers both nuclear and conventional options not previously available. The B-21 will offer “more steps on the escalation ladder” for future U.S. leaders.

“China is already questioning whether America has the will to fund the B-21 at scale. And I think we need to prove them wrong there, in terms of numbers, and the funding, and the timelines to do that,” she said.

Grant said the necessary next step is to set a higher number so the program can “activate the subcontractors and other means to set up that production.”

The number required “needs a very serious analysis done … I’d say, within the next year, tops.” She also argued that close U.S. allies like Australia and Britain should be permitted to acquire the aircraft, to further complicate the calculations by alliance adversaries.

USSF to Start Production on New Missile Warning Satellites for Medium-Earth Orbit

Nov. 29, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Space Force’s main acquisition arm, Space Systems Command, announced Nov. 27 it has completed the critical design review for six satellites built by Millennium Space Systems that will go in medium-Earth orbit (MEO), clearing the way to start production ahead of a first scheduled launch by late 2026.

The milestone marks a critical step in the Space Force’s plan to put more satellites across different orbits to detect and track high-speed missile threats.

“We are rolling out these capabilities as fast as possible,” Col. Heather Bogstie, senior materiel leader for the SSC Space Sensing Resilient Missile Warning, Missile Tracking, Missile Defense (MW/MT/MD) program, said in a statement. “Once on-orbit, (the SVs) will be instrumental in delivering some of our early missile warning and missile tracking capabilities.”

These six spacecraft are part of the Resilient MW/MT MEO program, which aims to launch new satellites with upgraded capabilities every few years in batches called “Epochs.” Epoch 1, which includes the Millennium birds, will consist of up to nine satellites. The other three are projected to be launched by early 2027.

All told, the service envisions a MW/MT constellation in MEO with a total of 36 satellites. The Epoch 1 satellites will establish operational and communication infrastructure on the ground. They are also expected to act as prototypes for future deliveries of additional SVs.

“We aim to deliver resilient, integrated MW/MT solutions from MEO to counter emerging hypersonic and other missile threats,” said Bogstie.

This practice of rapidly acquiring and fielding new batches of satellites was pioneered by the Space Development Agency and its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture in low-Earth orbit.

Plans for the PWSA call for hundreds of small satellites in LEO, including dozens in the “Tracking Layer” for missile warning and tracking.

The Space Force already provides some missile tracking and warning via its Defense Support Program and Space Based Infrared System satellites, most of which are located in geosynchronous orbit, some 22,000 miles from Earth.

Space Systems Command’s MW/MT MEO program aims to cover the “middle ground” of space, deploying satellites in greater numbers than those in geosynchronous orbit but fewer than those in LEO.

Experts and observers have noted the advantages of a multi-orbit approach to missile tracking and warning, saying it will combine the wider coverage of higher orbits with the higher fidelity of lower ones, while providing more resiliency overall.

In a release, SSC noted that it is working in partnership with the Space Development Agency and the Missile Defense Agency, both of which are working on MW/MT capabilities, through its Combined Program Office (CPO).

“We couldn’t do this without the collective efforts with our space industry partners,” said Lt. Col. Nathan Terrazone, materiel leader for the Epoch 1 Space Branch of the SSC Space Sensing Resilient MW/MT/MD program office. “I look forward to moving onto the manufacturing phase of this program.”

How the Air Force Is Getting a Head Start on Training MH-139 Helicopter Maintainers

Nov. 29, 2023 | By David Roza

A reserve unit in Alabama is training the first generation of uniformed maintainers who will help keep the incoming fleet of MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters up and running. The 908th Airlift Wing, located at Maxwell Air Force Base, sent Airmen to Picayune, Miss., where civilian mechanics showed the Airmen how they maintain AW139s—the civilian version of the Grey Wolf—which the Chevron Corporation uses to help operate offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is currently no training program in the Department of Defense for maintaining the MH-139A, so the 30-day visits to Picayune are a chance for Airmen to learn the tricks of the trade from wrench-turners who work on a very similar aircraft.

“It was extremely beneficial for us to be at their site with them,” Master Sgt. Timothy Hill, 908th Maintenance Squadron dedicated crew chief, said in a Nov. 27 press release about the training. “It gave us an opportunity to see all that they do, and to receive mentorship and build relationships with their maintainers.”

mh-139 grey wolf — 908th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron mechanical maintainers inspect the engine bay of an AW-139 helicopter prior to the installation of the engine to ensure nothing is broken, damaged, or out of place at the Chevron helicopter maintenance facility in Picayune, Mississippi June 21, 2023. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo.)

