USAF Wants to Dump Old Fighters. Congress Isn’t So Sure

USAF Wants to Dump Old Fighters. Congress Isn’t So Sure

June 21, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

House lawmakers approved three amendments aimed at curtailing Air Force plans to retire aging fighter jets as both the Senate and House began marking up their respective drafts of the 2024 defense authorization bill.

The three amendments tacked onto the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the bill include:

  • Protecting F-16s. Rep. Carlos A. Giménez (R-Fla.), won support for a measure that would block the Air Force from retiring any F-16 Fighting Falcons until at least 180 days after it submits a report to Congress on “any plans” to divest F-16 aircraft over the next five years. That period covers the length of the Air Force’s future years defense program (FYDP), in which the Air Force plans to retire 125 of the “oldest and least capable F-16s,” according to Pentagon budget documents. 
  • Protecting the size of the overall fighter fleet. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a retired Air Force brigadier general, won approval for an amendment requiring a report to Congress by Jan. 19, 2024, on how the Air Force plans to meet its fighter capacity requirements.
  • Protecting the Air National Guard. Bacon also authored an amendment establishing a floor for the size of the Air National Guard’s fighter fleet. Less prescriptive than an earlier bill backed by Bacon, this measure would prohibit the Air Force from terminating the flying mission of any Guard fighter squadron until at least 180 days after USAF submits a “notional plan” on how it will recapitalize every Guard fighter squadron. 

The reports required by these provisions would force the Air Force to explain how its divestments will impact fighter capacity and how it will mitigate those effects as aircraft are retired.

The Air Force has about 900 F-16s in its inventory today, so the Air Force’s plan to retire 125 of the jets is a reduction of nearly 14 percent.  

In approving Bacon’s measures, the House Armed Services Committee appears to challenge the Air Force’s argument that it can manage the loss of existing aircraft with appropriate risk.

“The committee believes that further reductions will significantly increase operational demands on a diminishing inventory of fighter aircraft and personnel and create conditions for an impending readiness crisis,” the amendment states. “The committee acknowledges the Department of the Air Force’s stated intent to modernize the fighter fleet but concludes that its current procurement plan is insufficient and will fail to deliver the fighter capacity and capability required by the National Defense Strategy.” 

To overcome that risk, the measure requires a detailed report to Congress no later than Jan. 19, 2024, detailing USAF fighter capacity requirements and how those will be met, including: 

  • The number of fighter squadrons needed to meet peacetime and wartime needs 
  • The modernization and recapitalization plan to meet those squadron requirements 
  • The authorities and resources needed to increase fighter production and forestall the need to deactivate squadrons  
  • The extent to which Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) can be counted on to mitigate manned fighter requirements 
  • Mitigation measures planned should the CCA program be delayed or canceled. 

Concerns about CCAs come in response to Air Force officials suggesting they could help achieve “affordable mass” because they will be less costly than manned fighters. The Air Force wants to invest $5.8 billion in CCA development over the next five years, with Secretary Frank Kendall having posited a notional fleet of 1,000 CCA drones. 

Bacon’s National Guard measure seeks options for replacing retiring aircraft “at a rate that ensures recapitalization of such squadrons with relevant and more capable replacement fighter aircraft.” The Air Force has promised it can protect units, or even flying units, but not necessarily fighter squadrons, but Bacon is focused on ensuring continuity of National Guard fighter operations.  

“The most experienced pilots and maintainers in the Air Force are in our Air National Guard,” Bacon said during the hearing. “When we cut these squadrons, you will not regain this capability. … We cannot let our Air National Guard be cut to a size that we cannot grow back easily over the next decade or two decades.” 

The Air Force is seeking support to retire 57 F-15C/D fighters that have been flown hard and are surpassing their useful operational life, and 42 A-10 attack aircraft it says fall short of requirements for survivability in future high-end fights . Many of those older aircraft are in the Air National Guard.

B-52s Make First-Ever Landing in Indonesia to Join Air Exercise

B-52s Make First-Ever Landing in Indonesia to Join Air Exercise

June 21, 2023 | By David Roza

Two Air Force B-52s made history with the bomber’s first ever landing in Indonesia on June 19—a gesture of partnership with the strategically important southeast Asian country.

