Air Force Bomb Techs Practice WWII Tactics for Near-Peer Fight

Air Force Bomb Techs Practice WWII Tactics for Near-Peer Fight

June 1, 2023 | By David Roza

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah—Over the past 20 years, military explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians have become very good at using high-tech tools like robots, communications jammers, smartphones, and next-generation bomb suits to disable improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in crowded urban environments.

When it comes to a possible conflict with a near-peer adversary like China or Russia, though, EOD techs are preparing for different environments, faster timelines, less sophisticated tools, and more explosives. And to meet that challenge, they’re turning to “old-school World War II tactics,” Airmen told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

During the Global War on Terror, troops often had to secure a city block against ground attack so that bomb techs could safely defuse a single IED. In the future, Air Force EOD techs may have to clear isolated runways of large numbers of air-dropped unexploded ordnance as quickly as possible before another air attack arrives.

“We’re worried about ‘how do I clear this runway fast using the least amount of stuff,’ because it’s going to happen again,” said Staff Sgt. Cody Patterson, a member of the 775th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight at Hill Air Force Base.

“We are boiling down to old-school World War II tactics where we use rope, tape, and zip ties to pull submunitions off a runway all at once,” he added. “Or, if one’s available, we can fill a backhoe bucket full of concrete, drop it down, and push them off. You’re trying to be quick; the longer our planes are sitting on the tarmac, the longer they are a target.”

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Senior Airman Daniel West, an explosive ordinance technician with the 775th Civil Engineering Squadron, prepares to place a counter charge on a vehicle born improvised explosive devise during a training scenario at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, March 22, 2011. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Renae Pittman)

In a future fight against the likes of China, the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment concept calls for dispersing Airmen and aircraft to smaller, more austere bases in order to complicate an adversary’s targeting.

But those bases won’t be immune from attack. In particular, planners worry that an adversary would drop submunitions across an airfield. Submunitions are small explosives that may be distributed over a wide area. Not all of those submunitions detonate on impact, so they pose a lingering threat to military operations such as running an airfield.

In such a scenario, EOD techs would face new challenges given the nature of those small, austere, remote bases.

“How is an EOD unit with fewer tools, less manning, fewer explosives and potentially spoofed radios on an island in the middle of nowhere going to be able to recover that runway?” Patterson said. “It is going to come down to thinking outside the box, figuring out a way to clear those out so that we can launch aircraft.”

Clearing a runway of submunitions in the middle of a near-peer fight may look relatively Stone-Aged. The old-school but effective techniques include shooting the fuse off a bomb with a .50 caliber slug or using a “tape-and-line,” where EOD techs use tape, rope, and a wrench to pull the fuse out of a bomb from a distance.

“The whole idea is to use a rope that’s extremely long, usually about 1,000 feet for a 500-pound bomb,” Patterson explained. “That technique is from the 1940s and we still test that in EOD to this day.”

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An Airman with the 775th EOD flight examines the wiring on a pressure plate used in an IED. Airmen from the flight participated in a week-long training event Nov. 2.-6, 2015. U.S. Air Force photo by Micah Garbarino.

In a future fight, the Air Force may not be able to fly a 700-pound robot to an island in the middle of the Pacific, but EOD techs are accustomed to working with what they have on hand.

“What we are used to operating out of, if you can give us one Humvee or a solid truck, we’re going to be able to hammer out every mission,” said Patterson, who cautioned that more equipment may be required when chemical or biological weapons are involved.

The 775th EOD Flight in particular gets plenty of practice disabling submunitions on the Utah Test and Training Range, an area about the size of Delaware where military aircraft practice dropping a wide range of ordnance. Not all of those weapons detonate on impact, which can pose a hazard to range workers or scientists trying to collect data on weapons tests, so EOD steps in to finish the job.

Part of the challenge of a possible near-peer fight is that EOD technicians may be the first ones to see some of the enemy’s ordnance up close.

“I know that they are going to drop submunitions and I know that, most likely, I am not going to know what they are,” Patterson said. “A small piece of what we’ll have to do is exploit the first one we run into, get all the technical data, figure out how it works, pass that on to our buddies and push them off the runway.”

There is also the possibility Russia or China may use IEDs as well as conventional ordnance. U.S. troops will also likely keep facing IEDs during operations in eastern Africa or the Middle East.

“It is never going to go away, but we try to treat everything similar, whether it is an IED, an [unexploded ordnance], or a WMD,” Patterson said. “We want to command and control the situation because we are the technical experts.”

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An example of the patch worn by the 775th EOD flight as of November 2, 2015. U.S. Air Force photo by Micah Garbarino.

Patterson emphasized that defusing explosives would not be Air Force EOD’s sole contribution to a near-peer fight. As experts in explosives, EOD technicians are frequently consulted by other service members in the process of building air bases and deciding how and where to place hardened aircraft shelters (HAS).

