Canada Officially Signs Deal for 88 New F-35 Fighters

Jan. 9, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Canada has finalized a deal with Lockheed Martin and engine-maker Pratt & Whitney to buy 88 F-35A fighters after protracted political uncertainty over the purchase. Deliveries to Canada, one of the original F-35 developmental partners, will start in 2026.

With the sale, Canada becomes the 17th nation that is either already equipped with the F-35 or has taken formal steps to acquire it. Switzerland and Germany were the most recent customers, ordering 36 and 35 F-35As last year, respectively.

The on-again, off-again Canadian buy was finalized Jan. 9 after Ottawa announced in 2022 that the F-35 had prevailed in the Future Fighter Capability Project competition. It had previously won another Canadian competition in 2010, but several administrations in Ottawa tabled the purchase and restructured Canada’s combat aviation plans. The acquisition remains a contentious political issue in Canada.

Canada went out to industry with a request for offers in 2017, which also brought proposals on the Boeing F/A-18E/F, Eurofighter Typhoon, the French Dassault Rafale, and the Swedish Saab JAS-39 Gripen, all but the last of which were ruled out or withdrew. The Gripen was eliminated early last year, but Saab said it had been unfairly evaluated.

The Royal Canadian Air Force expects to reach full operational capability for its 88 F-35s between 2032 and 2034. The cost of buying the jets is estimated to be about $15 billion in U.S. dollars, $19 billion in Canadian dollars, and Canada is budgeting a life-cycle cost for the F-35 at $52 billion U.S., $70 billion Canadian. The F-35s will replace Canada’s older F/A-18A/C fleet, which is nearing 40 years in age.

The Canadian defense ministry said the jets will be acquired in a “staggered” fashion. The first batch of aircraft will comprise 16 F-35As.

The sale includes sustainment and training, weapons, spares and facilities construction at two sites in Canada.

“This is the largest investment in the RCAF in the last 30 years,” the Canadian ministry of defense said in a press release, and will include new facilities construction at the Bagotville, Quebec and Cold Lake, Alberta bases. The agreement is the result of an “open, fair and transparent competition,” the ministry said.

“As the rules-based international order is challenged around the world, the F-35 will be essential for protecting Canadians, enhancing Arctic security and national sovereignty, and enabling Canada to meet its NATO, NORAD and other obligations well into the future,” the defense ministry said in its release. “The Government of Canada will continue to do whatever it takes to protect Canadians and make continued, significant investments to give the members of our Canadian Armed Forces the equipment that they need to do their jobs.”

As an original developmental partner in the F-35, Canada invested about $200 million in the program in exchange for participation in its technology and support enterprise. Because of that status, the sale will be managed neither as a straight commercial transaction nor as a Foreign Military Sales program, but a hybrid. The aircraft will still come through the U.S. government, however, under the aegis of the Joint Program Office, which manages the F-35 enterprise for the U.S. and its partners.

The agreement “meets Canada’s requirements and outcomes, including value for money, flexibility, protection against risks, performance, and delivery assurances,” the ministry said. It also touted the economic benefit for Canada, saying the sale “has the potential to contribute over $425 million annually to Canada’s gross domestic product, and close to 3,300 jobs annually for Canadian industry, and value chain partners over a 25-year period (direct and indirect).”

The statement added that defense officials “conducted extensive engagement with suppliers, including Canadian aerospace and defense industries, to ensure that they were well positioned to participate in the procurement.”

Canada’s decision to “procure almost 90 jets underscores the value of the incredible F-35 Lightning II,” Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Michael J. Schmidt said in a press statement.

The F-35 “is the best in the world, providing unmatched interoperability to America, Canada, and the additional 15 nations that have selected the fighter. It is a global game-changer. Through power-projection, the F-35 is at the tip of the spear for deterrence. Its forward presence will continue to ensure that potential adversaries choose diplomacy over armed conflict,” he said.

Lockheed said the F-35 operates from 27 bases worldwide, with nine nations operating it “on their home soil.” There are more than 890 fighters now in service.

The JPO inked a deal with Lockheed on Jan. 3 for production Lots 15-17 of the F-35, which will be the first to have the Tech Refresh 3 modifications underlying the Block 4 upgrade of the jet.

Air Force Aims to Get More eVTOL Platforms into Testing, Exercises in 2023

Jan. 9, 2023 | By Christopher Prawdzik

After several years of analysis, experiments, and contract awards, the Air Force’s work with electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft initiative is poised to transition to more field testing in 2023.

Since April 2020, the service has been looking at eVTOL aircraft, including fixed-wing and rotor configurations, through an initiative that combines military and commercial resources to create, test, and field the smaller aircraft, which could have a variety of uses carrying small numbers of personnel or cargo.

Known as AFWERX Agility Prime, the initiative is aimed at creating a new atmosphere of cooperation between government and industry and spurring innovation and development in the eVTOL space. At the cornerstone of this cooperation with industry is AFWERX AFVentures, which operates the Air Force’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology programs.