“This specific deployment of the B-52s to Indonesia highlights the importance of working with our allies, partners and other U.S. joint military units as we bolster our collective ability to support a free and open Indo-Pacific,” a Pacific Air Forces spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine, confirming the mission. The War Zone first reported the B-52 visit, citing flight tracking data.

The bombers are assigned to the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron out of Minot Air force Base, N.D., and are in the region as part of a Bomber Task Force deployment. When they landed at Indonesia’s Kualanamu Airport, it marked the start of their involvement in the Cope West exercise, during which U.S. and Indonesian fighter pilots will train with each other from June 12-23.

“This training enables our Airmen to become familiar with other theaters and airspace, and enhances the enduring skills and relationships necessary to confront a broad range of global challenges in support of the National Defense Strategy,” the PACAF spokesperson said.

cope west
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Broyles, 35th Fighter Squadron commander, greets Indonesian Air Force personnel at Roesmin Nurjadin Air Force Base, Indonesia for Cope West, June 10, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Timothy Moore

The world’s fourth most populous country and 10th largest economy, Indonesia is a growing power in southeast Asia. Historically it has maintained good relations with both western countries and China, but the country’s traditional policy of non-alignment may be tested as tensions grow between China and the United States, according to the Harvard International Review. 

“It is unlikely that Indonesia and other partner countries would join the United States in using military force against China in the event of a significant escalation,” wrote Air War College professor Dr. Stephen Burgess in an April paper on U.S-Indonesian relations. “Although challenges exist, with the right amount of will and creative effort, the United States and Indonesia can overcome them and strengthen their relationship.”

One of those efforts may be advising and augmenting the Indonesian air force through exercises like Cope West.

“The USAF and PACAF can play a leading role in developing this partnership, while avoiding a transactional and paternalistic approach,” Burgess wrote.

The arrival of B-52 bombers, one of the U.S. military’s most powerful platforms, seems to underscore that idea. The PACAF spokesperson said the bomber deployment is part of a larger effort to “deter, deny and dominate aggression” and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

“Integrating strategic bombers, such as the B-52, in operations and exercises enables different types of strategic bombers to operate forward in the Indo-Pacific region from a broad array of overseas and continental U.S. locations with greater operational resilience,” according to a PACAF statement. “Bomber missions contribute to joint force lethality and deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by demonstrating USAF ability to operate anywhere in the world at any time in support of the National Defense Strategy.”

The Minot B-52s are among several U.S. bomber deployments meant to send similar messages around the world. On June 19, a pair of B-1 bombers landed in Sweden for the first time in an effort to show strengthened ties as the Nordic country bids to join NATO. In May, two B-1s were met by a Russian Su-27 when the bombers operated in the Baltic Sea region as part of a four-ship Bomber Task Force mission meant to support “NATO deterrence initiatives,” according to a U.S. Air Forces in Europe press release.

PHOTOS: US B-1 Bombers Land in Sweden for First Time

PHOTOS: US B-1 Bombers Land in Sweden for First Time

June 20, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

A pair U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers kicked off a historic deployment this week, touching down in Sweden on June 19.

“This is the first time U.S. bombers have landed in Sweden,” a spokesperson for U.S. Air Forces in Europe told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The deployment marks yet another sign of strengthened ties between the U.S. and the Nordic nation—even as its bid to join NATO is still in question. 

The two B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, landed at Luleå Kallax Airbase, Sweden. The aircraft are in Europe as part of a four-plane Bomber Task Force rotation based out of RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom.

The U.S. and Sweden have grown increasingly close since the Scandinavian nation applied to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Finland joined NATO as its 31st member in April, and U.S. officials are holding out hope that Turkey will drop its opposition so Sweden can soon become the 32nd member at an upcoming summit in July in Vilnius, Lithuania.

In the meantime, the U.S. is making it clear that Sweden’s status as a close ally is strong.

Though U.S. B-1s have exercised with the Swedish Air Force and flown in Swedish airspace before, the bomber touchdown was a first. The bombers were escorted by Swedish Gripen fighters.

“U.S. forces have conducted exercises and training in the Arctic region, but the landing fortifies not only the friendship between the U.S. and Sweden, but the collective defense of Europe,” a U.S. Air Forces in Europe release stated.

