Belgium Pledges F-16s to Ukraine ‘as Quickly as Possible.’ F-35 Deliveries Could Complicate Things

Belgium Pledges F-16s to Ukraine ‘as Quickly as Possible.’ F-35 Deliveries Could Complicate Things

Belgium pledged to provide Ukraine with more than two dozen F-16s in a pact agreed to by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo during the Ukrainian leader’s visit to the country May 28.

The F-16s will be delivered “as quickly as possible,” according to the security cooperation agreement. But Belgium’s pledge comes with significant caveats. 

The agreement does not guarantee that the first Belgian F-16s will arrive before the end of 2024, though it says the Belgian government will strive to meet the end-of-year goal. That’s because the F-16 delivery schedule is linked to Belgium’s acquisition of F-35As to maintain and strengthen its own military capabilities.

“Belgium will do everything possible, in consultation with its allies and partners of the F-16 coalition, to accelerate the first delivery, if possible before the end of 2024, without endangering its security and the operationally of its air capacity and taking into account the delivery of the F-35s to the Belgian Air Component and subsequent decommissioning of the F-16s,” the agreement states.

Ukraine also cannot use Belgian-provided F-16s over Russian territory, according to the pact.

“Everything which is covered by this agreement is very clear—it is for utilization by the Ukraine Defense Forces on Ukraine[‘s] territory,” De Croo said.

Belgium has already received its first F-35, and the first training on the jets by the country’s Air Component, as its air force is known, is scheduled for this summer. Belgium’s government has previously announced its intent to buy 34 F-35s to replace its F-16 fleet. Belgium plans to give Ukraine 30 F-16s by 2028.

“F-16 jets will be provided to Ukraine as soon as possible,” De Croo said. “Our aim is to be able to provide the first aircraft before the end of this year, 2024.”

Lockheed Martin’s deliveries of F-35s have generally been hampered by delays in software and hardware issues associated with the Technology Refresh 3 and Block 4 upgrades

“Ukraine is looking forward to receiving F-16 fighter jets from its Western partners to strengthen the defense of our skies,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media.

Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands have also pledged to provide the U.S.-made fighters.

Zelenskyy visited Melsbroek Air Base in Belgium, where he met with Ukrainian service members who are being trained to maintain F-16. “We are also waiting for our warriors, who are training to maintain F-16s, at home,” Zelenskyy said in his statement. “They are highly motivated to start performing combat missions and speed up the victory of our country.”

The Belgium-Ukraine agreement says the F-16s will be used to “strengthen Ukraine’s defense capacity and defend its airspace and territory against Russian military targets.” But it does not spell out what munitions will be provided or specify details on how the F-16 will be maintained and where the aircraft will be based.

The agreement says that Belgium is working on how to provide “F-16 ordnance” and will be part of a coalition that helps train Ukrainian pilots and technicians, supports the long-term maintenance of the fighters, and establishes “proper facilities in Ukraine.”

The first American-trained Ukrainian F-16 pilots have graduated from U.S.-based training at the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported May 23.

Ukraine has already employed air-launched Western munitions, but they have proved to be less effective than hoped, according to a recent report by The Washington Post, due to Russian electronic warfare, especially JDAM-guided bombs. Some weapons reportedly used by Ukraine, such as air-launched small-diameter bombs, have proved more resilient to jamming, according to the Post, which cited confidential Ukrainian assessments. 

U.S. officials have previously noted that Ukrainian pilots have had to fly low to avoid Russian air defenses, reducing the effectiveness of weapons. “They’re somewhat effective,” a U.S. senior defense official said in February of the Ukrainian Air Force. “The problem they have, that Russia has as well, is both sides have a pretty sophisticated integrated air and missile defense system.”

Air Force Bases Evacuate Aircraft, Report No Damage from Severe Storms

Air Force Bases Evacuate Aircraft, Report No Damage from Severe Storms

Air Force bases in Kansas and Oklahoma evacuated their aircraft ahead of severe weather over Memorial Day weekend, but no Air Force installations in the region experienced any serious issues from the storms, which caused more than two dozen deaths and massive power outages across the southern and central U.S.

Several KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-46A Pegasus aircraft departed McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on May 25 to avoid severe weather forecasted for the Wichita area later that day and the following day.

The relocation was to “protect the aircraft from potential damage, but also preserve the 22nd Air Refueling Wing’s capability to support its worldwide aerial refueling and airlift mission,” a base spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The aircraft count and the receiving base locations were not revealed due to operational security. The spokesperson added that aircraft undergoing various phases of maintenance, along with a range of flightline vehicles and equipment, were safely stored in hangars during the weekend.