“They will turn to an EOD expert and ask ‘Hey, I want to put a plane in this HAS, what happens if a bomb hits the outside of it? Where should we put our common and control station? Do you think this is enough dirt to stop a bomb?’ That sort of thing,” Patterson explained. “We’re integral in the planning phase to protect assets.”

Standing up an air base or restarting it after an attack may also see EOD pick up unusual new roles. As part of its shift to smaller, distributed airfields, the Air Force also wants to generate airpower with fewer Airmen, which will require them to pick up new tasks outside their usual job specialty. EOD techs may find themselves helping a weapons jammer or refueling truck move through a recently-cleared path to get an aircraft ready for takeoff.

“We’re going to be a very vital piece not just to the recovery portion, not just to the planning portion, but to everything in between,” Patterson said. “We’re really good at greasing the cog.”

Besides clearing training ranges and disarming IEDs at home and abroad, Air Force bomb techs also help airfield crews render safe jammed aircraft guns or malfunctioning ordnance; assist with the protection of VIPs like the President or visiting dignitaries; support domestic law enforcement missions; help train foreign partners overseas; and a range of other missions. 

“We’re surrounded by some of the best people in all the branches,” Patterson said. “I have not met one guy that was a bad dude or was not smart enough to handle the job. It’s been a real pleasure to serve with these guys.”

How Boeing’s KC-46A Accelerates Mission Readiness for the Joint Force Today and into the Future

How Boeing’s KC-46A Accelerates Mission Readiness for the Joint Force Today and into the Future

June 1, 2023

As near-peer adversaries have increased their reach and lethality, the U.S. Air Force is accelerating the tanker fleet recapitalization and aggressively pulling forward the Next Generation Aerial Refueling System (NGAS) to meet the threat.

Globally operating the KC-46A has advanced mission readiness for the joint force as the service strategizes the path to a future “team of systems” for aerial refueling.

Extending the KC-46A program of record offers three key distinct advantages to the warfighter:

  • First, the KC-46 is ready now and primed to evolve for the future. 
  • Second, the KC-46A offers unmatched access and operational capability.
  • Third, extending the KC-46A fleet frees up resources for future U.S. Air Force investment in NGAS.

Ready Now, Evolving for the Future

Boeing is already building and delivering combat-ready KC-46As to the U.S. Air Force and allies in partnership with its supplier network of 650 U.S. business. These suppliers employ 37,000 American workers throughout more than 40 states. 

No other tanker meets the stringent airworthiness and performance requirements of the U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration. Boeing’s substantial investments to meet these precise and unique requirements have made the KC-46A the most advanced multi-mission refueling system in the world. Any other aircraft would require restarting the development process just to catch up to the KC-46A, delaying the mission readiness of the warfighter—and at a cost which the taxpayer would bear. 

With the KC-46A, the U.S. Air Force can focus on evolving for the future by integrating emergent technological capabilities that will benefit generations of service members. As an example, Boeing partnered with the Air Force to field the Pegasus’s Remote Vision System 2.0 upgrade, which has been designed and developed side-by-side with engineers and boom operators to ensure it is exactly what’s needed for the mission. 

The U.S. Air Force has also designated the Pegasus for the first Advanced Battle Management System implementation, building on the KC-46A’s existing data and communications connectivity.

Unmatched Access and Operational Capability

In addition to refueling support, the KC-46A delivers combat-ready defensive features and data connectivity necessary in a multi-mission tanker for the 21st century warfighter—capabilities that were not traditionally baked into legacy tankers.

Shown here with a C-17, the Pegasus delivers data to the joint force, as well as fuel, enabling fleet battlespace awareness and decision-making advantage. (Photo credit: Paul Weatherman, Boeing)

Armed with data links and an integrated tactical situational awareness suite, the KC-46A tanker and crew can relay comprehensive battlespace awareness to warfighters and long-range back to base for real-time information superiority in operational decisions. That information advantage that will further increase as the KC-46A integrates Advanced Battle Management System capabilities as well as upgrades including military-certified Gen 6 radios and additional line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight communications technologies with anti-jamming and encryption features. Delivering data and communications connectivity as well as fuel makes the KC-46A a game changer for the joint force.

The multi-mission KC-46A Pegasus tanker also enables Agile Combat Employment—one of the Air Force’s seven Operational Imperatives—by accessing more small bases and austere airfields, maximizing maneuverability of the USAF fleet throughout vast operational theaters, and ensuring fleet connectivity in contested environments. 

By leveraging a network of smaller, dispersed locations, the KC-46A facilitates ‘more booms in the air’—more refuelers spread throughout the operational theater and closer to the battlespace—giving warfighters quicker access to fuel so they can stay in the fight where they are needed. The KC-46A can also receive fuel, unlike many legacy tankers, extending its mission range and flexibility.

With its defensive features and countermeasures, the KC-46A provides fuel, data and multi-mission transportation to support all facets of air mobility into the tactical edge of contested environments.

