Air Force Picks Startup to Build Blended-Wing Body Prototype for Flight Testing by 2027

Aug. 16, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force has picked aerospace startup JetZero to build a prototype Blended-Wing Body (BWB) aircraft for testing and demonstrating new technologies, the service announced Aug. 16. The aircraft is to be assembled by 2026 and flight testing will begin in 2027.

“This is a prototype/demonstration project,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said at an event announcing the decision hosted by the Air & Space Forces Association. “It is intended to accelerate the next generation of the large aircraft the Air Force needs in the future. … There’s a real potential in this technology to help increase fuel efficiency significantly. That’s going to lead to improvements in not just the efficiency and capability of our force, but also in our impact on the climate.”

The Air Force is the largest consumer of fossil fuels in the Department of Defense, which is itself the largest consumer in the federal government.

Though not specifically aimed at the service’s Next Generation Air-refueling System (NGAS) effort, the BWB prototype will likely have relevant lessons and use for that program. Specifically, it will play a role in shaping Air Mobility Command’s upcoming Analysis of Alternatives (AOA) for the future tanker program, said Maj. Gen. Albert G. Miller, AMC’s director of strategy, plans, requirements, and programs.

The program is also aimed at bolstering the defense industrial base and “maintaining our edge over China. And there is a lot of commercial interest in this technology,” Kendall said.

Ravi I. Chaudhary, assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy, installations, and the environment—and under whose office the BWB aircraft will be managed—said it offers promise for the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment model, with high potential for extending range in the Indo-Pacific theater, an ability to operate off short airfields, and a high payload relative to fuel consumed.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced the selection of JetZero to build a prototype Blended-Wing Body (BWB) aircraft at an Air and Space Warfighters In Action event hosted by the Air & Space Forces Association at their headquarters in Arlington, Va., on August 16, 2023. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/Air & Space Forces Magazine

Chaudhary told Air & Space Forces Magazine a goal of the program is to achieve 30 percent fuel savings over a comparably-sized tube-and-wing transport, although JetZero’s website suggests the improvement will be as high as 50 percent.

Officials didn’t specify a designation for the aircraft; Chaudhary speculated it will be something like “XBW-1,” but it will not be a traditional “X-plane,” even though NASA is a principal government partner on the program.

Northrop Grumman is one of Jet Zero’s corporate partners on the project, and the aircraft will be fabricated by Northrop’s subsidiary, Scaled Composites, at its Mojave, Calif., facilities.

JetZero co-founder Tom O’Leary said in an interview that the funding for the project amounts to $40 million from the Air Force in fiscal 2024, and that private investors are putting up a matching mount. That will hold through the next five fiscal years, during which the Air Force plans to put up $230 million in funding. O’Leary would not disclose how much private investment is going into the jet in total, but said there has been strong interest from airlines.

In an artist’s concept and desk model shown at the announcement, the prototype aircraft was shown wearing Air Mobility Command markings. Flight testing planned so far will follow traditional lines, exploring the aircraft’s envelope and characteristics like flutter, and follow-on testing may include some operational-like experiments, Miller said. However, the aircraft will not have a rear-opening cargo door, and in fact, no “apertures” for cargo loading are so far included in the design, O’Leary said.

The two engines, which will be mounted on the top rear of the fuselage, will be Geared Turbo Fans (GTF) built by Pratt & Whitney, but O’Leary declined to specify which variant has been selected.

The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit put out a solicitation to industry for the BWB aircraft in July 2022, and the Air Force provided more details in its Climate Action Plan in October. The Air Force Operational Energy Office is taking the lead on the project because of its potential to drastically reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

“The effort aims to mature BWB technology and demonstrate its capabilities, giving the Department and commercial industry more options for future air platforms,” the Air Force said in a press release.

The aircraft’s “increased efficiency will enable extended range, more loiter time, and increased payload delivery efficiencies; capabilities that are vital to mitigating logistics risks,” the Air Force said.

The BWB concept is not new—the Air Force has experimented with large-scale flying wing aircraft since the Northrop YB-35 in 1946, and Boeing and NASA conducted a demonstration program as recently as 2007-2013 with the subscale X-48 demonstrator. The B-2 Spirit and B-21 Raider bombers are also examples of flying wings.

Asked why it has taken so long for the BWB to be taken seriously by the Air Force and become a prototype program, O’Leary said it was “the cost of fuel,” which has given the program “a sense of urgency,” as well as the effects of global warming, which “can no longer be ignored,” he said.

The BWB is also maturing now because of “more recent technology advancements in structural design, materials technology, manufacturing, and other areas have made large-scale production achievable,” the Air Force said in a press release.