Sweden’s defense minister and prime minister said recently Sweden is willing to host NATO troops even before it becomes a member of the alliance.

“The more we can integrate forces and equipment to maneuver across Europe, the more ready we are to face security challenges, now and in the future,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Bryony Terrell, U.S. European Command’s deputy director for strategic plans and policy.

The bombers were accompanied by personnel flown in a C-130, according to the USAFE spokesperson. It was unclear how long the deployment to Sweden will last.

“The purpose is to practice the defense of Sweden, on and over Swedish territory,” the Swedish Armed Forces said in a release on the B-1 deployment.

During a press briefing on June 20, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh did not say whether the U.S. planned to pick up the pace of deployments while Sweden waits to join NATO but highlighted the close partnership between the two countries.

“Sweden has an extremely capable military, and for many years, the U.S. and Sweden and NATO countries have trained side by side together,” Singh said.

Singh said that the relationship would only grow stronger when—not if—Sweden joined NATO.

“We look forward to forging an even deeper relationship with Sweden when they officially become the 32nd member of NATO,” she said.

New F-22 Training Unit Welcomes First Student Pilots to Langley

New F-22 Training Unit Welcomes First Student Pilots to Langley

June 20, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Air Force student pilots flew their first F-22 training flights out of Joint Base Langley-Eustis earlier this month, culminating four years of work to relocate the F-22 schoolhouse to Virginia from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. 

Six pilots enrolled in the F-22 Basic Flying Course made their first flights June 5, the 633rd Air Base Wing said in a release. The nine-month course is split between Tyndall and Langley, with three months of classroom and simulator training at Tyndall to start, and six months of flying at Langley. 

“The whole intent behind the course is to not only be able to fly the F-22 but be able to effectively employ it,” Capt. Spencer Bell, a 71st Fighter Squadron flight commander, said in a statement. “We send people off to Combat Air Force squadrons, who are ready to deploy and ready to do the mission.” 

Flight training consists of four phases,from basic flight maneuvers to advanced handling characteristics to air combat tactics. “The phases are designed to get the pilots from not knowing anything about the airframe to graduating and being our next air dominance professionals,” Bell said in a statement. 

The 71st Fighter Squadron, to which the F-22s and students are assigned, was reactivated in January, succeeding the 71st Fighter Training Squadron. The 71st Fighter Generation Squadron stood up at the same time. With the 27th Fighter Squadron, 94th Fighter Squadron, and F-22 Raptor Demo Team, Langley already hosts roughly a third of the Air Force’s F-22 fleet. 

The Air Force first announced plans to shift F-22 training from Tyndall to Langley in 2019, after Hurricane Michael destroyed much of the Florida base. As Tyndall has been steadily rebuilt as an “installation of the future,” the Air Force has started the process of bringing new F-35 fighters to the base. 

The F-22 Formal Training Unit, meanwhile, was temporarily shifted to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. In 2021, the Air Force approved Langley as the new permanent home following the completion of an environmental impact study. But even then, Air Combat Command said it was waiting on service leadership to finish its study into tactical aviation requirements, determining which and how many tactical aircraft it wants in the fleet moving forward. 

In January, ACC commander Gen. Mark D. Kelly signed a memo formally directing the schoolhouse to stand up, and in March, Langley received its first two F-22s from Tyndall. 

The arrival of student pilots at Langley marks the latest milestone in the transition process. Still more will come once several military construction projects are completed to support the new F-22 training mission. 

The future of the F-22s the students are flying, however, remains uncertain—the Air Force wants to retire all 32 Block 20 F-22s now used for training, arguing they are too costly to maintain, and not rated for combat. But Congress last year specifically prohibited the service from retiring any F-22s until 2027 as part of last year’s National Defense Authorization Act, and lawmakers have given no indication they would repeal that proviso this year.

Historic ‘Boneheads’ Squadron Reactivated at Tyndall, With F-35s Coming in August

Historic ‘Boneheads’ Squadron Reactivated at Tyndall, With F-35s Coming in August

June 20, 2023 | By David Roza

An Air Force fighter squadron that first flew in World War II officially returned to duty June 15 at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., where the squadron will be the first of three to fly F-35s. Lt. Col. Michael Powell, the commander of the newly-reactivated 95th Fighter Squadron said at his assumption of command ceremony that he plans to have the unit start flying operations in August, take the squadron on a training deployment within a year, and go on a combat deployment within two years.