Sustainment Savings to Invest for the Future

The KC-46A fleet also brings lifecycle sustainment advantages for the U.S. Air Force, freeing up resources to meet future needs.

With more KC-46As already in service than any tanker except the Boeing-built KC-135, extending the KC-46 program of record ensures mission readiness today and generates operational and sustainment savings that can be reinvested in future capabilities. (Photo credit: Tech. Sgt. Victoria Nelson, U.S. Air National Guard)

As the KC-46 fleet recently surpassed 50,000 flight hours and thousands of maintenance tasks performed, the Air Force and Boeing can confidently begin fine-tuning the maintenance program based on robust fleet performance data, an improvement relative to the initial conservative assumptions of a new program. For example, as the KC-46A fleet flight hours have grown, the U.S. Air Force and Boeing are optimizing the frequency of scheduled maintenance based on the platform’s proven performance and dependability, yielding cost avoidance and increasing maintenance efficiencies. 

This is just one aspect of the time, effort, and resource savings that will be gained by extending the KC-46A program of record—savings that can be reinvested in future systems and capabilities, such as NGAS, and in advancing Operational Imperatives, including resilient basing development.

Accelerating Aerial Refueling Mission Readiness

Even as recapitalizing the KC-135 with the KC-46A remains a priority, Boeing will support the Air Force as it defines the requirements and concept of operations for future aerial refueling teams of systems. Boeing continuously develops innovative solutions to deliver advanced capabilities for customers, including next generation “team of systems”-enabling platforms, technologies and concepts of operation, as well as production and lifecycle support. The Pegasus is the world’s most advanced multi-mission aerial refueling system today and continues to evolve as a pathway to NGAS. Extending the KC-46 program of record provides production, operational and sustainment advantages that assure U.S. mission readiness now and enduring rapid global mobility and power projection advantage for the future.

ICBM Cancer Study Will Include ‘Enduring’ Environmental Monitoring

ICBM Cancer Study Will Include ‘Enduring’ Environmental Monitoring

May 31, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

As part of its broad study of cancer risks at the intercontinental ballistic missile bases, the Air Force is conducting a more focused, detailed investigation of environmental hazards at the installations.

“Two separate efforts are planned in the future,” Col. Tory W. Woodard, the director of the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM), which designed the study, recently told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The first is an epidemiology study to look at cancer rates in missileer and associated career fields. The second, he added, is “dedicated environmental hazard sampling to assess the work areas.”

Concern about cancer rates at ICBM bases from the veteran community spurred the Air Force to launch its much-scrutinized Missile Community Cancer Study. 

Members of the study team conducted initial visits to the ICBM bases in February and March to understand what they should look for and where. The Air Force’s three ICBM bases are Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., and Minot Air Force Base, N.D. The ICBM silos themselves are spread out over vast fields that reach into five states.

The Air Force has studied the issue before, including a study in 2001 at Malmstrom. This time, the service is planning a more exhaustive look. 

There is an improved understanding of the environment and factors that can affect the issue, as well as better technology and “access both to personnel and to the actual silos and launch facilities and launch control centers,” Col. Robert Peltzer, a senior medical official at Air Force Global Strike Command, said in a recent interview. “I don’t think the 2001 folks had that same level of ability to get to the spots that they really need to look at.”

The issue is not just a concern for veterans. The service is also trying to understand the potential hazards for personnel currently stationed at the facility.

“When they got back, they looked at, OK, here’s all the hazards we identified,” Peltzer said of the initial visits. “Let’s research and find out what equipment is out there today that can detect these things.”

Among the potential dangers, the study teams found stickers indicating the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls—commonly known as PCBs—which are present in older electronics and should have been removed long ago.

“PCBs have been demonstrated to cause a variety of adverse health effects,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which notes “the data strongly suggest that PCBs are probable human carcinogens.”

PCB production was banned in 1979, but ICBM facilities are decades old. An AFGSC source familiar with the study said the Air Force began phasing out PCBs at ICBM facilities in the 1980s, but it is not clear if the process was fully completed. The person said technical orders were issued for the removal of PCBs which were marked as complete, and technical orders might not have included removing the signage. But signs denoting the presence of PCBs are present at all three active ICBM bases and the Air Force is investigating.

“We’re not going to take that the stickers are inaccurate or accurate,” Peltzer said. “We’re going to make sure and validate one way or the other—are there PCBs down there?”

PCBs are not the only hazard. Another major concern for missileers is radon exposure and water contamination. Radon is a radioactive gas that comes from bedrock and soil, and missile facilities are buried underground with personnel living in cramped quarters on 24-48 hour shifts.

“There’ll be looking for air sampling, air intake, water—both above ground and below ground,” Peltzer said.

The U.S. government does not own the land around many missile facilities where some harmful materials may be present. 

“We’re going to test the water and soil at different times for environmental changes,” Peltzer said, noting the schedule for doing agriculture work, as well as temperature changes, could affect the level of risk. 