After more than two years of important milestones, the program and its many partners are poised to take big leaps in 2023.

“Our big focus this year that we need to do for the program is get some of the piloted and larger platforms out in the hands of our test professionals,” Lt. Col. Thomas Meagher, AFWERX Prime division chief, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “You can get these things into exercises and see what they can do, which serves two purposes: One, it informs us for those use cases … but then, two, it also shows others what they are capable of, which will, in turn, inform Air Force and DOD decisions.”

With its own expertise, resources, and assets, the Pentagon and USAF can support innovative companies, which in turn bring an abundance of high-tech knowledge to the table.

“Just providing some of those things is certainly a key area of collaboration that they’ve found very valuable that the government can do fairly easily,” Meagher said. “It’s been fairly successful and beneficial for them going out the door.”

These strides are not lost on the many commercial industry partners working with the Air Force.

Among eVTOL milestones reached in 2022, Joby Aviation scored a high-altitude mark of more than 11,000 feet and a speed of more than 200 mph. The company previously received approval for military airworthiness in late 2020.

Greg Bowles, Joby Aviation’s head of government and regulatory affairs, said the company looks forward to future collaboration and understands the importance of ensuring U.S. leadership in eVTOL advancement.

“Joby has been a part of Agility Prime since its inception, allowing us access to critical government test facilities and providing funding for us to further prove out the reliability and efficiency of the design,” he said. “The partnership provides valuable support for ongoing development efforts and allows Joby’s partners to see first-hand the potential for this aircraft in their future concept of operations.”

BETA Technologies reached a major milestone as well when two Air Force test pilots sat behind the controls of its ALIA aircraft in March 2022.

“This marked the first time an Airman from the USAF flew an eVTOL aircraft, and signifies the military’s readiness to procure and integrate electric aircraft into its fleet,” said Camron Guthrie of BETA Technologies. “For BETA, the relationship has been deep and collaborative, as it’s enabled us to use DOD resources and expertise to help assess the airworthiness of our designs, optimize our flight test planning, and share lessons learned as we expanded the envelope of our all-electric aircraft.

The ALIA also set additional high marks in 2022, achieving a 255-mile range and a high-endurance flight time of 2 hours, 2 minutes.

Elroy Air is another partner that has seen strides in the past year and is looking forward to future collaboration, which began with a SBIR contract in 2019. Their Chaparral aircraft represents some of the dual potential in the program—while working with the armed forces, Elroy is also slated to begin testing with FedEx in 2023 for business-to-business unmanned deliveries.

Karl Purdy, Elroy Air’s director of business development said flight autonomy, a particular area of interest for the Air Force, is a focus for the company. Right now, phase one of autonomy involves the pilot only interceding when necessary. Moving forward, that technology will expand.

“Phase two will be the aircraft determining options for potential conflicts and informing the operator who can say, ‘Yep, go ahead,’ or ‘No, do this instead,’” he said. “Phase three is the aircraft making all the decisions, notifying the operator of what it’s doing, but has no expectation for the operator to get involved.”

LIFT Aircraft had some recent firsts as well, with the company training the first Air Force cadre to fully operate an eVTOL aircraft. LIFT also received a Phase III Agility Prime contract last year that led to additional testing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

“We favor a more aggressive testing approach than others may have in the past with manned aircraft, and the reason is, we can test unmanned first,” Kevin Rustagi, director of business development for LIFT said. While still being safety conscious, LIFT has used that aggressive testing process to gather valuable data, which is why the Air Force has engaged small business, Rustagi added.

“There’s been a lot of interesting back and forth, because there are times when we say, ‘Oh, actually, let’s really slow down and focus on this thing,’ and the Air Force has been very encouraging on that, and then … there are times when we say, ‘All right, let’s go ahead and accelerate here,’ and I think the Air Force has been receptive to that as well,” Rustagi said.

eVTOL — The Hexa, an electric, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, lifts off during its first test flight at a military airfield July 7 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The Hexa team completed the aircraft’s flight test via remote control. The aircraft, which used 18 motors and propellors, flew for approximately 10 minutes and reached a height of about 50 feet. U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.

Brandon Robinson, CEO of Horizon Aircraft, noted the speed at which the Air Force can onboard some of this technology and also keep its finger on the pulse of the ever-developing industry through this process. Horizon participated in the AFWERX High Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing Challenge with its Cavorite X-series aircraft in 2022 and were accepted for the program’s Phase 1 investment.

“Ours is unique, insofar that it’s one of the fastest machines in the market,” Robinson said.” It’s also hybrid electric, so it’s not limited to a 100-kilometer range, because it has batteries and a typical gas burning turbine engine on it.”

But with his company actively innovating in areas such as high-voltage electric systems, ducted fan design, hybrid electric systems, and advanced electric motors, some challenges exist.

“People with extensive knowledge in these areas can be very hard to find, and they are in high demand,” he said. “We count ourselves fortunate to have assembled a world class team here at Horizon Aircraft and we will continue to push to bring on world-class talent in 2023.”