Though the 95th now officially exists on paper, the squadron—affectionally nicknamed the ‘Boneheads’—is still awaiting its fighter jets and permanent buildings in which to park and maintain them. The F-35s are due to arrive starting in August, while the hangars and other facilities are still being built as Tyndall reinvents itself as an “Installation of the Future” after Hurricane Michael leveled the base in 2018.

It will be largely up to the Boneheads to lay the foundation of F-35 operations at Tyndall before their sister squadrons arrive.

“We’re the first ones, which is going to be extremely challenging, but also extremely rewarding, because we will set the pace, the cadence, the culture,” Powell previously told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “It’s so important for us to set that right.”

Until those buildings are finished, life in the squadron will be on the lean side, with Airmen working out of temporary facilities or sharing older buildings with other units. Powell is eager for the challenge; he is bringing in F-35 pilots with experience standing up squadrons in Alaska and the United Kingdom, old hands from Tyndall’s F-22 days who now fly the F-35, and younger pilots with fresh perspectives.

“That’s what I’m really pumped about, is to build combat capability there,” he said. “Not just the iron or the jets, but building the people, the team, the mission so that we can actually go answer the callings required.”

tyndall
Construction continues on Zone 1 at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, June 9, 2023. As the “Installation of the Future,” modern flight line facilities will play a major role in supporting the incoming F-35A Lightning II mission to Tyndall. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zachary Nordheim)

In World War II, those callings took the 95th Fighter Squadron to the skies above North Africa and Italy, where the unit tallied “more than 400 victories, including 199 air-to-air enemy kills” while flying the P-38 fighter, according to one account.

In the decades after that, the squadron flew a range of jets including the F-86, the F-102, the F-106, the F-15C/D, and most recently the F-22 before the unit was inactivated in 2019. But despite taking on a new aircraft, the 95th will keep its old heritage alive in the form of Mr. Bones, a full-scale, medical school-quality model skeleton who wears a flight jacket and often attends parties, temporary duty travel, or events such as the squadron activation.

There are two versions of Mr. Bones, and the first has been with the squadron since at least its F-15 days. He was buried in 2010 when the squadron was deactivated a separate time, and a new Mr. Bones joined up in 2013 when the squadron was reactivated as an F-22 unit. The second skeleton was also buried in 2019, but Col. Chris Bergtholdt, commander of Tyndall’s 325th Operations Group, exhumed the two skeletons in February to save them from being ground up under construction equipment.

“There was a whole culture around Mr. Bones, kind of this aura and personality around him even though obviously it’s this inanimate object,” Bergtholdt previously told Air & Spaces Forces Magazine. “That whole area is being dug up and all of our new facilities and hangars on the flightline are being constructed at the moment, so we just didn’t want that history to be lost.”

95th fighter squadron
Mr. Bones, the mascot of the 95th Fighter Squadron, holds down the fort at the squadron’s front office. (Courtesy photo by Lt. Col. Michael Powell).

Sure enough, one of the Mr. Bones sat alongside Powell and Bergtholdt as the squadron’s next chapter began at the ceremony last week.

“I have personally witnessed the excitement and buzz with current or past military Airmen and community members these past two weeks, as they have seen the 95th patch and asked, ‘Is Mr. Bones really back?'” Powell said at the ceremony. “Well, as you can see, Mr. Bones is back! [He’s] even sporting a genuine and very historical World War II jacket in the hot and humid month of June. … Must be due to the lack of body fat.”

Powell and Bergtholdt spoke at the ceremony from a lectern decorated with the squadron’s emblem, a grinning skull in a top hat, which was officially approved in 1954.

“Emanating from a cloud, a death’s head with an arrogant expression is symbolic of the squadron’s dauntless capability of accomplishing the mission in any weather, day or night; primarily stalking the enemy to destruction,” wrote Peter Coffman, historian for the 325th Fighter Wing. “The lightning is representative of the unit’s rapid striking power. The full dress, particularly the top hat, represents the squadron personnel’s sentiment that the unit is ‘tops.’”