The team will also keep sampling equipment, which had to get special clearance to be used in ICBM facilities, on the bases to continue monitoring well into the future.

That’s in keeping with researchers comprehensive approach of “doing it, training, and then setting up the long-term enduring part of this to make sure that we don’t have anything in the future that we weren’t aware of,” Peltzer said.

He said the Air Force would not let the classified nature of ICBM operations impede the investigation. 

“One of the things that we’ve ensured is that our environmental folks do have the level of clearance to go down in those areas,” Peltzer said. “They don’t have the need to know what the rest of the stuff is going on. But they can collect information or take samples and then leave. So those are things that have changed over the years.”

GAO Urges Congress to Separate Engine Upgrade From F-35 Program

GAO Urges Congress to Separate Engine Upgrade From F-35 Program

May 31, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Congress should direct the Pentagon to break out the F-35’s propulsion upgrade from the rest of the program to better to track its scope, schedule, and cost, the Government Accountability Office urged in a new May 30 report.

Meanwhile, engine-maker Pratt & Whitney added its own suggestion that the F-35 Joint Program Office decide quickly how it wants to meet the fighter’s rapidly-growing power and cooling needs, so the company can adjust its planned Engine Core Upgrade to better mesh with those requirements.

The Pentagon has previously declined GAO’s suggestion to break out the engine upgrade element of the F-35 program as a separate undertaking, which is why the GAO is now urging Congress to direct the change.

Cost increases and problems with the F-35 airframe and engine tend to be masked under the current arrangement, GAO said, and the magnitude of those cost overruns and schedule issues, if judged separately, could incur Nunn-McCurdy breaches—under the Nunn-McCurdy law of 1982, if a program has cost increases beyond certain benchmarks, it receives added scrutiny or may be automatically canceled.

Other GAO recommendations related to the F-35’s engine include defining long-term requirements for the powerplant.

The GAO agreed with the F-35 Joint Program Office’s business case analysis that found Pratt & Whitney’s ECU is a better and less risky approach to the F-35’s power needs than integrating a new engine from the Air Force’s Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP), mainly because of the uncertainty and higher integration cost of a new engine. The AETP engines—GE Aerospace’s XA100 and Pratt’s XA101—also cannot fit the short takeoff/vertical landing F-35B or carrier-landing version F-35C without extensive extra development, the GAO found.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has said the difficulty of integrating an AETP engine with those models was the principal reason the service—in concert with Pentagon leadership–dropped plans for the new engine, although cost was also a big factor.

“You can’t do everything you want to do,” Kendall told the Senate Armed Services Committee in April.

Pratt’s F135 director Jennifer Latka said on a May 31 call with reporters that the company feels the GAO report “validates the Department’s decision to pursue the Engine Core Upgrade on the existing F135.”

But while the GAO report noted the F-35 office has completed the business case regarding a new engine, it also pointed out the Pentagon “has not fully defined the power and cooling requirements the engine and related components will need to support” Block 4 capabilities through 2035.

Specifically, the Joint Program Office has yet to fully assess the cost and technical risks of different engine upgrade and thermal management options, the report stated.

Pratt would like the Pentagon to complete that work, Latka said, so it can determine how it wants to meet the F-35’s increased needs from its Power and Thermal Management System (PTMS), which provides cooling for avionics, radar, and other equipment, as well as emergency power, cockpit conditioning, some electrical power, and more.

Pratt officials have long argued the existing PTMS and engine can provide enough cooling for the F-35’s systems, but doing so requires more heat and stress on the engine, increasing maintenance and cost. Now, Latka said, it would be best from a design and development perspective for the F-35 Joint Program Office to decide its PTMS needs soon so they can be aligned with the Engine Core Upgrade.

For its part, the GAO report states that the current PTMS is already inadequate to meet the F-35’s cooling needs, and the planned Block 4 upgrade will place a heavier burden on the system. Running the engine hotter to produce more cooling is “reducing the life of the engine,” according to the report.

This problem was known back in 2013, and Lockheed wanted to change the F135’s design then to yield more air pressure from the PTMS, “but program officials determined it was too late to redesign the engine given the cost and schedule effects” of doing so, the GAO reported.

“Program officials decided to continue with the F135 engine’s original design with the understanding that there would be increased wear and tear, more maintenance, and reduced life on the engine because it would need to provide more air pressure to the PTMS than its design intended” the audit agency said.

“The misalignment of requirements with the engine and PTMS illustrates why it is important to fully understand the proposed designs at the beginning of an acquisition, prior to committing to development,” the GAO observed.

The GAO is projecting the F-35’s current cooling system won’t be able to meet the fighter’s future needs beyond 2029, particularly those planned for Block 4. Latka argued that is not exactly true but agreed the increased cooling will degrade the F135’s service life, requiring replacement or heavy, unplanned maintenance costs.