A KC-46A Pegasus takes off from McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, April 15, 2024. Due to the possibility of high winds and hail, the majority of McConnell’s aircraft left the base for a weather relocation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st class William Lunn)

The base reported no damage after the storm, and all of the refueling tankers returned to the base on May 26, the spokesperson confirmed.

This marked McConnell’s fourth aircraft relocation in six weeks due to severe weather, following its tankers’ evacuation earlier this month in response to potential large hail and tornadoes warnings.

Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.—the hub of maintenance and sustainment center for various aircraft, including the E-3 Sentry, E-6 Mercury, and KC-135 Stratotanker—also flushed their aircraft from the base ahead of the severe weather. A 72nd Air Base Wing spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the aircraft have already started returning, and the base suffered no serious issues from the weather.

Other Air Force installations across the region reported no aircraft movement or site damage from the storm, including:

  • Altus Air Force Base, Okla.
  • Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.
  • Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.
  • Barksdale Air Force Base, La.
  • Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas
  • Dyess Air Force Base, Texas

Devastating storms and tornadoes pummeled parts of the South and Midwest U.S. starting on the evening of May 25, spreading eastward on May 27.

Air Force installations frequently choose to evacuate their aircraft in advance of storms. Altus did so in April ahead of forecasted tornadoes, and with hurricane season officially beginning June 1, bases in Florida and other southeastern states may do so in the months ahead. The National Weather Service is predicting an above-average hurricane activity in the Atlantic this year.

Space Force Eyes Better EW Test and Training Ranges with New Contract Awards

Space Force Eyes Better EW Test and Training Ranges with New Contract Awards

The Space Force has awarded six-month contracts to six different companies to develop plans for improving the service’s electronic warfare training capabilities in the latest move in USSF’s efforts to upgrade its test and training infrastructure. 

Space Training and Readiness Command and Space Systems Command collaborated on the contract awards, which were given to NouSystems, ExoAnalytic Solutions, TMC Design, HII Mission Technologies Corp., Parsons Government Services Inc., and Lockheed Martin. Announced last week, the contracts started at the end of February and will last through August. 

The program, dubbed Advanced Space Technology for Range Operations-Electromagnetic Range or ASTRO-E, is aimed at providing enhanced “ground infrastructure and on-orbit subjects” for electronic warfare test and training, according to a service release. 

“By providing space warfighters with interconnected, scalable, and distributed physical and digital ranges for full-spectrum testing and training, this project will enable joint warfighting solutions to prevail in conflict,” the release added. 

The program would be just the latest addition to what the Space Force calls the National Space Test and Training Complex (NSTTC), a collection of sensors and assets on the ground and in orbit that the service uses as “the gym where we go to work out the force,” then-STARCOM commander Maj. Gen. Shawn W. Bratton said in May 2023. 

Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman made improving test and training infrastructure one of his top priorities from the very start of his tenure. In his confirmation hearing before the Senate in 2022, he noted that, “We don’t have simulators that allow our operators to practice their tactics against a thinking adversary, even if it’s a simulated adversary. We don’t have good simulators. We don’t have ranges where they can routinely practice their tradecraft. We don’t have the ability to link multiple units together so they can practice the coordination that’s necessary to do large force employments, if you will.” 

In the two years since, the Space Force has sought to address the issue through its Operational Test and Training Infrastructure initiative. 

“We are already building live ranges to conduct events in the actual environment ensuring ‘ground truth’ is captured for systems and tactics evaluations,” Saltzman said of the effort this February at the AFA Warfare Symposium. “We are also creating an intelligence-informed inventory of adversary capabilities—with Opposing Forces whose tactics reflect actual counterspace threats to the space, ground, and link segments. Finally, we are investing in high-fidelity mission-specific simulators that replicate each unique mission area, weapons system, and their associated crew positions.” 

STARCOM and SSC have collaborated on an integrated program office, and the budget devoted to the enterprise is exploding from $350 million in fiscal 2024 to a planned $438 million in 2025—a 25 percent increase even as the Space Force’s overall budget is projected to decline slightly. 

In congressional testimony earlier this year, Saltzman highlighted EW in particular as an area where the Space Force was expanding its test and training infrastructure investments. Such investments could help expand new exercise series like Black Skies, the Space Force’s premier EW training event that expanded in September to include more than 170 participants with live-fire and simulated portions. 

Experts: Digital Engineering Can Help Field New Weapons Faster Than Acquisition Reform

Experts: Digital Engineering Can Help Field New Weapons Faster Than Acquisition Reform

Embracing and incentivizing digital methods in design and manufacturing can help the U.S. match or outpace its adversaries, a new report from the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies argues—and top Pentagon and industry officials say they are working to do just that.

Digital methods go beyond computer-aided design in that all participants in the design, development, test, and production enterprise can see a design in real-time and be aware of any changes being made as they are happening. This allows these efforts to proceed concurrently, rather than wait for the handoff from one phase to another.

