B-52 Pilots Test New Instruments To Make BUFF Flying Easier

Oct. 10, 2023 | By David Roza

As the B-52 fleet prepares for new engines, radar, and other tech upgrades, a team of test pilots and engineers at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., wants to make the aging bomber easier for crews to operate.

Specifically, they are testing out new instrumentation, including digital engine gauge clusters to replace the current analog gauges.

The gauge clusters show information such as fuel flow and exhaust temperature for each of the B-52’s eight engines, which helps pilots check for problems and identify malfunctions. The goal is to make the cockpit more intuitive so that pilots can devote more attention to accomplishing missions.

“Flying the airplane is the first step and using it as a weapon system is the ultimate step,” said Lt. Col. Scott Pontzer, commander of the 419th Flight Test Squadron and director of the Global Power Bombers Combined Test Force, in an Aug. 22 press release. “So if I can lower workload for the pilot … I can lower that overall task on the brain.”

b-52 — A B-52 Stratofortress test pilot operates a flight simulator while using one of three new flight instrumentation prototype gauge clusters at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Air Force photo by Giancarlo Casem

The concept of human systems integration, where systems are adapted to the operator rather than vice versa, did not exist when the B-52 cockpit was first designed in the late 1940s, Dave Prakash, a former B-52 operational test pilot and flight surgeon, told Air & Space Forces Magazine

“Whether it’s the engine instruments or the navigation instruments, they are all designed to fit compactly in the space there, but they are not designed to be easy to use,” he said.

For example, pilots routinely perform cross-checks, where they rapidly check their airspeed indicator, vertical velocity indicator, bank angle, and other instruments in order to make a decision. Time is of the essence, especially during a delicate procedure like landing at night or in inclement weather. But the way the B-52 cockpit is laid out can cost precious half-seconds or quarter-seconds.

“The instrument clusters are not designed in the most efficient way for a pilot to do a cross check,” Prakash said. “Moreover, the gauges and instruments are not even consistent between the left and right pilots’ seats, so you have to do a different cross check depending on which seat you’re in.”

The problem extends to the engine gauges, which display engine pressure ratio (EPR), fuel flow, exhaust gas temperature, revolutions per minute (RPM), and oil pressure. During his time as a test pilot, Prakash analyzed how those and other systems like navigation might be optimized for the operator.

“If there are 20 button pushes required to do one thing, is there a way to make it into just two button pushes?” he asked.

The test team at Edwards are working on those same questions as the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program comes online. The shift to digital gauges should make it easier for operators to rapidly check the engines.

“This provides better accuracy, readability, and error indications (e.g., color changes), to name a few things,” Maj. Darin Flynn, a B-52H test pilot with the 370th Flight Test Squadron, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “We also have EPR demand pointers which greatly reduces workload during precise throttle setting.”

Pilots tested out three different prototype gauge clusters in a simulator, then were given a questionnaire to record what they liked or did not like about it.

“We are actually measuring their performance on these displays and we’re getting really good comments too, because now they’ve actually seen what the displays look like,” Flynn said in the release. “That’ll help us to select hopefully the best design choice for the B-52.”

The new B-52 engines are militarized versions of Rolls-Royce’s commercial BR725, and the software in the B-52J will be a mix of commercial and military software, explained Flynn and Eric Treadwell, B-52 crew systems/human factors lead. Beyond the engine gauge clusters, the entire cockpit is getting a makeover as analog displays are replaced with large, color, multifunction screens.

“What they’re doing is fantastic and it’s absolutely critical,” Prakash said of the human systems integration effort.

There are still some dangers in better technology: Prakash warned that issues may arise from automation bias, which is when users do not notice failures in automated decision-making systems (like when spell-check suggests the wrong word); and from alarm fatigue, where users become desensitized to the recurring beeps and alarms that may indicate real danger. Flynn was not overly concerned about the former.

“I don’t think automation bias will really be too much of a factor because even though we are getting new [full authority digital engine control] engines, there is little automation involved,” he said. “There will be no auto-throttles.”