Specifically, the BWB concept is applicable to aircraft types—theater lift and air refueling—that collectively account for 60 percent of the Air Force’s annual fuel consumption, the service said. JetZero unveiled its concept for a BWB tanker, dubbed Z-5, this spring and claims that its design has the potential to reduce fuel burn by 50 percent over conventional aircraft. The company also said it will compete for NGAS.

“Today’s announcement marks another game-changing milestone for the Air Force in our efforts to maintain the advantage of airpower effectiveness against any future competitors,” said Chaudhary.

The technology is expected to have significant application to commercial industry as well, potentially offering benefits to passenger and air freight companies by increasing interior space while decreasing fuel costs.

O’Leary said a commercial variant will “almost certainly” have folding wings, the better to operate from modern airports, but the prototype is not required to have them.

The top-mounted engines are expected to both reduce obstacles around the aircraft at ground level and deflect noise up and away from it, allowing a potential commercial variant to operate on routes now closed to airliners because of noise. That effect will also have the effect of reducing the aircraft’s detectability in a military setting, Chaudhary said.

As for whether the BWB will be stealthy, Chaudhary demurred, saying “we’ll see.” Observability will be among the characteristics measured in test.

The BWB project will be a collaboration of the Department of the Air Force, NASA, the Defense Innovation Unit, and the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital.

Department of the Air Force Gets a New CIO

Aug. 16, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

The Department of the Air Force has a new Chief Information Officer, responsible for leading the department’s wide-ranging information technology efforts.

Venice Goodwine started the CIO job this week, an Air Force official confirmed, succeeding Lauren Knausenberger, who departed in June after more than two years in the position. Winston Beauchamp, deputy CIO, served as the acting CIO in the interim.

As CIO, Goodwine will oversee a portfolio worth $17 billion with more than 20,000 cyber operations and support personnel. And she’ll be tasked with spearheading everything from improvements to the Department’s much-maligned IT networks to connectivity for the ambitious DAF Battle Network plan to connect sensors and shooters around the globe.

Prior to taking the CIO job, Goodwine served as director of enterprise information technology under Knausenberger. Air Force IT has been undergoing a transition in recent years, with plans to outsource basic IT tasks across the entire enterprise to a contractor—dubbed “Enterprise IT as a Service” or EITaaS.

Service officials have claimed EITaaS will save money and provide faster connectivity, while freeing up cyber and information-focused Airmen from day-to-day IT tasks to focus on warfighting missions.

Slow networks across the department have long been a source of frustration for Airmen and Guardians, and Knausenberger herself acknowledged the issue in 2022, saying the department must “make big, bold capital investments in IT to drive the tech and process modernization we need to compete.”

Both Knausenberger and Space Force Chief Information and Technology Officer Lisa Costa have also noted the problem of “tech debt”—the department’s IT is so outdated that trying to fix it all would be expensive, to say nothing of upgrading it.

Yet upgraded IT will likely be pivotal to Air Force initiatives like the DAF Battle Network and Advanced Battle Management System, which will require massive amounts of computing and network power to sort through data and connect kill chains around the globe.

On top of that, Knausenberger spoke about the need for artificial intelligence to make sense of all that data—heightening the need for computing power and connectivity. Data and artificial intelligence is one of the directorates under the CIO.

“You have to have connectivity,” she said in November 2022. “You have to have ‘compute’ [computing power] wherever you need it. And networks—you have to be able to get data from anywhere to anywhere. You have to have software that makes it easy for a warfighter to interpret that picture and to make a decision.”

Now it will be up to Goodwine to help realize such a vision. At the same time, she’ll lead the DAF cybersecurity efforts. Most prominently, department leaders hope to implement “zero trust”—an approach that requires all users in and outside a network to be continuously authenticated and authorized to access systems—by 2027. In February, the department released a “road map” for reaching zero trust, which it updated in July.

Goodwine is a retired Airman herself, joining the service in 1986 as a signals intelligence analyst before moving to the Air Force Reserve and receiving her commission in 2003. She retired in 2022.

Rolls-Royce: Delivering for the Air Force Every Day

Aug. 16, 2023

It’s no secret that Rolls-Royce North America has been a trusted partner for the U.S. Air Force going back decades – even before the service was established in 1947.

From the company’s factories in Indianapolis, originally the Allison Engine plants, thousands of engines have been designed, developed and delivered to keep the Air Force flying. Today, the company is moving rapidly toward Critical Design Review for the Air Force’s B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP), which will help extend the life of the venerable BUFF by another 30 years.

Rolls-Royce has many other programs in operation or development that will benefit the nation’s airmen and women. We caught up with Ray Davis, senior vice president, business development, to learn more about what Rolls-Royce is up to. Davis, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, is based in the company’s U.S. headquarters near Washington, D.C.

Can you give us an update on where the company is with the B-52 re-engining program?