During a virtual rollout of their new policy paper, analysts Heather Penney and Brian Morra said digital engineering will speed up the fielding of new systems far more rapidly than trying to reform and accelerate the existing acquisition system.

Jeffrey Reed, director of engineering/digital transformation at Northrop Grumman, offered tangible examples of that speed, saying his company has applied the digital approach to 140 programs and is seeing increased velocity across the board. The company applied some “automated checks” to compare progress on old-style programs against the digital ones, and found “rework rates are going down.”  

Northrop found “a dramatic decrease … in a completely apples-to-apples comparison in the hours to manufacture.” It was a “surprising decrease” because of digital engineering, and “it moves the learning process left, and you do it earlier,” he said.

Gaining widespread acceptance of digital engineering is a work-in-progress within the Pentagon. David Tremper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for acquisition integration and interoperability, said the DOD is working on converting the “mindset” of the acquisition community to accept and exploit the digital approach.

Older employees, he said, may distrust the new format, especially because they have been evaluated their whole career on doing things in the prescribed way laid down in decades-old acquisition law. Younger employees, however, “demand” doing things the new way. They don’t have the patience for plodding, paper-intensive methods, he said. New—and shorter—courses in applying digital methods are being required at Defense Acquisition University, he said.

“The Department has set up something called the Digital Engineering credential,” he said. It’s “a series of courses. It’s five courses mixed in with some webinars that allow learning on digital engineering and acquisition programs. And…1,200 folks have come through that credentialing process since 2019, and it’s continuing to evolve.”

Older acquisition professionals are coming along, he said, because they can see that digital makes their jobs easier.

That buy-in is crucial, Penney and Morra argue, because the current ponderous U.S. acquisition system of sequential development and production milestones won’t work against the “blistering” pace with which China is fielding new systems.

“China is outpacing us in development and fielding of advanced weapon systems,” Penney said. “They have 200 J-20s,” China’s premiere stealth fighter considered comparable to the Air Force’s F-22, she said, “and they’re building more at a rate of 100 a year. Compare that to Air Force recapitalization rates.”

While acquisition reform is a “noble” pursuit and must be pursued, digital offers a faster way to catch up to U.S. competitors, Penney said.

“Digital engineering has the potential to accelerate defense capability development and fielding without the need for acquisition reform, and this could have a major, major impact on our strategic positioning against China and Russia.” She quoted Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s oft-uttered warning that “we are out of time,” and faster ways must be found to correct the Air Force’s status of being “the smallest, the oldest, and the least ready that it’s ever been in its history.”

Penney said she and Morra originally intended the paper to be a “primer” on digital methods and lexicography, but it became apparent that digital offers a quicker means of achieving faster acquisition results that reformers have sought for years. It pairs well with acquisition reforms and authorities recently granted by Congress to skip steps and accelerate programs.  

For the past three years, Air Force Materiel Command has been shifting its processes to a digital approach and will apply them not only on the front end of programs, but in the sustainment phase as well.  

And while digital works best on new systems like the B-21 and Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter, it can also be applied to older systems, Penney said. Creating a “digital twin” of a B-52 bomber wing can accelerate the process of fitting new-design pylons and engines, as is being done with the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP).

Overall, there has been a push to emulate the successes of lean organizations like the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office, but Penney said that these efforts haven’t worked because their approach is impractical for large programs.

“They’re important organizations that focus on a small number of often highly classified capabilities,” she said. “These offices go fast and deliver good stuff, but their organizations and their approach simply cannot scale; consider all of the programs the Air Force has in its portfolio and its recapitalization needs.”

Still digital efforts are yielding good success by allowing all elements of a design, development and production enterprise to pursue those phases in parallel rather than sequentially, and Penney and Morra offered six recommendations in their report to help the process along.

  1. The Department of the Air Force should “incentivize the use of comprehensive digital engineering” for new-start acquisition programs. This approach should be rewarded in contracting because it will save time and money in development and sustainment.
  2. DAF leadership should review all programs to see if they can be all-digital, or “hybrid digital” programs, or how legacy (pre-digital) programs could benefit from some digital applications, then put these into effect.
  3. DAF leadership needs to invest in training its acquisition workforce in understanding and using digital tools and processes.
  4. DAF leaders should promote “open standards” for digital systems, so programs can talk to each other and expand the possibility for reuse of some elements, to save on time, money and sustainment.
  5. The DAF should maintain a library of digital engineering tools and make them available to small businesses, sub-tier suppliers, and other elements of the vendor base that may lack the sophistication to develop or buy such tools on their own. This would also provide benefits in cyber resiliency, improve quality and “ultimately expand the larger digital ecosystem.”
  6. The DAF and its prime contractors and their vendor chains “must ensure their IT infrastructures are modernized and secure.”
Air Force Bumps Up Maximum Payout, Number of Career Fields Eligible for Reenlistment Bonus

Air Force Bumps Up Maximum Payout, Number of Career Fields Eligible for Reenlistment Bonus

The Air Force is upping the maximum amount in bonuses it will hand out to Airmen it is trying to retain in select career fields, from the previous limit of $100,000 up to $180,000 starting Oct. 1.