Military standards provide guidance to head off problems such as automation bias and alarm fatigue, Treadwell explained. A working group of government and contractor engineers is also collaborating with B-52 pilots to evaluate and refine the design, a best practice in Air Force development programs.

“We have different levels of alerts that will be displayed or inhibited depending on their severity and phase of flight,” Flynn said. “We have already identified some warnings that are commercial in nature and not applicable to military use.”

Going forward, the team at Edwards hopes to collaborate with maintainers to get their input on the digital instruments and whether it would affect their work.

“We can solve problems before they ever become problems,” Pontzer said in the press release. “Being on the leading edge, between Boeing, the 418th FLTS and [Test Pilot School], all of us working together to use robust systems and proven test methodologies to make good decisions is awesome for the warfighter.”

Space Force Conducts Its Biggest Electronic Warfare Exercise Ever

Oct. 6, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Space Force wrapped up its largest-ever exercise focused on electromagnetic warfare, Black Skies 23-3, on Sept. 23, with more than 170 participants.

Introduced last year, Black Skies is an electronic warfare-focused evolution of the Space Flag exercises. Organized by Space Training and Readiness Command, it prepares participants to safeguard critical parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as those that can disrupt GPS and communication signals. The exercise also allows tactical units to grasp the complexities between operational planning and tasks.

The inaugural edition of the exercise was held in September 2022, followed by its second iteration in March this year in Peterson Space Force Base, Colo.

Lt. Col. Scott Nakatani, commander of 392nd Combat Training Squadron, called electronic warfare an “integral piece” to the joint environment and emphasized the need to practice teamwork among units from various branches, especially in challenging conditions.

“It is inevitable that the U.S. Space Force should continue to integrate, communicate, and coordinate with other services in the EW environment to ensure combat capability of our forces in a contested, degraded, and operationally-limited (CDO) environment,” Nakatani said in a statement released Oct. 4.

The electromagnetic spectrum is a key domain that involves everything from radar to communication waveforms. It plays a crucial role in ensuring communication within the U.S. military, allowing for the transmission of imagery, coordinates, and messages across the joint force, For units such as the 4th Space Control Squadron stationed at Peterson Air Force Base, it serves as an essential tool to prohibit an adversary from doing the same.

Black Skies 23-3 offered the Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) a chance to coordinate and control various multi-service units in open air. This involved live-fire exercises and closed-loop operations.

In live-fire scenarios, space operators transmit signals from Earth to satellites. These exercises enable participants to engage with operational space systems and better prepare for combat situations.

On the other hand, closed-loop operations occur in a controlled environment without any impact on space assets.

The drill also included staged threat scenarios led by the Air Force’s 26th Weapons Squadron. These scenarios were designed to simulate potential risks to Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) operations. The Army’s 1st Space Brigade demonstrated its ability to handle data from various sensors.

Nakatani said that the previous installment, Black Skies 23-1, sparked interest in integrated domain warfare and invited partnerships. As a result, Black Skies 23-3 tripled in size, including over 170 individuals from a broad range of units including:

Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC)

16th Electronic Warfare Squadron

3rd Combat Training Squadron

25th Space Range Squadron

527th Space Aggressor Squadron

Air Force Reserve Command’s 428th Electromagnetic Warfare Flight

Air National Guard’s 138th Electronic Warfare Squadron

Air National Guard’s 138th Space Control Squadron

Air National Guard’s 114th Electronic Warfare

“Black Skies has been a massive success in training our forces and testing warfighting readiness,” Nakatani said. “We will continue to evolve the delivery of realistic combat training to space warfighters.”

F-35s Leave Middle East After Deployment to Deter Iran and Russia

Oct. 6, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Oct. 9 following the U.S. response to attacks on Israel.

U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters that deployed to the Middle East to deter Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf and push back against Russian bullying in the skies over Syria have left the region, according to service officials.