“We were humbled and gratified that the Air Force selected the Rolls-Royce F130 engine and put their confidence in us to update this venerable aircraft. We focused closely on digital engineering in the design and risk-management areas. That helped speed the process along, lowered cost and reduced risk. We continue to see those benefits now. The first two F130 engines have been delivered and they’ve been very successful in tests in their new twin-pod configuration at the NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. We’ll be finishing up that testing soon, and next up is Critical Design Review. We are making great progress toward that. We are working closely with the Air Force and Boeing to ensure we help make this program a great success and our team is laser focused on delivery.”

What other Air Force platforms are you involved in right now?

“Historically, Rolls-Royce powered iconic World War II aircraft like the P-51, P-38, P-39, and P-40, piston engines that were produced in our factories in Indianapolis. That’s where, beginning in the 1950s, we developed the T56 gas turbine engine for the C-130 transport. And we’ve been continually advancing gas-turbine technology ever since. Nowadays, we produce the AE 2100D3 engine for the current generation of C-130J aircraft. We provide our MissionCare service contract for those engines and are really overachieving in making sure they are ready to go whenever the next mission is. We are meeting or exceeding all contract parameters for that aftermarket service. We also produce the AE 1107C engines for CV-22 aircraft, and AE 3007H engines for the Global Hawk fleet.”

Where are these engines produced?

“All these engines are assembled and tested in our newly modernized facilities in Indianapolis. Rolls-Royce has invested $1 Billion into our Indianapolis facilities in recent years, in new technology, advanced manufacturing and test capabilities. This has transformed our facilities into the most modern and efficient among all locations that Rolls-Royce operates around the world. It means we are set up to deliver efficiently for the Air Force and other customers. But we really couldn’t do that without our dedicated American workforce. Our employees in Indianapolis take great personal pride in producing all those engines for the Air Force and making sure they are top-notch in quality and efficiency. You can see this dedication any time you walk through our factories. I should also note that our AE engine family, which powers C-130J, CV-22 and Global Hawk, has surpassed 86 million engine flight hours across all military and civil fleets combined. It’s proven to be incredibly reliable in all operations.”

What about future programs that the company is working on – space, hypersonics, or other cutting-edge technology?

“We have our own advanced technology unit, also based in Indianapolis, which is known as LibertyWorks. They design all types of high-tech projects. We have a growing Space development effort focused on micro nuclear systems to provide long-term power and propulsion solutions for civil and national security Space applications. Also on the nuclear side is our work on Project Pele, in which we are providing a reliable power conversion system that will be paired with a BWXT microreactor. That project will provide localized, safe nuclear power solutions for the Department of Defense and we are really proud to be a part of it.

“Hypersonics, or high-Mach, technology has also been a big area of emphasis within LibertyWorks and we currently have three different DoD contracts in progress on reusable high-Mach engines. We are also a founding industry partner of the new hypersonics test facility being developed at Purdue University in Indiana. We have partnered with Purdue on many, many advanced technology programs over the years and the university is a great pipeline for engineering talent as well. We are also having a lot of discussions around the Autonomous Collaborative Platforms project, and can see great opportunities there to support next-gen unmanned systems. Rolls-Royce is already powering multiple unmanned systems including Global Hawk and several Navy platforms, and we look forward to bringing that advanced technology to the Air Force for its ACS portfolio as it is developed.”

Speaking of future programs, how is Rolls-Royce supporting STEM efforts to prepare the scientists and technologists of tomorrow who will create the future of propulsion and aerospace?

“We are so proud to be the 2023 recipient of the AFA Chairman’s Award for supporting Aerospace Education and STEM programs. STEM is a huge focus for Rolls-Royce and we engage regularly with universities such as Purdue to fund research on campus for current students to work on. We also hire many engineering interns and new graduates every year. But even before students reach university age, we support STEM teachers nationwide as Platinum sponsor of the AFA’s Aerospace Education program, and as exclusive sponsor of the AFA National Teacher of the Year. We have funded these programs for many years and it is always a thrill to meet the outstanding and inspiring teachers who have been recognized and supported by AFA through these programs. It’s not only Rolls-Royce and other aerospace companies which will benefit from this – STEM efforts in schools which educate and inspire today’s students will benefit the Air Force down the road as well. We are really proud to be partnering with AFA on these efforts.”

Brig. Gen. Ray Davis, U.S. Army (retired), is Senior Vice President, Business Development, for Rolls-Royce Defense, based in Reston, VA.

How Do These 60-Year-Old USAF Jets Age So Gracefully?

Aug. 15, 2023 | By David Roza

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb.—They were manufactured in the early 1960s and are deployed almost constantly around the world. But the Air Force’s fleet of RC-135 intelligence and reconnaissance aircraft enjoy some of the highest mission capable rates in U.S. military aviation.