Austin Urges Turkey to Support Sweden’s NATO Entry

Austin Urges Turkey to Support Sweden’s NATO Entry

June 19, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

BRUSSELS—With Sweden’s bid for NATO entry hanging in the balance, the U.S. and key allies are doing their best to push Stockholm over the finish line.

“My message has been now for many, many months that actually Sweden has delivered and that’s the message from allies,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said June 16.

After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO. Finland was swiftly approved and joined the alliance in April. 

Decisions on membership, however, need to be made unanimously by all member nations, and Turkey has raised a variety of objections, ranging from allegations that Kurdish extremists are living in Sweden to more recent complaints over anti-Turkey protests in Sweden. So the Swedes have had to wait. 

U.S. officials’ hope is that the alliance’s decision to admit Sweden as its 32nd member will come when NATO holds a critical summit meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania in July. By then, officials say, Turkey’s resistance may fade since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been reelected to another term and his election year politics are behind him.

To press Sweden’s case, NATO sent a delegation to Turkey just before the defense ministers meeting got underway.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III also raised the issue when he met briefly on June 16 with Turkey’s new defense minister, Yasar Guler, who assumed the position in early June. 

“Of course, (I) seize every opportunity to encourage him to move forward and approve the accession of Sweden,” Austin said in response to a question from Air & Space Forces Magazine during a June 16 press conference.

Sweden has long worked closely with the U.S. and other Western militaries. Current and former NATO officials say Sweden would bring a lot to the table for NATO. 

“We have trained with them in a number of cases, and so being interoperable in a very short period of time, it would be no challenge with Sweden,” Austin said. “It will enhance our ability to be aware of what’s going on in the maritime and the aerial domains.”

Underscoring the two countries’ close ties, two B-1s from a U.S. Bomber Task Force landed in Sweden on June 19, according to the Swedish military. And Sweden recently joined NATO nations in a two-week air exercise, Arctic Challenge Exercise. As part of its assistance to Ukraine, Sweden has even offered to train Ukrainian pilots to fly Gripen multirole fighters.

“Sweden is a strong democracy and it’s a country with substantial military capability,” Austin said. “They’ve invested a lot in their force.”

Retired Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, agreed. 

“They have exercised with us at the highest levels of sophistication, technology, tactics, techniques, and procedures,” Breedlove told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “They have been doing that for some time. They bring the capability to this alliance the moment they hang their flag on the pole, and that’s to be celebrated.”

Some analysts say Sweden works so closely with NATO that it will remain a close partner even if it doesn’t formally get into the alliance.  

“I am pretty chill about this whole thing,” Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “Sweden is already a partner that is so close to NATO that most military collaboration and planning is already rock solid. It does not border Russia so its vulnerability is limited.”

But Sweden left no doubt that it feels that it belongs in NATO and is trying to hasten the process. 

Pal Jonson, Sweden’s defense minister, was a prominent presence at NATO and was pictured walking the hallways with Stoltenberg and in friendly discussions with Austin. 

Jonson also wrote a joint article with Sweden’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson, noting that their country would allow NATO to base forces and equipment on its territory even if it is not a member of the alliance yet.

“The government has decided that the Swedish Armed Forces may undertake preparations with NATO and NATO countries to enable future joint operations,” they wrote.

“The preparations may consist of temporary basing of foreign equipment and personnel on Swedish territory. The decision sends a clear signal to Russia and strengthens Sweden’s defense.”

Top Lawmaker Wants to Slash $550 Million in NGAD Funding. But It Wouldn’t Go to F-22

Top Lawmaker Wants to Slash $550 Million in NGAD Funding. But It Wouldn’t Go to F-22

June 16, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force’s request for funding for the Next Generation Air Dominance program is slashed nearly a third—some $550 million—in the House Armed Services Committee chairman’s mark of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.

But while the amount of the reduction roughly matches what the Air Force has said it is pulling out of the F-22 program to fund NGAD, the draft NDAA doesn’t appear to put that $550 million directly back into the F-22.

Instead, the bill notes the $550 million as a “deferment” from the Air Force’s $2.326 billion request for NGAD. No further explanation was provided, and a spokesperson for chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The fact that it’s described as a deferment suggests the funds may be shifted to a later year.