“What the F-35s did is they gave us additional capacity,” Air Forces Central (AFCENT) commander Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich told reporters Oct. 4 at a Defense Writers Group event.

The deployment wrapped up in late September, according to the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. All the aircraft have left the Middle East and are “in transit home,” according to a spokesperson for the 388th Fighter Wing.

Operating as the 421st Air Expeditionary Squadron, the F-35s first deployed July 26, when the fifth-generation fighters were rushed to the region by the Pentagon after Iranian attacks on commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic chokepoint between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows.

Additional U.S. Navy vessels, led by the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group with thousands of Marines, followed the F-35s. The USS Bataan amphibious assault ship brought more airpower into the region with a squadron of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) Harriers.

The U.S. still has F-16s and A-10s in the region. However, the stealthy F-35 provided more advanced capabilities.

The F-35s allowed the U.S. to “continue doing the missions we were doing up in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere in the region, and increase what we were doing in support of the Navy doing basically combat air patrols over the Straits of Hormuz,” said Grynkewich, who added the Navy deployment was particularly important.

“That increase in surface vessels combined with our airpower has deterred Iran from taking any actions against maritime shipping,” he said.

In addition to their mission in the Gulf, the F-35s were helpful in discouraging Russian warplanes from harassing American aircraft over Syria. The F-35s also integrated with U.S. allies over Syria, including flying with French Rafael fighters.

Russia’s aggressive tactics emerged as a major concern in July when Russian fighters dropped flares that damaged U.S. MQ-9 drones carrying out missions against Islamic State militants.

After the U.S. released video of the Russian harassment and deployed the F-35s, Russia has moderated its tactics and has become less aggressive.

“They still fly in the airspace, but not directly overhead of our forces, so I welcome that shift in behavior,” Grynkewich said. “The flares being dropped on our MQ-9s, we don’t see that behavior anymore.”

The U.S. military footprint in the region is very modest compared to the years in which Americans were fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. But U.S. air operations over Syria have also been bolstered by coalition partners, including the French and British.

“We are still under danger of terrorist attack in our capitals or in our land,” Gen. Stéphane Mille, Chief of the French Air and Space Force, told reporters in September. “We are flying together.”

Not all of the challenges the U.S. has faced come from adversaries. America’s fellow NATO member Turkey has been pummeling Kurdish groups in northern Syria it blames for a bombing in the capital of Ankara on Oct. 1, in operations that could put American troops at risk.

On the morning of Oct. 5, a Turkish drone struck targets inside a U.S. military-declared restricting operating zone (ROZ), according to the Pentagon. Strikes got within one kilometer of U.S. forces, forcing them to take cover in bunkers.

When a Turkish drone returned to the area roughly four hours later and headed towards U.S. forces, it was shot down by a U.S. F-16 within half a kilometer of U.S. personnel in an act of self-defense, according to U.S. officials.

On Oct. 6, the Turkish foreign ministry downplayed the episode in a statement, saying its drone “was lost due to different technical assessments in the deconfliction mechanism with third parties.”

The bigger worry, however, remains Iran. Despite the departure of the F-35s, which Grynkewich noted was always planned to be “temporary,” the U.S. is prepared to flex forces to the region.

“My view is that deterrence is temporal,” Grynkewich said of Iran. “We’ve surged forces in response to a specific threat. That shows American commitment to the region. It shows that our American strategy has been, with our posture being less than once was, we’ve shown a commitment to bring forces in for either major exercises for assurance purposes or when a threat required it. And we certainly did that in this case.”

Just days after those comments, the militant group Hamas conducted a surprise attack in Israel on Oct. 7, killing at least 900 people, mostly civilians. In response, Israel’s government declared war against the group, which rules the Gaza Strip, and the Biden administration pledged to provide Israel with military aid.

On Oct. 8, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III announced the Pentagon was bolstering the U.S. presence in the region by sending the Gerard R. Ford aircraft carrier and cruise missile-carrying ships to the Eastern Mediterranean. The next day, a senior defense official warned the militant group Hezbollah to “think twice” about opening a northern front against Israel and said the U.S. is in a position to intervene militarily.