It’s “more an art than a science” knowing exactly when the Engine Core Upgrade and PTMS, which are separate systems, will become critical needs, Latka said, but she urged the Pentagon to get on with both efforts as quickly as it can.

“It’s really important to know that [the JPO doesn’t] have a Block 4 plan out to 2035,” Latka said. “They have increments of capabilities that are funded in the next few years that are coming on to the jet, and then they have some more thought-out ideas of what could come on to the jet …and then there are dreams of what we could put on the jet way into the future.”

The F-35’s high sustainment have been a headache for the Pentagon and a source of controversy in Congress for some time now, and the GAO is predicting an extra $38 billion in predicted life-cycle costs. Latka could not say how much of that could be avoided by Pratt’s engine upgrade and a new PTMS.

The GAO report also stated that late engine deliveries are affecting the F-35’s production line, including a chart showing that 97 percent of engines delivered in 2022 were late, up from 46 percent late in 2017.

Latka disputed that part of the report, saying it was based on old data. Deliveries of F135 engines and F-35s were paused for several months to investigate a December 2022 crash of an F-35B caused by an engine problem, and during that time, Pratt’s buffer of extra engine waiting at airframe-maker Lockheed Martin shrank. Now, however, it is back to normal, Latka said.

In a statement responding to the GAO report, the JPO said it’s waging a “war on cost” in the F-35 program, that new countries are indicating their confidence in the program by signing up to buy the jet, and that the JPO “looks forward to working with the GAO and program stakeholders” on its recommendations.

Biden Taps Air Force’s Guillot as New NORAD Commander

Biden Taps Air Force’s Guillot as New NORAD Commander

May 31, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

President Joe Biden nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Gregory M. Guillot to add a star and succeed Gen. Glen D. VanHerck as head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The nomination was among several high-level nominations announced May 31. 

The Department of Defense also formerly announced Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.’s nomination to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Lt. Gen. Timothy D. Haugh to head U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency. 

Guillot, a battle manager by training, is currently deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, and led Air Forces Central before taking that role. He has been instrumental integrating air, missile, and drone defense systems across the Middle East—experience that’s applicable to the challenges facing NORTHCOM’s air and missile defenses. 

If confirmed by the Senate, Guillot will succeed VanHerck, who has led NORTHCOM and NORAD since 2020. In that time, VanHerck has advocated for more over-the-horizon surveillance capabilities and warned about potential gaps in domain awareness for protecting the homeland.  

VanHerck’s warnings took on new urgency when a Chinese spy balloon transited the entire continental U.S. earlier this year and examinations revealed that other Chinese balloons have slipped undetected past NORAD’s radars in previous years. 

“As NORAD commander, it’s my responsibility to detect threats to North America,” VanHerck said at the time. “I will tell you that we did not detect those threats. And that’s a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out.” 

VanHerck also advocated for increased attention and funding for Arctic defenses as China and Russia stake out their interests in the region, with shipping lanes opening up due to melting ice. 

Guillot’s prior assignments include a stint as director of operations for NORTHCOM and in high-level positions within Pacific Air Forces and Air Combat Command. He has also commanded the 552nd Air Control Wing at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.

Should Guillot and Haugh be confirmed, four of the 11 combatant commands would be led by Airmen—Gen. Anthony J. Cotton heads U.S. Strategic Command, and Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost tops U.S. Transportation Command. 

The Pentagon also announced four three-star Air Force nominations May 31: 

  • Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse to command the Defense Intelligence Agency. If confirmed along with Haugh, that would put Airmen in charge of two key DOD intelligence agencies. Kruse currently advises Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on military affairs. 
  • Lt. Gen. Donna D. Shipton to command the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, which oversees the acquisition and sustainment of weapons systems. Shipton is now the military deputy to Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter. 
  • Maj. Gen. Heath A. Collins for promotion to lieutenant general and director of the Missile Defense Agency. He would succeed Vice Adm. Jon A. Hill and oversee continued development of the Next Generation Interceptor to combat advanced missile threats to the U.S. 
  • Maj. Gen. Michael G. Koscheski for promotion to lieutenant general and deputy commander of Air Combat Command. He would become the No. 2 to Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, whose nomination to command ACC is pending confirmation. Koscheski currently leads the 15th Air Force at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. 

These nominations join more than 200 others caught up as a result of a hold placed on general and flag officer nominations by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who is using his power to hold nominations in protest of the Biden administration’s policy to reimburse troops who travel out-of-state to obtain legal abortions from bases in locations where such services are no longer legal. Neither Tuberville nor Democratic lawmakers have given any indication that a resolution is coming soon. 

How Maintainers at Hill Found A Cheap Way to Make the F-35 Even Better

How Maintainers at Hill Found A Cheap Way to Make the F-35 Even Better

May 31, 2023 | By David Roza

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah—The F-35 stealth fighter took more than 10 years and billions of dollars to develop, but three Airmen at Hill Air Force Base found a way to make it even better with just a 3D printer, some tough plastic, and an inventive spirit. In fact, their invention could save the Air Force millions of dollars and many headaches in the long-term upkeep of its newest fighter.