“We’re flying this fleet very hard, we’re currently at about 108 percent above where we think we should be,” in terms of operational load, Col. Kyle Clement, commander of Offutt’s 55th Maintenance Group, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

“Not only are the metrics looking good, but the jets are cooperating; we’re able to fly more than we think,” he added.

With 28 total airframes total, the fleet has several variants—17 RC-135V/W Rivet Joints act as mobile listening posts, collecting real-time electronic and signals intelligence; three RC-135S Cobra Balls study ballistic missile activity; two RC-135U Combat Sent aircraft locate, identify, and analyze radar signals; three WC-135R/W Constant Phoenix jets collect samples of the atmosphere to detect nuclear weapons testing; and three TC-135Ws serve as training aircraft.

How the Air Force manages to keep them all flying at extremely high rates is a combination of extensive maintenance and modernization.

Every few years, each jet is sent to the depot at Greenville, Texas, known as ‘Big Safari’ for an extensive overhaul where they are almost completely disassembled, explained Joe Bucher, an airframe equipment specialist with the Air Force Engineering and Technical Services.

“They call it the dinosaur,” he said. “All you’ll see is the ribs, and the skin will be mostly off.”

The RC-135s are gutted to make way for updated systems equipped with faster software. The combination of hardware and software installed on the jet is called a baseline. The current baseline 13 is nearly all digital: the cockpits sport glass screens rather than old-fashioned gauges, and the streamlined backend system for intelligence collection has far more computing power than past baselines.

Jeremy Martin, an L3Harris mission systems technician, compared the difference between baseline 13 and 7, which he encountered when he first served as an Airman aboard the Rivet Joint in the early 2000s, to the advance in video game consoles over the same period of time.

“It’s literally going from Coleco or Atari to PS5,” he said. “The capabilities that we had at baseline 7, we couldn’t dream of where we’re at right now.”

Keeping up with the fast pace of change is a necessary part of staying ahead of competitors, Clement said.

“That’s why we do this. We have to be ahead of the innovation that China’s bringing to the table,” he said. “There is no second place here.”

The result is that the year of manufacture painted on each jet’s tail has little relation to the systems on the inside.

“Truly the only thing that’s really old on this plane is the number itself that’s on the tail, maybe the N-1 magnetic compass, and the pencil sharpener. That’s about it,” Martin said. “The rest of this stuff has all been updated, it’s a lot of cutting-edge stuff that’s on this plane.”

Fit to Fly

Even the best technology is useless without an airworthy jet, though, which is where the 55th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron comes in, spending hours fixing the control surfaces, engines, cables, lights, and other mechanical components that make RC-135s fly. Some of the jets used to serve as presidential transport, medical evacuation, or refueling platforms before joining the 55th Wing, giving each small differences and a distinct personality.

“Just last year, our brand-new WC-135s were operational KC-135s,” said Master Sgt. Josef Schueler. “They all have a life.”

Each aircraft has a complex array of subsystems that also require upkeep. For example, the advanced electronics aboard the Rivet Joints generate large amounts of heat, which is why they sport two air conditioning systems and a liquid cooling system.

“That’s a difference when you look at us versus Delta [Air Lines],” said Clement. “All they have is hydraulics, tires, the basics. We have to have all these other systems up and running.”

Rust can ground aircraft as easily as a mechanical failure, which is why Tech Sgt. Justin Boettger, the noncommissioned officer in charge of aircraft structural maintenance, spends much of his time fighting it off.

“The majority of our job here is painting and corrosion control,” he said. “With the age of these aircraft, corrosion issues do happen from time to time, and we make sure that they stop in their tracks.”

Besides rust, Boettger and his team also patch up aircraft after cracks, bird strikes, lightning strikes, or other bangs and scratches. But when a part breaks and the factory that makes it has been closed for decades, the fabrication section of the 55th Maintenance Squadron tries to make it on their own.

“Just about 10 times out of 10, we can make those parts,” said Tech Sgt. Isaac King, noncommissioned officer in charge of the fabrication section.

The shop uses various computer-guided machines to cut through steel, including one that shoots a stream of high-pressure water mixed with bits of garnet. When blueprints for the part are unavailable, the Airmen reverse-engineer it.

“Things break and wear over time,” said King. “It’s very unique to say ‘all I need is the raw material, and either a part to take measurements on, or a blueprint to draw it up with,’ and we’ve got the experience to be able to do it.”

80,000 Hours

The 55th Wing has had difficulties with maintenance in the past. A 2018 investigation by the Omaha World-Herald found hundreds of missions aborted or scrubbed due to pervasive mechanical problems. One particularly dangerous WC-135 had the nickname ‘Lucifer’s Chariot,’ though that exact subvariant of WC-135 has since been replaced with jets with larger motors and more available spare parts.