“These posture increases were intended to serve as an unequivocal demonstration in deeds and not only in words of U.S. support for Israel’s defense and serve as a deterrent signal to Iran, Lebanese, Hezbollah, and any other proxy across the region who might be considering exploiting the current situation to escalate conflict,” the defense official said.

The Defense Department is also reinforcing the U.S. Air Force’s role in the area.

“We have also taken steps to augment U.S. Air Force F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the region,” U.S. Central Command said in statement issued on Oct 8.

Though no F-35s have yet been sent, the Pentagon said such a step might be taken in the future.

“We’re delaying the redeployment of some of our F-35s, so those assets will be among the fighter capabilities available,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told Air & Space Forces Magazine on Oct. 8.

Airmen assigned to the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings reunite with family and friends upon their return to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Sept. 30, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw

Divesting Fighters Now Undermines USAF’s Capacity to ‘Fight and Win’ Later

Oct. 6, 2023 | By Maj. Gen. Philip Killey, USAF (Ret.)

Since 9/11, the No. 1 priority of the National Military Strategy (NMS) has been to “Defend the Homeland.” Some 94 percent of that mission falls to Air National Guard squadrons sitting 24/7 alert in Reagan-era F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft.

The Air National Guard is the Air Force’s “Ace in the Hole.” Its Airmen are experienced, with more than half its pilots being former Active-Duty members who are now flying with the airlines while still serving in the Air Guard. Its units are more stable, with almost all of its people staying in the same unit for 20 years or more; 70 percent part-time members who live and work in the community, bringing with them civilian skills and values. That makes them a more cost-effective force, one that is equally trained and ready to fight and win anytime, anywhere, as the active-duty force.

This unique capability is now threatened.

The Total Air Force is now the oldest, smallest, and least ready in its 76-year history. It possesses only 2,176 fighter aircraft, less than half the 4,556 fighters USAF had in 1990. With only 48 fighter squadrons today, the Air Force is too small to successfully accomplish its NMS requirements and the needs of the nation’s six regional combatant commanders. Those requirements call for 60 fighter squadrons to fight and win.

Modernization to replace our 40-year-old fighters with new fifth-generation fighters is an absolute must given the high-threat environment posed by our adversaries, primarily China and Russia, in all domains—air, land, sea, space, and cyber. The Air National Guard’s 25 fighter squadrons, almost all flying legacy F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighters, are operating under duress. At least 12 of these squadrons are in jeopardy of losing their aircraft as the Air Force seeks to save the money needed to invest in new F-35s and F-15EXs, and eventually sixth-generation Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighters and unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), which are dependent on artificial intelligence capabilities that remain not fully developed.

This “divest to invest” strategy will leave 12 or more Air Guard squadrons without the “Ace in the Hole” capabilities that have long been key to U.S. national defense. Divesting the aircraft in these squadrons before we have replacements undermines domestic security at a time when we should instead be building toward the 60-squadron requirement dictated by the NMS.

Since “Defense of the Homeland” is the No. 1 priority of the NMS, and the Air National Guard does 94 percent of the air defense mission with 16 of its 25 fighter units sitting 24/7 alert, it is imperative these units be modernized with F-35s and F-15EXs as soon as possible. These Guard squadrons need the required capabilities to defeat the potential combined threats of China and Russia and their advanced weapons, including hypersonic missiles. Every combatant commander knows that airpower, especially air superiority, is essential to dominate in today’s complex battle space.

For the past 30-plus years, the Air Force has received less funding than the Army or Navy in annual appropriations, primarily because of the priorities dictated by the War on Terrorism. Now, with China as the nation’s pacing threat, war in the Pacific looms far more likely. That calls for a change in priorities, such that the Air Force must take priority for funding. The threat of war on a global scale is as high today as virtually any time since World War II. We cannot afford to cut any of our Total Air Force fighter units at a time when we don’t even have enough fighters to meet our combatant commander requirements and successfully execute our National Military Strategy.