More than 20 maintainers have visited Picayune since January. Many of them have years of experience working on the C-130 transport plane, which the 908th flew until April 2022. But the Grey Wolf is a different beast.

“The single most valuable thing that I’ve learned is just how vastly different a rotary aircraft is from a fixed wing aircraft that we’re accustomed to working on,” Tech. Sgt. Lloydstone Jacobs, 908th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron mechanical maintainer, said in the release.

All aircraft can have mechanical issues, but helicopters in general are more difficult to maintain than fixed wing airplanes due to their larger number of moving parts. Luckily, the 908th Airmen have a helping hand from their Chevron counterparts.

“It is invaluable,” Hill said. “All the mechanics at Chevron are so smart and experienced on the 139, and by getting the chance to learn from them, it only increases our knowledge for our upcoming mission.”

The maintainers will really hit the books starting in March, when manufacturer Leonardo and military modification contractor Boeing will provide MH-139-specific training at the Leonardo facility in Philadelphia. Known as Type-1 training, the program is estimated to take nine weeks with some additional proficiency training afterwards.

In the meantime, the 908th has also started sending maintainers to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. and Moody Air Force Base, Ga. for basic rotary fundamentals. The Air Force typically sends rotary or tiltrotor maintainers to a six-week introduction course provided by the Army at Fort Eustis, Va., followed by specific training on the HH-60 or CV-22, Brad Clark, a spokesperson for the 908th, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The Air Force decided not to create a formal tech school for MH-139 maintainers, since the 908th will be the only group of uniformed Grey Wolf wrench-turners. Though the exact arrangements are still being worked out, the 908th may perform higher-level maintenance similar to a depot, while day-to-day maintenance at MH-139 flying units may be carried out by civilians.

The Grey Wolf will replace the Air Force’s aging UH-1N Huey helicopters, some of which served in the Vietnam War. The Hueys provide security and support to nuclear missile fields in the western U.S., and they also transport government officials around the Washington D.C. area.

The MH-139 is 50 percent faster than the Huey, has a 30 percent larger cabin, and can lift 5,000 pounds more. Boeing delivered the sixth and last test Grey Wolf in October, with the first production aircraft expected in mid-2024. The service plans to procure up to 84 helicopters through fiscal year 2027, with the formal training unit for pilots and enlisted aircrew at Maxwell.

In the meantime, the 908th is busy standing up a range of programs and facilities to prepare for the new mission. It awarded $34 million in construction and renovation contracts for new buildings, sent eight C-130 flight engineers and loadmasters to become special missions aviators (the enlisted aircrew aboard helicopters and tiltrotors), sent C-130 pilots to learn how to fly helicopters, and tapped into 908th Airmen with helicopter experience.

Besides learning a new aircraft, maintainers at the 908th will also learn a new style of maintenance. The previous specialties of crew chief, hydraulics, and engines/propulsion were combined into the career field of mechanical maintainers, while the previous specialties of communication, navigation, electrical, environmental, guidance, and control systems were combined into technical maintainers. The Airmen will work together much more closely with the Grey Wolf than they did on the C-130.

“[T]his is a big mind shift coming from a C-130 where they think ‘this is my field and this is what I focus on,’ to working hand-in-hand with each other; and that rotor doesn’t move without all of these systems,” Master Sgt. Mike Cutter, 908th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief and expediter, said in a 2022 press release.

The hope is that all these efforts will help the 908th hit the ground running when their Grey Wolves arrive.

“This is beneficial to me as a member because it affords me not only an opportunity to get a head start on the aircraft but to also get myself comfortable working on it,” Jacobs said about the Chevron training.

CV-22 Osprey Crashes Off Southern Japan with 8 Airmen Aboard

Nov. 29, 2023 | By Chris Gordon and Greg Hadley

A U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Japan on Nov. 29, according to Air Force Special Operations Command and Japanese officials.

In a release, AFSOC said the Osprey, assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing at Yokota Air Base, suffered a mishap during a “routine training mission” off the coast of Southern Japan. Eight Airmen were aboard—earlier media reports indicated there were either six or eight crew members.

AFSOC’s release noted that the Airmen’s conditions “are unknown at this time.” Multiple Japanese media outlets reported that one individual recovered from the crash has been pronounced dead, citing Japanese coast guard officials. An AFSOC spokesperson could neither confirm nor deny those reports.