Today, however, the 55th’s RC-135 metrics are impressive: the jets average 1,007 flight hours a month, despite being contracted for 928. The average mission capable rate is 76 percent for fiscal year 2023, which is right on the Air Force standard. In March, one of the Rivet Joints, tail number 4841, even achieved black-letter status, which means an inspection found zero maintenance problems aboard the aging jet. Such an accomplishment is rare in the Air Force: Clement himself has encountered just two in his 29-year career. The metrics are all the more impressive considering the heavy demand on the fleet.

“We’re always all over the world,” Clement said. The jets “could be in the Middle East, they could be in Asia, they could be in Europe, and those are just the main operating locations.”

The entire fleet is due to receive a life-cycle extension to pull its service out to 80,000 flight hours, which should see the aircraft flying into 2050.

“It’s a very small fleet, so every aircraft makes a difference,” Clement said. “That’s why we spend so much investment in each aircraft, because each is a national asset.”

A New Bonus Program Targets Pilots Willing to Re-Up Their Service Commitment Early

Aug. 15, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force is instituting a new bonus program to entice its pilots to stay in the service by encouraging them to re-up years in advance.

The Rated Officer Retention Demonstration program, formally unveiled Aug. 15, will offer bonuses of up to $50,000 per year to Airmen whose Active-Duty service commitments from training are due to expire in fiscal 2024 and 2025.

Rated officers—specifically pilots, an Air Force spokeswoman confirmed—have until Sept. 15 to apply for the bonus program. The amount of the bonus will depend on the length of the contract the Airman signs.

Starting next year, the service will reserve the biggest bonuses for pilots who sign contracts while still having three years left on their initial commitment.

The new program will run in parallel to the Air Force’s existing “legacy” Aviation Bonus Program, which is available to pilots, air battle managers, and combat systems officers and also offers up to $50,000 annually. However, pilots will not be able to combine the two bonuses, a spokeswoman said.

The Rated Officer Retention Demonstration program was implemented in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which gave the Secretary of the Air Force leeway to offer the bonus to rated officers “whose continued service on active duty would be in the best interest of the Department of the Air Force” and who have between 1-3 years left on their initial service commitment.

The law also notes that any contract should add at least four more years to a program participant’s service commitment.

Finally, the law allows the Secretary of the Air Force to offer a combination of bonuses and base of preference selections as part of the program. The Air Force, however, did not mention any base of preference selection as part of this year’s program.

The program is authorized to run through 2028. If this initial year is deemed a success, the Air Force “may potentially continue with higher funding allocation requests in future years to expand offerings to a broader rated field and/or for an extended period,” according to a release.

Air Force leaders and members of Congress hope that providing pilots the chance to renew their commitment years in advance will address a common complaint among aviators—a lack of stability for their families.

In the past, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin noted before Congress in May, bonuses have come too late to change plans that were already years in the making.

“Now, obviously, we’re asking for a longer commitment, but at that time, it’s helping them cement their future, see where their families are and have that predictability,” Allvin said.

Whether the earlier bonuses will make mid-career pilot retention easier is not yet clear. “We just started this,” Allvin said. But the service is optimistic that offering more stability will improve retention.

Improving retention will be a key part in addressing the service’s persistent pilot shortage. In written testimony, Allvin noted that the Air Force had a net loss of about 250 pilots in fiscal 2022 and ended the year 1,900 pilots short of its goal of 21,000. For years now, the Air Force has struggled to produce and retain enough pilots to meet its goals, facing stiff competition from private industry.

Other steps the service is taking include a revamp of how it identifies and trains new pilots. Changes to the pilot candidate scoring mechanism have reduced emphasis on prior flying experience to encourage more diverse applicants. A new curriculum, Undergraduate Pilot Training 2.5, aims to make greater use of simulators and personalized training to help candidates better prepare for actual flying.

Finally, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said in June that leaders are reconsidering whether some higher-ranking staff jobs need to be filled by pilots. The USAF has been absorbing the pilot shortage by undermanning those jobs.

LOOK: How the Nominations Freeze Affects the Highest Levels of USAF, USSF Leadership

Aug. 15, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

On Aug. 14, Adm. Michael Gilday relinquished his post as Chief of Naval Operations without a Senate-confirmed successor. The Navy now joins the Army and Marine Corps in lacking a permanent top officer, as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) continues to protest the Department of Defense’s reproductive health policies with a legislative hold, and lawmakers seemingly refuse to hold roll-call votes on any individual nominees.

There are now 301—and counting—nominations for flag and general officers that are stuck in limbo in the Senate.

The Air Force will likely not go without a permanent leader anytime soon—Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still has another year left in his term, and while he has been nominated to become the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, that nomination is being held up too.