The number of career fields eligible for a bonus has also increased to 73, up 43 percent from last year’s 51 eligible career fields. All of the career fields represented on last year’s list are on this year’s too, the Air Force said in a May 23 press release.

The Air Force did not specify the new career fields in its release, but a spokesperson confirmed that a list posted to social media is accurate. The new eligible fields include air traffic control, electronic non-communications analyst, manpower management, and religious affairs.

The exact amount of bonus funds awarded varies based on several factors, including Airmen’s monthly basic pay, the length of the reenlistment, and experience level. New this year, the Air Force is extending its service cap from 72 months (6 years), to 96 months (8 years), which the service says can help Airmen receive larger bonuses and allow more flexibility in their reenlistment contract.

Airmen can also reenlist up to 12 months before their current term of service expires, which should give them more time to decide and open up a larger pool of eligible Airmen, the Air Force said in its release. The bonus can be made as a lump sum or as partial installments. The career cap is set at $360,000.

Retention bonuses are supposed to help retain Airmen in critical career fields with low manning, retention rates, or with extensive skills training. The economic uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic drove a surge in retention, and the number of fields eligible for retention bonus dropped to just 37 in 2021, down from 72 in 2020 and 115 in 2019. 

Retention has returned to pre-pandemic levels: Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services, told lawmakers earlier this month that the Air Force had bumped up its Active Duty recruiting goal from 26,000 recruits to 27,200 in response to “observed declines in current year retention averages and to help offset potential future retention trend declines.”

In its fiscal 2025 budget request, the Air Force included $1.1 billion for bonuses and retention programs for 118,000 positions, a major bump over last year’s request of $648 million for 65,000 positions. 

Even so, experts have pointed out that the Air Force lacks accessible data on the effectiveness of retention bonuses. 

“I can’t tell if a really big bonus offered 10 years ago to people working with computers was effective, because I can’t go back and see if the person who was offered the bonus got out or stayed,” RAND senior operations researcher and retired Air Force veteran Lisa Harrington told Air & Space Forces Magazine in January. “We really do need to be capturing the decision space of the individual Airman in the work we do.”