The full committee will meet to vote on amendments and approve the NDAA on June 21.

In mid-May, the Air Force said it was starting the clock on the NGAD contractual effort, issuing a request for information to industry expected to culminate in the selection of a contractor next year.  

Meanwhile, the Air Force has also asked Congress to let it retire 32 Block 20 F-22s, which have been used for training and which the service says are the most expensive aircraft in the fleet to maintain.

The Air Force made a similar request in the 2023 budget, and Congress instead passed a provision prohibiting the service from retiring any Raptors until October 2027. The 2024 chairman’s mark does not change that requirement, and HASC members have voiced concerns the Air Force is reducing its “fight tonight” combat capacity too much to pay for future capability, suggesting they are once again unwilling to let the F-22s be mothballed.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has responded that there is no time to spare in developing and fielding the NGAD, as Chinese fifth-generation fighters are advancing in capability. He said the reduction of the F-22 fleet to increase NGAD development accounts is a calculated risk, but one he is comfortable taking.

In April, Air Force deputy chief of staff for plans and programs Lt. Gen. Richard Moore Jr. broke with the tradition of not describing to Congress the specific dollar tradeoffs between budget items. He told the HASC tactical aviation panel that the funds saved by not operating the 32 F-22s would remain within the air dominance portfolio and go directly into NGAD.

At a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event a few days later, Moore said it costs $485 million per year simply to operate the 32 Block 20 Raptors, and that figure would not cover upgrades and new equipment needed to bring those aircraft up to date against known and predicted threats. The Block 20s have been used for training and lack many of the improvements on the combat-coded Block 35 F-22s.

To bring the Block 20s up to Block 35 would cost an extra $3.5 billion, Moore said, adding that it would not be a worthwhile investment because the F-22 is slated to retire circa 2030, and it would take years to build up the industrial capability needed to develop and install the upgrade.

In fact, Moore said, the Block 35s themselves already need to be upgraded. Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for the F-22 and F-35, has a limited number of engineers, he said, and “if we were to stand up an effort like this, it would be reasonable to expect they would have to pull some engineering talent off of F-35 … to get this accomplished.”

A HASC member staffer would not speak directly to the NGAD cut, but noted the law prohibiting any retirement of F-22s is still in effect. He said the Block 20s could still be “very capable in some theaters” and if they are stood down, the Block 35s would have to fill the training role and that means “more wear and tear on them.” Air Force officials have said, though, that the Block 20s and Block 35s are so dissimilar that pilots are acquiring bad habits in the older jets.

The staffer’s only comment regarding NGAD was to note that it’s still in “a very early stage” and “we have some time to adjust that program.” He also noted that there may be some overlap”with the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, and that effort got a roughly 50 percent boost in the chairman’s mark, from $118.8 million to $176.1 million.

If Congress continues to block the divestiture of the older F-22s and the Air Force is obliged to keep operating them, Moore has claimed, “that’s a half-billion dollars of something else that won’t get done.”

The draft NDAA did not have a surge in F-22 funding to match the NGAD cut, however. The F-22 squadrons line item in the research, development, test, and evaluation account saw only a $15 million increase, from $725.9 million to $740.9 million, to improve the jet’s “cyber resiliency.” Procurement funding remains the same.

The F-22 continues to be in high demand—the Air Force dispatched an undisclosed number of them to the Middle East in mid-June in response to what the Pentagon called “unsafe and unprofessional” air-to-air encounters between Russian and U.S. aircraft.

BUFFs in Guam: B-52s Deploy for Another Bomber Task Force

BUFFs in Guam: B-52s Deploy for Another Bomber Task Force

June 16, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Four B-52s and more than 200 Airmen arrived at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, this week to kick off another Bomber Task Force deployment in the Indo-Pacific. 

The Stratofortresses, from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., arrived June 12 and June 14, according to images released by the Air Force, and immediately participated in their first BTF mission on June 15. 

The deployment to Guam comes less than a month since the island was hit by Super Typhoon Mawar, prompting the Air Force to deploy its Natural Disaster Recovery Team to Andersen. The base report no serious injuries or aircraft damage, but some facilities were damaged or lost power during the storm. Permanent change of station moves to Andersen were paused for 60 days to ease the recovery. 