The United States homeland has been attacked three times since becoming a sovereign nation—in 1812 by the British, in 1941 by the Japanese, and in 2001 by al-Qaida. We must not allow another. Future attacks can and must be prevented by the critically needed modernization of our Total Air Force, and then continually keeping our military exceptionally organized, trained, equipped and totally focused on readiness to defeat any and all adversaries. Then—and only then—can we maintain the nation’s vision of “Peace through Strength.”

Retired Maj. Gen. Philip Killey was Director of the Air National Guard from 1988 to 1994, and Commander of the First Air Force from 1994-1998. A fighter pilot with over 6,500 hours, he flew 100 missions to North Vietnam with the 555th Fighter Squadron. The Killey Center for Homeland Operations, the First Air Force headquarters at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., is named in his honor.

Modernized ‘BEAST’ B-1 Bomber Makes First Flight

Oct. 6, 2023 | By David Roza

The 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, launched a B-1B Lancer on Sept. 8 that received a slew of technology upgrades through a new program designed to modernize the aging bomber fleet much faster than usual.

Aboard the B-1 was a modernized Identification Friend or Foe system, Link 16 tactical data communications capability, upgraded secure communications systems, an updated defensive avionics system, and updated mass data storage to handle the large amounts of information flowing through modern battlefields, according to a press release published Oct. 4.

The upgrades are part of the B-1 Embracing Agile Scheduling Team (BEAST) program, which Col. Dan Alford, commander of the 7th Operations Group, said should make the aircrew’s job a little easier.

“BEAST significantly enhances the lethality of the B-1B, surpassing its current capabilities,” he said in the release. “Our aircrew are excited to get their hands on this new technology that will reduce their workload and allow them to focus on combat employment of the weapon system itself.”

Under BEAST, technicians at Dyess work with a contract field team hired specifically to perform the modification. The program also involves Air Force Global Strike Command and the 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., where B-1s receive depot-level maintenance. It is intended to get new systems into the field faster.

“BEAST packages several different upgrades together in a software suite, streamlining the upgrade process and better equipping the team to meet the demanding operational tempo,” Col. Joshua Pope, commander of the 7th Maintenance Group at Dyess, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

b-1b lancer — Technicians work on a B-1 Lancer bomber at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, Aug. 4, 2022. U.S. Air Force photo/Gina Anderson

BEAST shaves two years off the upgrade process, Pope said. Specifically, the upgrades take an average of 22 days to complete, he said. Over the next two years, 22 more B-1s at Dyess will be modernized one at a time.

“This method allows for the shortest completion time while giving each bomb wing flexibility to schedule their aircraft for modification according to their aircraft availability requirements,” Pope said in the press release. “It is the best for all organizations and ensures the B-1B is ready to fight from here.”

The upgrades at Dyess are one of several efforts to keep the B-1 flying until the stealthy B-21 Raider, which is yet to take its first test flight, comes online. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center has a multi-pronged approach that includes investing in spare parts manufacturers and studying whether the bomber can be used as a test platform for hypersonic weapons.

AFLMC is also working around measures that were taken to render the B-1’s external hardpoints inoperative under the START treaty, which precluded the B-1 from carrying nuclear weapons like the AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missile externally.

Beyond new weapons, a B-1 fuselage and wing are also undergoing full-scale structural fatigue testing at manufacturer Boeing’s facility in Washington state to identify potential risk areas. The Air Force is creating digital twins of the bomber, which should help predict structural issues and serve as a baseline for upgrades.

“We’re keeping the fleet safe until the B-21 shows up,” Brig. Gen. William Rogers, program executive officer for bombers at AFLCMC, told reporters in July. “… We can keep that plane flying. It is just hard work.”

Meanwhile, the BEAST modifications should give the B-1 “life and lethality out to 2040 and beyond,” Pope said.