But the effects of the promotions freeze go beyond Brown, from wing commanders to the Air Force and Space Force’s vice chiefs. More than 100 Air Force and Space Force officers are now stuck in limbo. In some cases, generals who had been planning on retiring are staying on indefinitely. In others, generals are taking on their new jobs in an acting capacity, or without a promotion to a higher grade.

At the highest levels, these charts highlight the different organizations whose leadership has been affected in some form or fashion.

All highlighted text shows officers who have been affected by the nominations hold.Download

Air Force

Three of the Air Staff’s 16 members are affected by the nomination freeze—nearly a fifth total and a quarter of the uniformed officers. That’s also not counting the Air Force’s director of staff position, where Lt. Gen. Kevin B. Schneider has been nominated to pin on a fourth star and take command of Pacific Air Forces, and Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus has been tapped to succeed him.

Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. has been nominated to become the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs but not confirmed.

Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin has been nominated to replace Brown as Chief of Staff. His successor as Vice Chief has not been announced.

Lt. Gen. James C. Dawkins Jr. is set to leave his job as deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration. Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Gebara has been nominated to succeed him and become a lieutenant general but is still waiting.

Lt. Gen. S. Clinote Hinote has retired from his job as deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements, or head of Air Force Futures. Maj. Gen. David Harris has been nominated to succeed him and get a promotion.

Maj. Gen. Jeannie M. Leavitt is leaving her job as Chief of Safety, and Brig. Gen. Sean M. Choquette has been nominated to replace her and pin on a second star.

Major Commands

Pacific Air Forces is slated to get entirely new leadership: Commander Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach has been nominated to lead Air Combat Command, and Vice Commander Lt. Gen. James A. Jacobson is retiring. Lt. Gen. Kevin B. Schneider and Maj. Gen. Laura L. Lenderman have been nominated for promotions and to serve as commander and vice commander, respectively.

Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mark D. Kelly is set to retire and be succeeded by Wilsbach. Vice commander Lt. Gen. Russell L. Mack is also leaving, and Maj. Gen. Michael G. Koscheski has been tapped to get a promotion and take the job.

Air Force Global Strike Command vice commander Lt. Gen. Mark E. Weatherington is retiring, and Maj. Gen. Michael J. Lutton has been nominated to succeed him and get a promotion.

Air Force Materiel Command vice commander Lt. Gen. Carl E. Schaefer is retiring, and Brig. Gen. Linda S. Hurry has been nominated as his successor and for a promotion.

Air Force Special Operations Command vice commander Brig. Gen. Rebecca J. Sonkiss has been nominated for a promotion.

Numbered Air Forces

7th Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus has been nominated to go to the Pentagon and become Air Force Director of Staff. Maj. Gen. David R. Iverson has been tapped to succeed him and pin on a third star.

20th Air Force commander Maj. Gen Michael J. Lutton has been nominated to become vice commander of AFGSC. When he moves, Brig. Gen. Stacy J. Huser has been nominated to succeed him and get a promotion.

12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) vice commander Col. John B. Creel has been nominated for promotion to brigadier general.

4th Air Force commander Brig. Gen. Derin S. Durham has been nominated for promotion to major general.

9th Air Force (Air Forces Central) vice commander Brig. Gen. David A. Mineau has been nominated for promotion to major general.

Space Force

The Space Force is smaller and has far fewer officers caught up in the nominations hold, but all three of its field commands are affected, as is the service’s No. 2 office and one of its key Space Staff positions.

Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson is set to retire, and Space Systems Command commander Lt. Gen. Michael A. Guetlein has been nominated to succeed him and get a fourth star.

Deputy chief of space operations for operations, strategy, plans, programs, and requirements Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant has been nominated to be commander of Space Systems Command, and Air Force Maj. Gen. Shawn W. Bratton, who had been head of Space Training and Readiness Command, has been nominated twice to transfer into the Space Force at the rank of lieutenant general.

Space Operations Command commander Gen. Stephen N. Whiting has been nominated to be commander of U.S. Space Command. His successor has not been announced.

Space Systems Command commander Lt. Gen. Michael A. Guetlein has been nominated to become Vice Chief of Space Operations. Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant, currently deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs, and requirements, has been nominated as his successor.

Space Training and Readiness Command commander Maj. Gen. Shawn W. Bratton has been nominated to be deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs, and requirements. Brig. Gen. Timothy A. Sejba has succeeded him as a commander but is still awaiting promotion to Maj. Gen.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified nominations for Air Force Special Operations Command and the 16th Air Force. AFSOC vice commander Brig. Gen. Rebecca J. Sonkiss has been nominated for a promotion to major general, and 16th Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas K. Hensley is not retiring.

Career Airmen Can Retrain More Easily Under New Air Force Rules

Aug. 14, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force is making it easier for career enlisted Airmen to retrain into a different specialty, following similar changes made earlier this year for first-term service members.