Bomber Task Force deployments typically last a month or more and involve frequent missions throughout the region to train and integrate with allies, demonstrating airpower and combined operations.

“Being here in the Indo-Pacific with the Bomber Task Force allows our forces to showcase our ability to deploy anytime, anywhere in support of the combatant commander’s objectives,” Lt. Col. Ryan Loucks, BTF commander, said in a statement. “Training and operating in the priority theater allows us to demonstrate our continued readiness, willingness and commitment to our Allies and partners.” 

This marks the second deployment of B-52s to Guam in three months—four bombers from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., arrived March 30 and returned home at the end of April. During that time, they completed 29 sorties while integrating with four allied partners, according to a Pacific Air Forces release. 

On the other side of the world, another Bomber Task Force deployment is underway in Europe—B-1s from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, landed at RAF Fairford, U.K., on May 23 and have participated in the Arctic Challenge Exercise and Air Defender 23, as well as a mission over the Middle East. 

The B-52s in the Pacific will also be busy—prior USAF bomber rotations have flown over the Korean Peninsula as part of the U.S. commitment to South Korea.  

China is also flexing its muscle in the region. More than 30 Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone last week. That followed an incident on May 26, when a Chinese fighter jet crossed in front of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 over the South China Sea in what the Pentagon called an “unnecessarily aggressive” maneuver. It was the second such close encounter since last December. 

That incident took place days before the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major defense conference in the Pacific, where speakers included U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu. Li declined a sit-down with Austin at the Singapore conference. But days after the Bomber Task Force deployment began, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken arrived in China on June 16, the two countries’ first direct high-level talks in months.

HASC Chair Rogers Inserts Funding for More F-15EXs in 2025

HASC Chair Rogers Inserts Funding for More F-15EXs in 2025

June 16, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force says it’s asking for every fighter aircraft U.S. suppliers can possibly deliver in 2024, but House Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Mike Rogers is already looking beyond. His markup of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act would authorize the purchase of six F-15EX fighters in 2025.

Rogers’ markup now goes to the full committee, which will consider amendments June 21. It adds $92 million in advance procurement for the additional F-15EXs. It also adds $100 million in advance procurement to accelerate purchases of new E-7 Wedgetail aircraft. 

The Wedgetail funding was included in the Air Force’s unfunded priorities list; the UPL actually called for $633.4 million, saying it would allow contractors to procure long-lead equipment necessary to build the first two E-7s. The Air Force has said it hopes to have the first E-7 prototype by 2027, but lawmakers and officials have pushed for a faster timeline to replace the service’s aging E-3 AWACS aircraft. 

In contrast, the Air Force’s budget documents indicated it planned to buy 24 F-15EXs in 2025, the same number it is requesting in the 2024 budget. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall had previously said the service would stop buying the updated fourth-generation fighter after 2024. 

Thirty F-15EXs in 2025, as Rogers’ markup proposes, would be the program’s largest single-year buy. It could also push the Air Force past its goal of 72 new fighters per year; USAF’s future-years defense plan calls for 48 F-35s in 2025, a figure officials say is all the builder can provide. 

For now, however, the Air Force still has just two F-15EXs in its possession. The Government Accountability Office noted in its annual Pentagon weapons assessment released earlier this month that while six were slated to arrive in December 2022, they were delayed due to “supplier quality problems related to a critical component in the forward fuselage assembly that ensures safety of flight.” 

The GAO report said a design flaw in Boeing’s tooling “caused inaccurately drilled holes for the windscreen installation on the third through sixth aircraft.” The report, based on data from January, projected revised delivery dates between May and July 2023. The Air Force has not disclosed any deliveries. Delays beyond July threaten the timeline for initial operational capability, the report said. 

Rogers’ markup of the draft NDAA made several other adjustments to aircraft procurement funding, mostly “technical realignments” that change the source of funds. One surprise: The proposed bill includes $100 million in procurement funds to restore the F-16 Integrated Viper EW Suite (IVEWS), which the Air Force had moved to kill in its budget proposal. Aviation Week reported in March that the Air Force was more interested in other modernization efforts.

Rogers also wants to add an additional $20 million for C-130 firefighting systems.