Lockheed CEO: Pentagon Must Adopt New Acquisition System for Digital

Oct. 5, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

The Defense Department needs to set up a “parallel” acquisition system built around digital methods and speeds, alongside the current system set up to manage “Newtonian” weapons development, in order to achieve deterrence, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet said this week.

Speaking at the Hudson Institute on Oct. 4, Taiclet said the pace of technology development—particularly software and data distribution—continues to accelerate, and the Pentagon needs an acquisition system that can keep up with “a clock speed that is much closer to the digital technology development clock speed” compared to the world of ships, jets, and satellites that operate physically, rather than digitally.

“I think that the U.S. defense enterprise is still the most effective in the world. I think we can deter conflict effectively today,” Taiclet said. However, a separate system for working with digital is “one thing I do think we need to do to stay ahead of the evolving threat.”

The Pentagon needs to shift toward a more commercial-like pace of development measured not in years, but weeks and months, Taiclet said, asserting the answer likely lies in buying digital services, something the Pentagon and Congress are ill-configured to do and are taking too long to accept in his mind.

Simply put, the “general procurement system” is not well matched to digital products, Taiclet said.

“The digital technology cycle is, again, months or weeks instead of years and years. So we’re suggesting to our government customers to think about the procurement and acquisition process differently for digital technology insertion versus Newtonian platform production,” Taiclet said. “That hasn’t caught on yet. And I think it’s something we really need to advocate for.”

The existing acquisition system involves setting requirements, requests for information and proposals, and competitions that can years, if not decades.

“It’s fine on the bigger physical technology items. It does work. It’s been successful,” Taiclet said.

But with digital systems—particularly large data-sharing networks, technology moves too fast so that by the time Pentagon buys software now, it is outdated.

“So that’s the notion of the parallel path, which is, we’ve got to be able to deal with these companies that generally work off of a subscription model,” Taiclet said. “ … Just your cell phone service for example, you pay every month for it. They continually upgrade the network, you’re getting new features. Another app comes on your phone, the app gets upgraded every night, and this is continuously happening.”

The Defense Department doesn’t have an effective way to acquire services like that, he said, and the longer that takes to appear, the more behind it will get.

Taiclet suggested the Defense Department might also buy mission capability as a service, “by the month, by the year. We have to figure out how to translate the DoD form DD 250” which is the process by which the Pentagon accepts final-version goods, “into a subscription service, so I can use Verizon 5G algorithms.”

Lockheed, he said, has teamed with Verizon, INVIDIA, and IBM Red Hat “on managing [artificial intelligence] digitization through a network. We’re partnered with Intel on … chip design to make sure that we can get our requirements into the next venture production line.”

“We have to collaborate with these companies, which our industry isn’t typically used to doing, and the government is not used to paying for,” he said. The Pentagon also has to make defense contracting attractive, with adequate margin so those firms and small startups don’t simply focus on the far more profitable commercial market.

The commercial market also bears lessons for the Pentagon—the telecommunications industry, for example, when through a period with three sets of standards, developed by Nextel, Quaalcom, and GSM. The resulting networks were “expensive, inefficient and incompatible,” said Taiclet, who previously served as CEO of American Tower, a telecommunications infrastructure company.

Taiclet said he’s like “to skip that stage and go right to the single standard, which is what we have now. It’s called LTE: Long-Term Evolution for 4G.”

Along with with a parallel procurement process, Taiclet said, the defense enterprise should “also establish a standards body like we have in telecom … to basically get commercial industry, aerospace industry, government customer and the investor and startup and new entrants together to create a standard that we’ll all compete on and all develop together.”

Accelerating the pace of change in the Pentagon is critical, Taiclet suggested, to deterring a potential adversary like China.

Citing the principles of Sun Tsu, Taiclet said China is biding its time, waiting for “90 percent certainty or expectation of your success.” To deter that, the U.S. and its allies have to constantly “move that 90 percent goalpost” he said.