Air Force Specialty CodeSpecial Experience IdentifierSkill LevelCareer FieldZone AZone BZone CZone E
1A1X3D3, 5Special Mission Aviator (C-130J Loadmaster)2200
1A1X3E3, 5, 7Special Mission Aviator (WC-130J Loadmaster2210
1A8X1G3, 5, 7Airborne Cryptologic Language Analyst – Chinese43.521
1A8X1I3, 5, 7Airborne Cryptologic Language Analyst – Russian43.521
1A8X1K3,5Airborne Cryptologic Language Analyst – Persian3000
1B4X13, 5, 7, 9, or 1B000Cyber Warfare Operations7753
1C1X13, 5Air Traffic Control3300
1C3X13, 5, 7, 9, or 1C300All-Domain Command and Control Operations2321
1C5X13, 5Battle Management Ops1100
1C5X1D3, 5, 7Battle Management Ops (Weapons Director)3430
1D7919Cyberspace Defense Operations, Superintendent0023
1D7X1M1AL, 1AP, 1AM or 1A03, 5, 7Cyber Defense Operations (Mission Defense Activities)1110
1D7X1P1AN3, 5, 7, 9Cyber Defense Operations (Data Operations)7753
1D7X1Q1AM3, 5, 7Cyber Defense Operations (Enterprise Operations)1110
1D7X1Q1AS3, 5, 7Cyber Defense Operations (Enterprise Operations)2220
1D7X1W1AS3, 5, 7Cyber Defense Operations (Expeditionary Communications)2220
1D7X1W1AM or 1AP3, 5, 7Cyber Defense Operations – (Expeditionary Communications)1110
1D7X3C3, 5Cable and Antenna Defense Operations – Cable and Antenna Operations3000
1H0X17, 9, or 1H000Aerospace Physiology0022
1N2X1A3, 5Signals Intelligence (Electronic Non-Communications Analyst)2000
1N3X1G3, 5, 7Cryptologic Language Analyst (Chinese)3.5320
1N3X1I3, 5, 7Cryptologic Language Analyst (Russian)3.5320
1N3X1K3, 5Cryptologic Language Analyst (Persian)3000
1N4X1A3, 5, 7Cyber Intelligence (Analysis)2220
1N8X13, 5, 7Targeting Analyst3420
1P0X1A3, 5Aircrew Flight Equipment (Ejection Seat Aircraft)2000
1P0X1B3, 5Aircrew Flight Equipment (Non-Ejection Seat Aircraft)2000
1T0X13, 5, 7, 9, or 1T000Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape7753
1Z1X13, 5, 7, 9, or 1Z100Pararescue7753
1Z2X13, 5, 7, 9, or 1Z200Combat control7753
1Z3X13, 5, 7, 9, or 1Z300TACP7753
1Z4X13, 5, 7, 9, or 1Z400Special Reconaissance7753
2A3737Tactical Aircraft Maintenance Craftsman0300
2A3757Advanced Fighter Aircraft Integrated Avionics Craftsman0220
2A3777Tactical Aircraft Maintenance (5th Generation) Craftsman0120
2A3787Remotely Piloted Aircraft Maintenance Craftsman0330
2A3X8A3, 5Remotely Piloted Aircraft Maintenance (MQ-1/MQ-9)1200
2A3X8B3, 5Remotely Piloted Aircraft Maintenance (RQ-4)1200
2A3X5B3, 5Advanced Fighter Aircraft Integrated Avionics (F-35)2200
2A3X5C3, 5Advanced Fighter Aircraft Integrated Avionics (MQ-1/MQ-9/RQ-4)2000
2A5X1A3, 5Airlift/Special Mission Aircraft Maintenance – C-20/C-21/C-22/C-37/C-40/E-4/VC-25)4000
2A5747Refuel/Bomber Aircraft Maintenance Craftsman0110
2A5X4C3, 5Refuel/Bomber Aircraft Maintenance – KC-463300
2A5X4D3, 5Refuel/Bomber Aircraft Maintenance – B-520.5100
2A5X4E3, 5Refuel/Bomber Aircraft Maintenance – B-10200
2A5X4F3, 5Refuel/Bomber Aircraft Maintenance – B-22100
2G0X15, 7, 9, or 2G000Logistics Plans0121
2M0909 or 2M000Missile and Space System Maintenance0002
2M0X1X3, 5, 7Missile and Space System Electronic Maintenance3211
2M0X23, 5, 7Missile and Space System Maintenance3211
2M0X33, 5, 7Missile and Space Facilities3211
2W2X13, 5 , 7Nuclear Weapons4430
3E5X13, 5Engineering1100
3E8X13, 5, 7, 9, or 3E800Explosive Ordnance Disposal54.543
3F3717Manpower0030
3P0X1A3, 5Security Forces (Military Working Dog Handler)2100
3P0X1B3, 5, 7Security Forces (Combat Arms)1110
4C0X13, 5, 7Mental Health Service2110
4H0X13, 5, 7Respiratory Care Practitioner2110
4J0X23, 5Physical Medicine0200
4J0X2A5, 7Physical Medicine (Orthotic)0450
4N0X1C5, 7Aerospace Medical Service (Independent Duty Medical Technician)0220
4N0X1D3, 5, 7Aerospace Medical Service (Allergy/Immunization Technician)1110
4N0X1F3, 5, 7Aerospace Medical Service (Flight and Operational Medicine)1.51.510
4N0X1G5, 7Aerospace Medical Service (Aeromedical Evacuation)03.53.50
4N0X1H5, 7Aerospace Medical Service (National Registry Paramedic)0420
4N1X1B5, 7Surgical Technologist (Urology)0110
4N1X1C3, 5Surgical Technologist (Orthopedics)1000
4N1X1D3, 5Surgical Technologist (Otorhinolaryngology)2020
4P0X13, 5Pharmacy3000
4R0X1A3, 5Diagnostic Imaging (Nuclear medicine)0200
4R0X1C3, 5Diagnostic Imaging – MRI0200
4V0X1S5, 7Ophthalmic0330
4Y0X1H5, 7, 9Dental hygienist0111
5R0X17, 9, 5R000Religious Affairs0002
PHOTOS: B-1 Bombers Deploy to the Pacific as China Drills Around Taiwan

PHOTOS: B-1 Bombers Deploy to the Pacific as China Drills Around Taiwan

B-1 Lancer bombers are on a bomber task force mission to Guam amid high tensions in the region, Pacific Air Forces announced on May 23.

There has been heavy military activity in the Pacific following the May 20 inauguration of Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te, who favors the island’s independence from Beijing. China carried out military drills in response.

Bomber task force missions are planned months in advance, so the deployment does not indicate a direct U.S. show of force aimed at China. The Air Force said the mission is “routine,” a term commonly used to describe the BTFs, and did not provide details of what the B-1s planned to do during their deployment.