Air Force Special Operations Command operates a fleet out around 50 Ospreys, including six based at Yokota.

In a statement, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said it received reports of an American Osprey crashing in the ocean near Yakushima at around 2:50 p.m. local time, and dispatched aircraft and ships to conduct a search and rescue operation.

According to the Associated Press, Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki told reporters that he would ask the U.S. military to suspend all Osprey flights in Japan.

The Osprey, also used by the Marine Corps and Navy, is famed for its tilt-rotors, which allow it to take off and land like a helicopter, then move its rotors and fly like an airplane. However, it has also developed a reputation for safety incidents.

Most recently in August, three Marines were killed when their Osprey crashed in Australia. In 2022, two separate crashes in San Diego and Norway resulted in the deaths of nine Marines.

The Air Force has only recorded one fatal CV-22 mishap, in 2010. However, USAF Ospreys have also had issues. AFSOC temporarily grounded the tilt-rotor aircraft in 2022 over safety concerns related to two incidents of “hard clutch engagements” within a few weeks of each other—a slipping clutch caused a fail-safe feature in the system to transfer power from one engine to the other, as if the first engine was no longer engaged. However, because the clutch was only slipping, and not disengaged, it was suddenly re-engaging, generating enormous spikes in torque.

Such incidents result in “kind of a Christmas tree of lights, caution lights, in the cockpit, and some pretty squirrely flight control inputs,” then-AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife said at an AFA Warfighters in Action event in September 2022.

Eventually, the V-22 Joint Program Office said it was imposing flight-hour limits on V-22 input quill assemblies—part of the prop rotor transmission, which includes the gearbox and clutch, and transmits power from the engine to the Osprey’s massive propellers.

In its release, AFSOC stated that the cause of this latest mishap is currently unknown.

F-35 Program Will Give Pratt Sole-Source Engine Upgrade Work

Nov. 28, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

The F-35 Joint Program Office has officially announced plans to issue multiple sole-source contracts to Pratt & Whitney to upgrade the fighter’s F135 engine—a widely expected move after Pentagon officials indicated they would do so earlier this year instead of developing an entirely new engine.

The JPO, in a Nov. 28 business announcement, said it plans to issue “multiple follow-on contract actions on a sole-source basis” to Raytheon Technologies Corp., parent company of Pratt & Whitney, for the F135 Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) program system’s engineering and manufacturing development (EMD).

“The anticipated contract actions will provide F135 ECU design maturation, test article manufacturing and development, test asset procurement, validation and verification activities, weapon system integration for air system capabilities, test equipment procurements, and developmental hardware procurements for the F-35A, F-35B, and the F-35C variants,” the JPO said in the announcement.

The first monies are to be awarded in the second quarter of fiscal 2024 and the contracts will run through the end of calendar 2031. The work will support all domestic and foreign operators of the F-35 fighter.

Contract amounts were redacted from documents released by the Pentagon explaining why Pratt is doing the work as sole-source.

The JPO said it put out a solicitation for other companies to compete for the work, but “no responses were received.”

GE Aerospace has been pushing for a competition with Pratt to upgrade the F-35 with one of the engines developed in the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP). Pentagon leaders, however—in concert with the JPO—determined that while AETP engines were best suited to the F-35A, they would not fit the F-35B and would only fit the F-35C with difficulty. The ECU, they decided, was the lowest-cost option applicable to the greatest number of users.

Under the AETP, GE developed the XA100 and Pratt developed the XA101. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have proposed including money in the fiscal 2024 defense appropriations bill to continue developing the XA100 as a means of applying competitive pressure on the F-35 propulsion program.

Air Force leaders and Lockheed Martin, maker of the F-35, have urged pushing ahead with propulsion upgrades to the F-35 in order to keep it ahead of adversary aircraft now in development or entering service. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has since said he thinks the ECU is the best move.

While the ECU adds some improvement in performance, the margin is not nearly as great as would be obtained by going with an AETP engine. GE has said the challenges of adapting AETP engines to the B and C models of the fighter are solvable.

Pratt received an Engine Enhancement Preliminary Design contract for the ECU in October 2022, and it will conclude in February 2024.

The new EMD contract requirements are to:

Maintain overall common F135 engine and air systems compatibility to maximize long-term program efficiencies

Improve overall F135 engine life

Maximize commonality with the existing ground support and maintenance gear

Maximize commonality with current F-35 depot infrastructure

“Increase bleed air, horsepower extraction, and heat rejection that, at a minimum, can support double the current air system cooling demands”

Improve F-35B Vertical Lift capabilities.