Therefore, the Pentagon, along with its allies and industry partners, needs to constant move that goalpost—“not every 10 years when we can build a new airplane or a new Aegis radar,” Taiclet said, “but every three to six months; how do we help DOD and our allies move those deterrence goalposts every three to six months?”

F-16 Downs Turkish Drone Over Syria After It Comes Within Half Kilometer of US Troops

Oct. 5, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

A U.S. Air Force F-16 shot down a Turkish government drone on Oct. 5 after it flew within half a kilometer of U.S. troops in Syria.

The incident was an extremely rare military engagement between two NATO allies, who were already at odds over a range of security issues.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. called their Turkish counterparts to try to defuse the situation.

The incident played out the morning of Oct. 5 over the skies of northeastern Syria.

Turkey has been conducting airstrikes on Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq it claims were linked to an Oct. 1 bombing outside the Turkish Interior Ministry in the capital of Ankara.

There are around 900 U.S. troops in Syria, who work with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to combat the Islamic State group. That SDF insists it had no involvement in the bombing in the Turkish capital.

At around 7:30 a.m. Syria time on Oct. 5, U.S. forces observed drones conducting airstrikes in Hasakah, Syria, including inside a “declared U.S. restricted operating zone,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters.

Some of the Turkish strikes on Oct. 5 were around one kilometer from U.S. forces, prompting Americans to take cover in bunkers, according to the Pentagon.

At around 11:30 a.m., a Turkish drone reentered the area and was headed in the direction of U.S. forces, according to the U.S. officials. When the drone got around half a kilometer away from U.S. forces, a U.S. F-16 fired an air-to-air missile that downed the drone.

“We did communicate with Turkey our inherent right to self-defense in the face of a potential threat,” Ryder said. “Commanders on the ground did assess that there was a potential threat, and so they took prudent action.”

In a call with Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler after the incident, Austin “urged de-escalation in northern Syria and the importance of maintaining strict adherence to deconfliction protocols and communication through established military-to-military channels,” the Pentagon said in a readout of the call.

“It’s a regrettable incident,” Ryder said. “No U.S. forces were harmed. We took appropriate action based on the situation on the ground.”

U.S. officials say they do not believe Turkey was trying to deliberately target American troops.

The Turkish Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

“We will continue to keep those lines of communication open to hopefully prevent these types of incidents,” said Ryder.

In Brown’s call with Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Gen. Metin Gürak, the generals “discussed our shared objective of defeating ISIS and the need to follow common deconfliction protocols to ensure the safety of our personnel in Syria following today’s incident,” according to the Pentagon.

The episode happened at a sensitive moment, as the U.S. is seeking Turkey’s support to secure Sweden’s entry into NATO, pursue diplomacy over Ukraine, and deal with terrorist dangers.

The bombing in Ankara was ascribed to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which Turkey and the U.S. consider a terrorist group. Turkey considers the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to be linked to PKK, which the SDF denies.

Turkey’s foreign minister said Oct. 4 that Kurdish militants’ facilities in Syria and Iraq were “legitimate targets,” including energy infrastructure.

Turkey claims the perpetrators of the bombing crossed through SDF-controlled territory, which it denies.

“The perpetrators of the Ankara attack did not pass through our region as Turkish officials claimed,” Mazloum Abdi, the head of the SDF, said in a statement. “We are not a party to the civil conflict in Turkey and we do not encourage the escalation of this conflict.”

Space Force Takes Over JTAGS Mission from the Army

Oct. 5, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Space Force assumed official control of the Joint Tactical Ground Station (JTAGS) missile warning system from the Army on Oct. 1, one of the final milestones in the Space Force’s consolidation of many space missions across the services.

JTAGS are ground-based systems that deliver timely warnings and cueing information regarding ballistic missile launches. The systems are strategically positioned to receive, process, and distribute data obtained from overhead sensors. Its four forward-station detachments are based in Italy, Qatar, South Korea, and Japan.