The B-1s are from Air Force Global Strike Command’s 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and are operating out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, as the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron. It is the second bomber task force mission to the Pacific this month, following a B-52 BTF just a few weeks ago. It is also the second bomber task force currently underway. Two B-52s from a four-aircraft BTF operating out of RAF Fairford, U.K., flew a mission to practice coordination with the Swedish Navy on May 24.

“Members from the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron will integrate and train with Allies, partners, and the Joint Force to enhance readiness and reinforce the rules-based international order in the Pacific,” Pacific Air Forces said in its release, which did not say how many B-1s are part of the BTF.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Colter Taylor, 28th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron dedicated crew chief, performs routine maintenance on a B-1B Lancer after its arrival at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in support of a bomber task force mission May 21, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jake Jacobsen

China’s People’s Liberation Army has staged extensive military drills to protest Lai’s inauguration and practice an encirclement of Taiwan. On May 24, the PLA said the exercise was designed to practice the ability of China to “seize power” over the island.

“The Department remains confident in current U.S. force posture and operations in the Indo-Pacific region with our allies and partners to safeguard peace, stability, and our national security,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said in a May 25 statement. “We have closely monitored joint military drills by the People’s Liberation Army in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan. We have communicated our concerns both publicly and directly.”

Between 6 a.m. local time on May 23 and 6 a.m. on May 25, 49 PLA aircraft, 19 PLA Navy ships, and seven Chinese Coast Guard vessels came close to Taiwanese territory, and 35 aircraft crossed the median line of Taiwan Strait, a de facto but informal border, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense said. Beijing considers the self-governing democratic Taiwan to be a breakaway province and has pledged its eventual unification with the mainland.

“As we can see we have set two exercise areas in the sea and airspace near the eastern part of the island, mainly to block the escape of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists and break through their comfort zone,” a PLA officer said of the exercise, dubbed Joint Sword 2024, according to the BBC.

The Air Force release said that the B-1s “integrated with the U.S. Navy” prior to arriving in Guam, though it did not provide further details.

“When the 37th trains alongside allies and partners, we gain the opportunity to strengthen our bomber deterrence capabilities and demonstrate interoperability to collectively bolster our ability to support a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Lt. Col. Christian Hoover, the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron commander.

AFSOC Put 15 CV-22 Ospreys in Storage to Increase Mission Readiness for Rest of Fleet

AFSOC Put 15 CV-22 Ospreys in Storage to Increase Mission Readiness for Rest of Fleet

Air Force Special Operations Command has been rotating its CV-22 aircraft into “flyable storage” status at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., as it works to upgrade components in the movable nacelles, the engine housings and transmission lines that give the aircraft its unique tiltrotor capabilities.  

The work began in 2022 and will continue into 2026.  

The previously unreported program is part of a larger effort to improve mission availability for the Osprey, but it won’t be clear until late 2025 if the changes are making enough of a difference to restore the full fleet to operational squadrons.  

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) raised the topic of CV-22 readiness during the House Armed Services Committee’s markup of the 2025 National Defense Authorization bill.   

“The committee is aware of the force structure proposals for the fleet of CV-22 Osprey aircraft that are being considered by the Department of the Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command,” Jackson wrote in language adopted by the committee. Today, he said, 15 of the 51 CV-22 Osprey aircraft in the Air Force inventory “are in flyable storage with the intent of returning to an operational squadron no earlier than fiscal year 2026.”  

An AFSOC spokeswoman confirmed that the aircraft were in storage in response to a query from Air & Space Forces Magazine.  

Flyable storage means the aircraft can be put back in the inventory if needed, but spreads the available operations and maintenance funds across fewer aircraft, enabling higher availability rates. The Air Force applied a similar strategy in recent years to the B-1B bomber fleet, retiring some of the bombers so it could focus sustainment funding on fewer aircraft

“Air Force Special Operations Command placed 15 CV-22s in Flyable Storage at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., in FY22 to better support modification lines for a number of aircraft improvements, most notably the Nacelle Improvement program designed to simplify maintenance actions and raise the fleet’s aircraft availability rate,” the spokeswoman said.  

AFSOC’S Nacelle Improvement Program began in September 2021, with the Air Force contracting Osprey maker Bell Textron to do the work. In 2022, then-Lt. Col. Jonathan Ball said in a video that “60 percent of the maintenance occurs in the nacelles. So what this allows us to do is really address and improve on those reliability and sustainment issues that we’ve seen and learned from over the last decade, but still have the same amazing capability moving forward.”  

About half the CV-22 fleet has received the upgrade so far.   

Safety issues have haunted the Osprey since early in its development. But advocates say the data does not support its reputation for safety incidents. The program has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years after a series of fatal crashes and two periods when AFSOC paused flight operations while investigating concerns related to the aircraft’s clutch system, in particular.  