“Due to the nature of the F-35 program, it is critical the F135 ECU be common across the F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C variants, be partner releasable, and be available to Foreign Military Sales customers,” the JPO said.

Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, JPO director, certified that Pratt is the sole company capable of doing the upgrade, as the current “sole designer, developer, manufacturer, and integrator of the F135 propulsion system and related equipment.” Pratt alone “has the experience, special skills, proprietary technical documentation, software/algorithms, and technical expertise required to furnish the supplies and services.”

In the justification for the sole-source approach, Schmidt certified that the redesign of the F135’s internal components ”requires a holistic and detailed understanding of F135 mechanics and gas path dynamics. The Government does not possess the bulk of the technical data necessary to provide this understanding, and in the limited cases where the government does have relevant technical data, it lacks sufficient license rights to provide the data for competition.”

Schmidt said that in the F-35 acquisition strategy, the government did not acquire technical or data license rights to the F135 “necessary for competition.”

Adding a second source would incur “significant duplication of cost and unacceptable performance risks and schedule delays,” he said.

Jen Latka, Pratt’s vice president for the F135, said in a press statement that “we’ll complete preliminary design work on the F135 Engine Core Upgrade in December, and we are ready for the official preliminary design review, which is scheduled in January 2024.”

Latka said Pratt has 600 employees “fully dedicated” to the ECU, “and we’re on track to deliver F-35 operators the power needed to enable Block 4 capabilities and beyond starting in 2029.”

SDA Demonstrates Link 16 from Space for First Time Ever

Nov. 28, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Space Development Agency (SDA) has demonstrated the first-ever Link 16 network broadcast from space to the ground, the agency announced Nov. 28—a key milestone for its new constellation of satellites.

In a release, SDA said it conducted three Link 16 demonstrations over the course of a week leading up to the announcement. The tests involved sending signals to and from low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to ground-based receivers using terrestrial radios.

Link 16, a tactical radio technology used by the U.S., NATO, and allied nations, facilitates secure transmissions of voice, text, and data. This real-time information sharing tool has previously been employed only in ground-to-ground or air-to-ground contexts.

The demonstrations are a crucial development for the Pentagon’s broader plans for Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), which will link sensors to military platforms worldwide.

SDA’s constellation of satellites in low-Earth orbit, dubbed the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) initiative, will form what officials have called the “backbone” of JADC2 in space. They will upgrade communications for military operators and allow for the sending of messages using Link 16 radios on space vehicles, even in scenarios where direct visibility is not possible.

“I can’t underscore enough the significance of this technical achievement as we demonstrate the feasibility of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture and its ability to deliver space-based capabilities to the warfighter over existing tactical data links,” SDA director Derek M. Tournear said in a statement. “This is … the beginning of turning the world’s finest warfighting force into a truly connected beyond line-of-sight joint force.”

Space Development Agency Director Derek M. Tournear, delivers a keynote address at the Mitchell Institute Spacepower Security Forum. **Mike Tsukamoto/staff**

SDA faced hurdles before it could demonstrate the Link 16 capability, due to a dispute between the Pentagon and Federal Aviation Administration that has led to the restriction of Link 16 broadcasts in U.S. airspace. The agency had to get a waiver from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to transmit a Link 16 message to a Five Eyes nation and over international waters.

Five Eyes is an intelligence network established between the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand—SDA has not specified in which nation the demonstration took place. In the long term, the agency wants to test Link 16 over U.S. airspace to prove PWSA’s feasibility in delivering fire control information.

For this first test, SDA utilized three Tranche 0 (T0) satellites built by York Space Systems in Denver, Colo. The 46th Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., led the ground operations.

The T0 satellites used in the demonstration are from both of SDA’s launches earlier this year, with the first launch of 10 satellites in April followed by the second batch of 13 in September. A third and final launch for Tranche 0 is “scheduled for the near future,” the SDA release noted.

When completed, the T0 constellation will include 28 satellites, including 19 Transport satellites—used for data transport and communications—and eight Tracking spacecraft—for missile warning and tracking—along with one ground-based testbed satellite.

By late 2024, the agency aims to deploy the first operational Tranche of PWSA, Tranche 1. It will consist of 126 Transport Layer satellites, 35 Tracking satellites, and 12 tactical demonstration satellites.