“This has caught a lot of attention here and elsewhere,” one of the maintainers, Staff Sgt. Christopher O’Donnell, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “Every couple days we’ll get an email or a phone call [from another F-35 base] asking ‘how do we go about doing this?’”

The F-35 has a small cluster of sensors on the side of each nose that collects data on air pressure and other factors that can affect the aircraft in flight. When the jet is on the ground, maintainers keep the sensors safe from dust or moisture by covering them a tool that uses rubber seals and quick-release pins to stay in place. The trouble is that the tool, which costs more than $600, is difficult to use, the pins are easily broken, and the rubber seals often fail in hot weather. Maintainers at Hill’s 34th Fighter Generation Squadron wondered if there was a better way to do things, and they knew exactly who to ask for help.

“We’re the last line of defense to fix whatever we can and put it back into service so that the military does not have to purchase replacement equipment” said O’Donnell. “In some instances, the equipment is so old that nobody makes it anymore, but it is still needed.”

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An example of the older, more fragile, and expensive data port cover. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Nathan Poblete

O’Donnell is one of three technicians at Hill’s Air Force Repair Enhancement Program shop, where Airmen conduct homemade repairs or design replacement parts. AFREP shops exist across the country and have saved the branch millions of dollars, especially where older aircraft are stationed. For example, the AFREP shop at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. has saved about $86 million since 2001 coming up with fixes for the A-10, C-130 and HH-60.

When the Hill AFREP office heard about the issues with the F-35 data port covers, they got to work creating one that would be stronger, cheaper and simpler than its predecessor.

“We were like ‘let’s keep it as minimal as possible,’” O’Donnell recalled.

Instead of a complicated device with pins and seals, the AFREP Airmen 3D-printed a slab of rubber-like plastic that fit perfectly over the sensor cluster. Later they installed magnets and an O-ring to keep the cover fixed in place. The new design stuck on the jet through wind, rain, snow, and hail, keeping the sensors beneath it safe and dry.

“No mechanical parts, extremely durable, flexible, and it sticks to the jet,” O’Donnell said. “And the way it fits is universal so it can go on either side of the nose.”

Unlike the original part, the new covers cost only about $45 and about 22 hours to make in the shop’s 3D printers, which have been churning out covers for F-35s at Hill and other F-35 bases over the past few months. AFREP can print the covers in a variety of colors and include the squadron symbol of the unit receiving them. The Air Force is currently looking to patent the design.

“It will be awesome being able to say that I have a patent in my name,” O’Donnell said. “The Air Force will own the patent and the rights, but our names are credited for coming up with it.”

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Tech Sgt. Christopher O’Donnell holds an F-35 data port cover featuring the Black Widow mascot of the 421st Fighter Squadron. Future covers could be printed in squadron colors with squadron mascots to promote unit pride. Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza

O’Donnell and his AFREP colleagues, Tech Sgts. Justin Platt and James Dover, can see the impact of their work in the form of red data port covers gracing almost every F-35 on the flight line. But that is just one example of the many time- and money-saving fixes the three Airmen have made over the years. Others include a new alarm shutoff switch for Minuteman III launch controls, more durable computer connection boxes for F-22 maintainers, and a homemade device that can detect issues with the diagnostic wires that maintainers plug into F-35s.

AFREP Airmen take a course in miniature and microminiature electronic repair, which allows them to solder the small components that keep circuit boards running.

“If you pass, you get certified to work on the electronic equipment that goes into the jets or other planes,” O’Donnell said. 

With those skills, AFREP Airmen can get old equipment like a busted missile control oscilloscope back up and running again.

“We don’t want to spend $15,000 on a new oscilloscope,” O’Donnell said. “So I spent a week’s worth of work cleaning the board, putting new copper down, epoxying, and then soldering things back on very gently, and it worked perfectly.”

An extra perk of the AFREP program is that it brings in cash for maintenance groups. Platt explained that when a maintenance group fixes a part through AFREP, it can take the money that would have gone towards a replacement part and instead use it to improve the group through capital improvements or new equipment.

“The Air Force is still spending the money but they are rewarding it back to themselves,” Platt said.

Airmen routinely bring questions and broken gadgets to the Hill AFREP shop, and while some fixes come easy, others may sit on the shelf for years before a solution presents itself. 

“You never know who’s going to walk in the door with something new,” O’Donnell said. “One day I’m designing something on the computer to 3D print, that afternoon I might be fixing an electrical board, and then later I’m working on something hydraulics-related.”

The variety is part of why O’Donnell and Platt enjoy AFREP work. Before coming to the shop, O’Donnell put together bombs as a munitions systems specialist, while Platt worked as a crew chief. Those are difficult jobs, but AFREP presents a new challenge every day.