The Noncommissioned Officer Retraining Program (NCORP), for Airmen on their second or any subsequent term of enlistment, opened Aug. 1 with Phase I, during which service members from overstaffed career fields can volunteer to retrain into undermanned specialties.

In previous years, the application window for Airmen looking to volunteer for retraining was around a month. This year, the Air Force announced, it will be nine months, stretching until the end of April 2024.

If there aren’t enough applicants after Phase I, the program moves to Phase II—during which the Air Force picks Airmen to retrain. In a release, the service said it will notify Airmen eligible to be involuntarily retrained starting in early February 2024 and encourage them to apply for a new Air Force Speciality Code (AFSC). Phase II won’t officially start, however, until May 1.

The Air Force is adjusting Phase II this year, to allow career Airmen to retrain into any specialty below 90 percent manning instead of separating.

That change is in line with moves the Air Force made in May to let Airmen in their first term of enlistment retrain into any AFSC below 90 percent, even if their current field is below 90 percent.

“We are continuing to advance our talent management programs, allowing more flexibility and opportunities to keep Airmen in our ranks,” deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller said in a statement. “This is key to keeping great talent we need and for the future force against potential challenges.”

Balancing force structure and filling out the ranks have been high priorities for the Air Force recently.

On one hand, leaders say recruiting numbers continue to decline and the service is likely to miss its fiscal 2023 goals by thousands of Airmen. Officials say some of the challenges include a low unemployment rate and a declining propensity to serve, along with increased concerns about political polarization.

On the other, retention has ticked down slightly after reaching record highs amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic but still generally remains strong. The number of career fields eligible for retention bonuses—which can rise when the Air Force needs to entice more Airmen to stay—dipped in 2023 after bumping up the year prior.

At the same time, the service is promoting NCOs at its lowest rate in decades, driven in part by a belief that too many Airmen were promoted in the past with insufficient experience to be effective senior noncommissioned officers, and that a course correction is needed. Last week, the Air Force announced 17.4 percent of eligible senior airmen were promoted to staff sergeant, the lowest mark in 27 years.

Russian Warplanes Fly Near Alaska and NATO in Separate Incidents on Same Day

Aug. 14, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

Four Russian military aircraft operated near Alaska, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command, roughly two weeks after a flotilla of Russian and Chinese warships conducting joint exercises near the Aleutian Islands were shadowed by the Navy.

On the same day, thousands of miles away, Russian bombers also got near NATO airspace in Europe, prompting multiple countries to respond.

The incident near Alaska occurred late Aug. 13 and into the early morning hours of Aug. 14, according to a release from NORAD.

The command said it “detected and tracked” the Russian aircraft, but did not say whether American or Canadian aircraft were scrambled in response, as they sometimes have in the past. NORAD also did not identify what type of Russian aircraft were operating. The command did not immediately respond to queries.

NORAD did clarify that the Russian aircraft operated in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is international airspace that serves as a buffer for early-warning defense of North America. Russia regularly conducts flights in that area, with the last announced incident occurring July 3, also involving four Russian aircraft.

“These types of flights are not that uncommon,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters Aug. 14.

“The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” the NORAD release stated. “This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”

Elsewhere on Aug. 14, multiple NATO countries scrambled fighters in response to Russian bomber flights near their countries.

Two Royal Air Force Typhoons on quick reaction alert from RAF Lossiemouth intercepted what it identified as Tu-142 Bear-F and Tu-142 Bear-J maritime patrol aircraft, which are used for “reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare,” according to the RAF. The Russian bombers were flying north of the Shetland Islands, a Scottish archipelago that is the northern-most part of the U.K. The British also scrambled a Voyager refueling aircraft.

Like NORAD, the RAF also noted such incidents are not rare but said the Russian planes “can pose a hazard to other aircraft.”

“These Russian aircraft often do not talk to air traffic control or ‘squawk’, broadcasting a code ensuring they are visible to other air users and air traffic controllers on the ground,” an RAF release added.

The British pilots were “ready to counter any potential threat to U.K. territory” and “take action at a moment’s notice to keep our country safe,” U.K. Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey said in a statement.

The incident was within NATO’s air policing zone, but in international airspace. The Danish Air Force aircraft also intercepted two Russian Bears in the morning of Aug. 14 in what appeared to involve the same Russian aircraft, accordin g to the Netherlands. Two Dutch F-16s from Volkel Air Base were scrambled as the aircraft “flew towards Dutch airspace,” but the Russian aircraft changed course.

“This does not happen often, but today’s incident does demonstrate the importance of rapid employability,” the Dutch Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The incidents come in the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and on the heels of 11 Russian and Chinese warships conducting drills near the Aleutian Islands, which were monitored four U.S. destroyers—the USS John S. McCain, the USS Benfold, the USS John Finn, and the USS Chung-Hoon— and P-8 Poseidon aircraft. However, Ryder said the latest Russian flights near Alaska did not appear to be linked to that incident.