In November, a CV-22 crashed off the coast of Japan, killing all eight Airmen on board. Investigators blamed the crash on an unspecified material failure. A military-wide V-22 grounding that was lifted in March, but the aircraft’s operations are still limited. 

“We are gaining better fidelity on the effectiveness of the nacelle improvements on fleet readiness,” the AFSOC spokeswoman said. “We believe we will have sufficient data by late 2025 to inform a decision whether to return the flyable storage aircraft to operational squadrons.”  

Jackson’s amendment to the House version of the Authorization bill says Congress is “aware of and very concerned by recent proposals to move multiple CV-22 Osprey aircraft to a long-term preservation site.”  

Asked if the Air Force has pending proposals or plans to change the Osprey’s force structure, the AFSOC spokeswoman responded: “There have been no further decisions on the CV-22 fleet status since those program changes in FY22.”  

However, an April force structure report issued by the Pentagon indicates the Air Force is seeking to retire two CV-22s in 2025. However, the report notes that “two CV-22s will be delivered immediately prior to two divesting.” The report shows no other planned CV-22 retirements through 2029.  

As part of the reporting language Jackson introduced into the NDAA, the Secretary of the Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command commander would have to provide a briefing to lawmakers by December 2024 including:  

  • A detailed force structure and preservation plan for the CV-22  
  • A review of any manpower shortfalls over the last three years  
  • The impact of the Nacelle Improvement program  
  • Investments needed for “safety, reliability, survivability, and capability”  
  • Analysis of “any recent changes to the maintenance protocols over the last three years” for the CV-22  
  • Any funding that has been diverted away from the CV-22  

Elsewhere in the House Armed Services Committee version of the NDAA, lawmakers authorized an extra $125 million for procuring V-22 safety enhancements. The additional funds still must be approved by the Senate and by appropriators in both chambers. 

First Ukrainian Pilots Graduate US F-16 Training

First Ukrainian Pilots Graduate US F-16 Training

The first batch of Ukrainian pilots have graduated from U.S. F-16 training, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Multiple Ukrainian pilots have graduated from their F-16 training course at the Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing in Tucson, Ariz., Arizona National Guard spokesperson Capt. Erin Hannigan said May 23. The 162nd Wing is the U.S. Air Force’s training unit for foreign F-16 pilots.

Hannigan declined to say how many pilots graduated or when they did so, citing operational security. But some Ukrainian pilots are still undergoing training in the U.S., American officials said.

The Ukrainian pilots who graduated F-16 training in Arizona will conduct additional training overseas, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz told Air & Space Forces Magazine May 24.

“A small number of pilots have finished their U.S.-based training and moved forward to the next portion of training outside the United States,” Dietz said. “Additional Ukrainian pilots continue to train in Arizona. While I cannot confirm specific details regarding the training schedules and locations of individual pilots, I can assure you that we continue to work closely with our Ukrainian partners to enhance their operational readiness and interoperability within NATO standards.”

POLITICO first reported the graduation of the Ukrainian pilots.

Pilots arrived in Tucson in multiple tranches. At first, four Ukrainian pilots were undergoing training at the 162nd, which began in late October of last year. In late January, four more Ukrainian pilots arrived. The National Guard said it was planning to train a total of 12 Ukrainian F-16 pilots by the end of fiscal 2024.

The pilot training was expected to be completed between this month and August, Hannigan previously said. That is a longer timeframe than the Pentagon and the Air National Guard initially suggested in the fall when the first pilots began training in October.

“We’re thinking more long-term, so some of the requirements on them has shifted, and so that has necessitated a little bit longer [timeframe],” director of the Air National Guard Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh said at the AFA Warfare Symposium in February.

Airpower has become more prominent in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in recent weeks, with Russians using fixed-wing aircraft to support their latest offensive.

“Russians are using 300 planes on the territory of Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Reuters on May 20. “We need at least 120, 130 planes to resist in the sky,” he added, referring to F-16s.

Last year, the U.S. and western European nations began parallel programs to train pilots and maintainers. These programs are being coordinated by an air force capability coalition of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group that Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States lead. Some European countries are also training Ukrainian pilots who will eventually fly F-16s.

“Everyone is scared of escalation,” Zelenskyy told Reuters. “Everyone has gotten used to the fact that Ukrainians are dying—that’s not escalation for people.”

Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium have pledged to provide Ukraine with F-16s, a move that requires the Biden administration’s approval, which the administration has pledged to do, as the jets are U.S.-made weapons.

Maintenance plans for the jets are murky, and it is unclear when Ukraine will be able to employ them, though U.S. officials previously said it would be before the end of 2024.

Some U.S lawmakers have questions about whether the training program is adequate. 