“You get proficient doing the same thing over and over again, but at the same time, it can get tedious,” O’Donnell said. “I want something different, which was great about this shop. Every day it’s something else.”

B-52 Re-Engining to Get New Program Baseline in the Fall, with ‘Some’ Cost Increase

B-52 Re-Engining to Get New Program Baseline in the Fall, with ‘Some’ Cost Increase

May 30, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

OKLAHOMA CITY—There will be “some” cost increase on the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) when it gets its new official baseline this fall—but concerns about a massive spike are unfounded, program officials said.

The new baseline will come as officials decide whether the program is ready for the engineering and manufacturing development phase, and it will add money to what had not previously been a fully-funded project, officials told reporters at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex. But the new cost and schedule baseline have not yet been finalized.

The venerable B-52 is slated to not only get new engines in the coming years, but new engines, communications, and navigation gear too.

The centerpiece has been the CERP, though, and some in Congress voiced concerns last year that the program cost would jump 50 percent.

Air Force material lead Col. Louis Ruscetta said those reports are based on issues “taken out of context” and are inaccurate.

“There have been no Nunn-McCurdy breaches” on the CERP effort, he said. Under the Nunn-McCurdy law of 1982, if a program sees a 25 percent cost increase over current baseline, or a 50 percent increase over original estimates, it must be canceled.

The B-52 re-engining program won’t actually have a program baseline until Milestone B—which evaluates readiness for entry into the EMD phase phase—because it has until now been a Middle Tier of Acquisition program, Ruscetta said. Congress gives the services MTA authorities to speed up programs when a technology is sufficiently mature to skip some preliminary steps.

The B-52’s new engine—the Rolls Royce F130-200—is based on an existing engine already widely in use. Development in the program is largely focused on integrating the engine with the B-52’s wing, engine pylon, and cockpit controls.

The CERP is “graduating” to a “Major Capability Acquisition” with Milestone B, Ruscetta said.

“The projected cost of the program has increased in the last couple of years, as we know more,” Ruscetta said.

There has also been a reduction in expected fuel efficiency of the new engines, from the previous target of 30 percent improvement over the current TF33 engines to about 20 percent, Ruscetta acknowledged. However, fuel efficiency was not a key discriminator on the contract, which was weighted toward reliability, reduced maintenance, and expected ease of integration with the bomber.

The expected cost increase has also come as the program has matured, Ruscetta said—as the Air Force has gotten more suppliers on contract, “we understand where those costs are phased, and so then we can add money within the time of the (President’s Budget) … for me to match that phasing when it’s required.”

The Air Force’s fiscal 2024 budget request indicated about a $220 million increase over the next five years, but Ruscetta said the B-52 CERP “early on … was not fully funded.”

Now that it’s going to be a major acquisition program, the Air Force must create the new cost baseline and “certify … that all the funding’s available to the program,” Ruscetta said, adding that the service has “had a plan to lay that in in future years.”

Ruscetta added that the fiscal 2023 budget didn’t include complete development funding.

All of that will change this fall, when the Air Force reaches Milestone B. As part of that decision, the service will set a program baseline and a service cost position, explaining how and when it will fund the program.

At that point, “we have better independent cost estimates” from the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) shop, Ruscetta said, “as well as actual contract information from subcontractors … so we have a much more mature scope of the program.”

Milestone B is where programs are expected to have sufficient maturity to nail down cost and schedule and “actually grade yourself” on meeting those marks, Ruscetta said.

Although development costs will be higher in the new baseline, there will likely be reductions in estimated production costs, Air Force material lead Col. Louis Ruscetta said.

The milestone review and Air Force readiness will benefit from the digital design of the CERP upgrade now being at “Increment Two,” said Jennifer Wong, Boeing director of bomber programs.

Increment One was “engine-agnostic” for the integration of the B-52’s new systems, Wong said, because the engine had not yet been selected when that digital design was built. Now that the F130-200 is plugged into the design, “it is a much more mature virtual prototype,” she said, with additional features that were not included in the original version.

That helps with readiness because the Air Force will soon be able to start training maintainers to work on the upgraded power system, Ruscetta said, and they’ll be ready to go when the B-52 begins test flights with new engine. The Virtual Training System “has already started to deliver” to Global Strike Command and Air Education and Training Command, he said.

“They can start developing their tech manuals [and] their training curriculum. And all of that is happening now, pre-Milestone B.” Usually, he said, “that doesn’t start happening until you’ve actually modified the aircraft and you’re in flight test. So we can start that four years early. That is a key enabler and game-changer.”

US: Another ‘Unprofessional‘ Intercept of RC-135 by Chinese Fighter. Watch the Video

US: Another ‘Unprofessional‘ Intercept of RC-135 by Chinese Fighter. Watch the Video

May 30, 2023 | By Greg Hadley and Chris Gordon

A Chinese fighter jet conducted an “unnecessarily aggressive” maneuver in front of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 last week, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announced May 30, and released footage of the incident. 