For decades, these satellite ground stations have been operated by the Army’s 1st Space Brigade, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo. Now, they will be overseen by Space Delta 4, stationed at Buckley Space Force Base, Colo., until Space Operations Command sets up the 5th Space Warning Squadron.

The move from the Army to the Space Force has been in the works for months now—it was first announced in January 2023.

From personnel transition to financial responsibilities, the transfer required careful planning. It began with a core group of Guardians, with Army personnel gradually transitioning out as their regular Permanent Change of Station (PCS) cycles dictated. Some individuals underwent inter-service transfers. This phased approach enabled the Space Force to maintain operational continuity while adapting Guardians to their new responsibilities.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of Space Operations Command, expressed gratitude to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command for their teamwork during this mission handover.

“Now, it is our responsibility to uphold the same level of mission accomplishment with JTAGS as a fully integrated component of our broader missile warning mission,” Whiting said via an official statement.

Space Delta 4 is responsible for operating and supporting satellites and radar systems that provide critical missile warning capabilities. Delta 4 helps guide missile defense efforts, provides information and supports technical intelligence analysis.

The Army was originally slated to keep the JTAGS mission, even as the Space Force took over other services’ space missions. Now, it is one of the last missions to officially transfer over, after the Navy transferred over its Naval Satellite Operations Center and 13 satellites in June 2022, and Army transferred its satellite communications mission to the new service in August 2022. Those moves put all military SATCOM capabilities under the Space Force.

LOOK: New Apple TV+ Series Coming in January About ‘Mighty Eighth’ Air Force in WWII

Oct. 5, 2023 | By David Roza

The producers of acclaimed television shows that focused on U.S. Army and Marine Corps units during World War II are turning their focus to the U.S. Army Air Forces.

“Masters of the Air,” which will focus on the 8th Air Force during its bombing campaign over Nazi Germany, is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on Jan. 26, 2024, the streaming service announced Oct. 5.

The producing team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman previously created ‘Band of Brothers,’ about paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division in their campaign through Europe, and ‘The Pacific,’ about the 1st Marine Division’s fight against Japan. Both shows were praised for their visceral, realistic portrayals of combat.

“Masters of the Air” will highlight the intense aerial combat of the war. More than 26,000 members of the ‘Mighty Eighth’ Air Force were killed during the bombing campaign, about 30 percent more than the number of Marines killed in the entirety of World War II.

The show is based on the book of the same name written by Donald L. Miller, a history professor at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. According to Apple press release, the show “follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen, and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air.”

The psychological and emotional toll is at the heart of the series, the release added. Locations include the southeast English fields and villages where bomber crews lived and worked and the German prisoner of war camps where many service members ended up.

The 100th Bomb Group lives on today in the form of the 100th Air Refueling Wing, a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker unit at Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom. The unit still sports the iconic ‘Square D’ badge first used on B-17 bombers during World War II.

“‘Masters of the Air’ is a salute to the brave men of the 8th Air Force, who, through their courage and brotherhood, helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II,” Goetzman said in the press release. “Tom and Steven have always wanted to visualize cinematically what our author Don Miller has called, this ‘singular event in the history of warfare.’”

Two episodes will premiere on Jan. 26, with a new episode every Friday through March 15, 2024, a total of nine episodes for the limited series. The cast includes Austin Butler, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of musician Elvis Presley in the 2022 film ‘Elvis,’ Barry Keoghan, nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 2022 film ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook, and Ncuti Gatwa.

The Oct. 5 announcement comes four years after news first broke that the show was being developed. According to entertainment news website IGN, the show was originally bound for HBO, where “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific” also premiered, “before Apple swooped in and made a deal with Spielberg’s and Hanks’ respective production companies to stream the miniseries exclusively on its Apple TV+ platform.”

Goetzman also produced ‘Greyhound,’ a 2020 film distributed by Apple TV+ in which Hanks starred as a WWII U.S. Navy destroyer commander escorting a convoy across the Atlantic.

Below are promotional images of the show released by Apple, alongside images of the actual 8th Air Force during WWII.