“Last year, the Biden Administration approved the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to replace Ukraine’s aging and declining fleet of MiG-29s, Su-24s, and Su-25s,” said a recent letter signed by Rep. Michael Turner, the Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee; Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the panel; and other lawmakers. 

“While this was an encouraging step, there remains a critical need for a substantial number of trained pilots to operate these aircraft as the F-16 fighter jets become available to Ukraine,” they wrote in the letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III. “According to the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. is on track to graduate only 12 pilots from F-16 training by the end of 2024. Graduating 12 Ukrainian pilots is simply insufficient. Ukraine is at war and slots for Ukraine must be prioritized over other foreign countries.”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on May 24 with additional details.

USAF Aid Airdrops to Gaza to Continue Even as US Pier Opens

USAF Aid Airdrops to Gaza to Continue Even as US Pier Opens

U.S. aid airdrops into Gaza will continue for the foreseeable future even as food aid is delivered to the famished enclave through a new military maritime route, a senior U.S. general said May 23.

“It is our intent to continue with humanitarian airdrops,” Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters. “As we’ve done in the past, our focus would be on north Gaza going forward.”

On May 17, the U.S. began delivering aid through a makeshift pier off the coast of northern Gaza with a causeway connecting it to the shore. That approach, which is dubbed JLOTS, for Joint Logistics Over the Shore, has involved some 1,000 U.S. Soldiers and Sailors with security provided by the Israel Defense Forces.

Three U.S. troops have been injured in noncombat incidents at sea since JLOTS has been in place. One service member is in critical condition, a U.S. defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 civilians and taking some 250 hostages, prompting a fierce Israeli military retaliation. The destruction has killed more than 30,000 people, some of them combatants, and has left Gazans in desperate need of food, water and medicine. Three-fourths of Gazans have been displaced during the conflict, according to the United Nations.

Since U.S. policy is not to deploy troops in Gaza, the maritime channel involves a complex series of interactions. Aid from foreign governments and international aid agencies is sent to Cyprus, where it is screened and loaded onto ships that deliver it to the causeway. From there, the aid is moved on trucks to a marshaling area on the coast before it is delivered to distribution points. 

U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), U.S. Navy Sailors assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion 1, and Israel Defense Forces emplace the Trident Pier on the Gaza coast, May 16, 2024. The temporary pier, part of the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore capability.

It has not always worked as planned. Some of the trucks have been overwhelmed by hungry Gazans over the past few days, which has happened with parallel efforts to deliver assistance through land crossings. 

“Some of this assistance is reaching warehouses, some of this is being distributed immediately to those in need, but all this requires constant maneuvering and these variables that come and go,” said Daniel Dieckhaus, director of U.S. Agency for International Development’s Levant Response Management Team. “The maritime corridor is a component of an overall approach to ensuring adequate assistance, as well as providing another option for humanitarian organizations to use as they make their operational decisions.”

While the maritime corridor is boosting aid to northern Gaza, problems have arisen in the southern part of the strip. 

Earlier this month, Israeli troops seized control over the border crossing with Egypt near Rafah. That operation was part of a broader Israeli campaign against Hamas fighters in that southern Gazan city. Efforts to reopen the crossing, which is used to send fuel and goods, have been stymied by differences between Egypt and Israel. That has hampered efforts to get assistance to the more than 800,000 civilians who have fled Rafah.

The U.S. is currently talking to Egypt and Israel to get the Rafah crossing reopened and the aid flowing again. But Dieckhaus said that less aid has been delivered by land to Gaza in May than during the previous month.

The last U.S. airdrops occurred on May 9, but Cooper said they would be continued. According to U.S. Central Command, the U.S. has delivered approximately 1,220 tons of humanitarian assistance via C-17 and C-130 airdrops, which began March 2. Jordan and other countries also do their own airdrops. 

“There’s a very sophisticated coordination process that we lead,” Cooper said. “Jordan has played a very central role in this, along with all the partners who we do a planning effort to coordinate where the drops will be so that we can deconflict in time and space. That certainly will continue going forward.”

One question is whether new drop zones might be picked to cover areas not reached by JLOTS-delivered aid. The U.S. has often used a drop site close to where JLOTS is now placed. Cooper did not say where future drop zones might be but said that extensive planning is involved in selecting them. 

JLOTS has delivered 820 metric tons of aid to the shore. Of that assistance, 506 metric tons had been delivered to hungry civilians through the United Nations as of May 22, Cooper said. 

The U.S. hopes to feed up to 500,000 people per month via the maritime corridor, Dieckhaus said. 

“I think what we would primarily like to focus on is impacts over inputs,” Dieckhaus said.

DOD-contracted drivers transport humanitarian aid from the World Food Program to the Trident Pier before entering the beach in Gaza, May 18, 2024. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Riley Anfinson