The intercept, which took place May 26, happened over the South China Sea in international airspace, according to an INDOPACOM statement.  

The video shows the J-16 fighter passing directly in front of the RC-135 Rivet Joint. That caused the American jet to fly through the Chinese fighter’s wake turbulence. Footage released by the U.S. shows the USAF plane appearing to shake after the maneuver.

A Chinese J-16 fighter passes directly in front of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint over the South China Sea on May 26, 2023. Courtesy video/U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

“The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate—safely and responsibly—wherever international law allows, and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Joint Force will continue to fly in international airspace with due regard for the safety of all vessels and aircraft under international law,” INDOPACOM said in a statement. “We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law.” 

This marks the second time the U.S. has accused Chinese pilots of unsafe actions over the South China Sea—on Dec. 21, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) J-11 fighter “performed an unsafe maneuver” and came within 20 feet of another RC-135.  

The Pentagon released video of that incident as well, while the Chinese government later claimed the slower-flying RC-135 altered its flight and veered toward the PLAN fighter, though footage the Chinese released does not appear to show that. 

In 2015, a similar incident took place involving an RC-135 and two Chinese JH-7 aircraft, though officials said at the time there was no imminent threat of a collision. 

The Pentagon has increasingly used unclassified video to spotlight what it calls unsafe behavior by adversaries like China and Russia—in March, the department released footage from an MQ-9 Reaper drone showing a Russian jet dumping fuel in front of it, then crashing into the aircraft, which resulted in the American plane crashing into the Black Sea. 

Formal communications about such behavior have broken down, though. The Chinese government in particular has shown a “concerning lack of interest in the important lines of communication that underpin a stable defense relationship between our countries,” principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs Jedidiah P. Royal told Congress in April.

It has been months since Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III last spoke to his Chinese counterpart. On May 29, the Pentagon said that China—officially the People’s Republic of China or PRC—rebuffed a potential meeting during Austin’s upcoming visit for an annual security forum in Singapore.

“This is far from the first time that the PRC has rejected invitations to communicate from the Secretary, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or other Department officials,” a senior defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “Frankly, it’s just the latest in a litany of excuses. Since 2021, the PRC has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for key leader engagements, multiple requests for standing dialogues, and nearly ten working-level engagements.”

It was not immediately clear if the U.S. and Chinese militaries have had any contact since this most recent incident.

China has shown “concerning unwillingness to engage in meaningful military-to-military discussions,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said in a statement to Air & Space Forces Magazine May 29.

In a First, USAF F-35s Join Multinational Arctic Challenge Exercise

In a First, USAF F-35s Join Multinational Arctic Challenge Exercise

May 30, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

More than two dozen U.S. Air Force fighters and tankers—including F-35s for the first time—are participating in what U.S. Air Force leaders in Europe call the region’s “premier” Nordic exercise over the next two weeks. 

Some 150 aircraft from 14 countries are taking part in Arctic Challenge Exercise 2023, which kicked off May 29 and runs through June 9 at bases across Sweden, Finland, and Norway. 

Eight F-35s and 14 F-15Es from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, U.K., deployed for the exercise, with the F-35s going to Norway’s Ørland Air Base and the F-15Es to Finland’s Pirkkala Air Base. KC-135s from the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, U.K., and the Maine Air National Guard will support the exercise from Ørland Air Base and RAF Mildenhall. 

Airmen from the 414th Combat Training “Red Flag” Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., deployed to Sweden’s Luleå Air Base to integrate with planners. 

The annual Arctic Challenge exercises started in 2013 pulling together the U.S., the United Kingdom. and the three Nordic countries. It has since grown into one of the largest aerial exercises in the Arctic region. This year’s participants include the U.S., U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. 

This is the first time U.S. F-35s have taken part, and Italy, Norway, and the Netherlands all sent F-35s as well. 

Also new this year: Finland took the lead in organizing and running the exercise, a notable step given its entry into the NATO alliance just months ago. Sweden is still waiting for admittance into the NATO fold.  

“By training and conducting realistic exercises in the High North, like Arctic Challenge Exercise 2023, U.S. forces and those of Allied and Partner nations hone skills, fine-tune interoperability, nurture key relationships, and acclimate to the inherent challenges posed by fighting in the Arctic’s extreme conditions,” a USAFE press release stated. 

Arctic Challenge Exercise comes amid a run of exercises in Europe. NATO’s DEFENDER 2023 exercise kicked off earlier this month with A-10s from the 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., split between Zaragosa Air Base, Spain, and Thessaloniki Air Base, Greece. Airlift aircraft soon followed.  

Meanwhile, the German-led Air Defender 23 exercise will begin June 12, featuring around 100 U.S. Air National Guard aircraft, including F-35s, F-16s, F-15s, A-10s, KC-135, KC-46s, C-130s, and C-17s. Operations will take place in Germany, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Latvia.