“No indication that I’m aware of that’s it’s linked to any exercise activity,” Ryder said of the flights, but added the U.S. had a policy to “make people aware.”

B-2s Land in Iceland for First Bomber Task Force in Months

Aug. 14, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Three B-2 bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., landed in Keflavik, Iceland, on Aug. 13 to begin a Bomber Task Force deployment, the service announced. The deployment marks the first overseas appearance of the stealth bomber since the B-2 fleet’s six-month safety pause ended this May.

The planned duration of the deployment was not disclosed, but BTFs typically last 2-6 weeks. More than 150 support Airmen and aircrew deployed alongside the bombers and will exercise with NATO and U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) units in the region.

The B-2 is the Air Force’s sole operational stealth bomber, with a globe-girdling range, and the ongoing Bomber Task Force rotations in Europe are seen as one element of NATO’s heightened level of alert since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

Two B-2 Spirits from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., arrive in Keflavik, Iceland to participate in a Bomber Task Force Europe operation with NATO allies, Aug. 13, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Heather Salazar

A crew chief assigned to the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, ushers a B-2 Spirit in Keflavik, Iceland to participate in a Bomber Task Force Europe operation with NATO allies, Aug. 13, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Heather Salazar

A B-2 Spirit from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., arrives in Keflavik, Iceland to participate in a Bomber Task Force Europe operation with NATO allies, Aug. 13, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Heather Salazar

Two B-2 Spirits from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., arrive in Keflavik, Iceland to participate in a Bomber Task Force Europe operation with NATO allies, Aug. 13, 2023. BTFs provide U.S. and NATO leaders with strategic options to assure, deter and defend against adversary aggression against the Alliance, throughout Europe, and across the globe. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Heather Salazar

The Spirit’s return to Europe comes after it spent the first part of 2023 on the ground—the fleet stopped flying after one aircraft was damaged following an emergency landing at Whiteman, but the Air Force has not given the root cause of that accident nor explained why the “safety pause” in operations was necessary.

This is not the first B-2 deployment to Keflavik. Three B-2s, with more than 200 support personnel, operated from the Icelandic base in September 2021 for nearly three weeks. At the time, Air Force officials said establishing Keflavik as a location from which B-2s could operate added “another strategic stepping stone” for U.S. bombers to the European theater. During that deployment, the bombers practiced suppression of enemy air defenses and the employment of standoff missiles along with aircraft from other NATO countries.

The most recent Bomber Task Force rotation to Europe was a contingent of B-1B bombers from the 7th Bomb Wing of Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, which operated from RAF Fairford, U.K., from late May until late June. During the monthlong visit, the B-1s participated in four U.S. and international exercises, including two Arctic drills; made an appearance at the Paris Air Show; and landed in Sweden, which is in the process of joining NATO, for the first time.

Global Strike Command also continues to conduct BTFs in the Pacific, having deployed B-52 contingents to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in June and July and a package of B-1s to Misawa Air Base, Japan, in July.

The reduced number of Airmen and support personnel accompanying the B-2s to Iceland during this deployment may be a demonstration of the Air Force’s ongoing effort to reduce its footprint when positioning forces away from home base. Under the Agile Combat Employment model, USAF is striving to make deployments with as few personnel as possible, often to austere or remote airfields, to practice moving quickly and complicating an adversary’s targeting.

Imagery of the B-2s arriving at Keflavik, released by the Pentagon, also showed two C-5Ms of the 433rd Air Wing, which presumably brought their support gear and personnel.

“Each bomber task force mission underscores the prowess of our armed forces in navigating today’s intricate and unpredictable global security terrain, with a focus on fostering stability, security, and freedom across Europe,” said Gen. James Hecker, commander of USAFE.

The Iceland BTF is led by Lt. Col. Andrew Kousgaard, commander of 393rd Bomb Squadron. He said BTFs demonstrate the Air Force’s strategy of strategic unpredictability with operational adaptability.

“The B-2 bomber is arguably the most strategically significant airplane in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s inflexible; dynamically deploying the bombers forward is a unique and important capability,” Kousgaard said.

He added that there is “simply no substitute for the hands-on integration” with U.S. allies and partners in the region. The deployments help familiarize USAF, Joint and allied forces in the region with the capabilities of U.S. bombers, he said.

It was not disclosed whether the B-2s will operate from any forward areas in Europe, but BTFs often include unannounced secondary deployments.

Iceland is a member of NATO but has no military forces and has over the past six decades allowed NATO units to operate from its airfields. The U.S. Air Force maintained an interceptor capability at Keflvik until the early 2000s. Subsequently the base has been reactivated for exercises and NATO air policing missions. B-2s had transited through Keflavik before but never used it as an operating location until 2021.