As 2023 begins, Air Force and industry officials said they continue to discover new opportunities as the program evolves.

“Whether it’s in the advanced air mobility sector or leveraging the other investment in other areas within aviation, there [are] a lot of new ideas that are out there on the civilian side … that will eventually have certainly some interest in use on the DOD side,” Meagher said. “So, finding where those key areas in industry and investment are that have the potential to make significant impacts down the road is really what the program is about and the approach is about.”

US to Supply Ukraine with Bradleys, New Air Weapons in Massive $3 Billion Aid Package

Jan. 6, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The Biden administration announced a massive new aid package for Ukraine on Jan. 6, totaling over $3 billion and including armored infantry fighting vehicles, Zuni rockets, and other weapons once considered off-limits.

The Pentagon will send 50 Bradley fighting vehicles, which American defense officials said will help Ukraine push Russian forces back and regain territory in the east and south of the country, as part of a $2.85 billion package from Pentagon stocks. The U.S. will also send $682 million to countries on NATO’s eastern flank, which have depleted their own arsenals to come to Ukraine’s aid. An additional $225 million will be given to Ukraine to “cover wartime requirements” and support the sustainment of previously provided weapons systems, according to the State Department.

The latest package also includes new air capabilities. In a bid to bolster Ukraine’s air force, the U.S. will send 4,000 Zuni rockets, which can be fired at ground targets. The U.S. also recently announced it was sending Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) to Ukraine. Previously, the Pentagon had focused on sending AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles, which could attack Russian surface-to-air missile sites. However, the Zuni and the JDAMs give Ukraine’s air force a new strike capability.

“In terms of providing Ukraine with capability for their aircraft, it’s actually something we’ve been working on for a while,” Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, said in a briefing at the Pentagon. “This is really just the latest in efforts to help them to make their existing aircraft fleet as effective as possible.”

Cooper said the Zuni rockets could be mounted on fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft.

“It’s-air to-ground, but it’s at fairly close range,” she said.

The Zuni rockets have laser-guided and unguided versions, and it was not immediately clear which type the U.S. was providing. When asked how Ukraine would employ rockets designed for American aircraft onto aircraft designed in the Soviet Union, Cooper cracked a wry smile.

“I trust our engineers, and I definitely trust the Ukrainian engineers,” she said. And “It is something that is possible.”

In the latest effort to help meet Ukraine’s air defense needs, the U.S. will also provide RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles that will be modified for use in Ukrainian Buk launchers.

“It is a creative solution that did require some engineering finesse,” Cooper said of using American surface-to-air missiles in Russian-made launchers. “But we’re very pleased that it will work for the Ukrainians.”

Ukraine has come under attack from Russian drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, and the U.S. and its allies have scrambled to provide better air defenses.

In a move lauded by the Biden administration, Germany recently announced it would provide an advanced PATRIOT battery, a system that costs hundreds of millions of dollars and can help protect key areas of Ukraine as Russia seeks to pummel the country into submission from the air during winter. The U.S. pledged one of its prized PATRIOT systems in December.

“We will continue to support Ukraine’s urgent requirement for air defense capabilities to defend against Russia’s brutal attacks,” Cooper said. “Ukrainian forces are showing an undiminished will to fight to defend their country. Ukraine will continue fighting through the winter with the backing of a large coalition of nations, and we continue to encourage allies and partners to make additional donations to bolster Ukraine’s combat and air defense capabilities.”

The M2A2 Bradley is a tracked vehicle that can carry around half a dozen soldiers into battle. The U.S. will also support the Bradleys with 500 TOW anti-tank missiles and 250,000 rounds of 25-millimeter ammunition, as well as self-propelled artillery for the first time.

The U.S. is still declining to provide tanks to Ukraine, but Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder argued the Bradley is “not a tank, but it’s a tank-killer.”

The latest U.S. package includes:

50 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles with 500 TOW anti-tank missiles and 250,000 rounds of 25mm ammunition;
100 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers;
55 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs);
138 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs);
18 155mm self-propelled Howitzers and 18 ammunition support vehicles;
70,000 155mm artillery rounds;
500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds;
1,200 155mm rounds of Remote Anti-Armor Mine (RAAM) Systems;
36 105mm towed Howitzers and 95,000 105mm artillery rounds;
10,000 120mm mortar rounds;
Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
RIM-7 missiles for air defense;
4,000 Zuni aircraft rockets;
Approximately 2,000 anti-armor rockets;
Sniper rifles, machine guns, and ammunition for grenade launchers and small arms;
Claymore anti-personnel munitions;
Night vision devices and optics;
Spare parts and other field equipment.

Tankers in Space? New Report Says ‘True Military Mobility’ Demands a More Agile USSF

Jan. 6, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Just as the Air Force relies on tankers to refuel fighters and bombers in flight, the Space Force should enable “true military mobility” for its satellites, a new report from the nonprofit Aerospace Corporation says. The report, “Enabling a New Space Paradigm: Harnessing Space Mobility and Logistics,” argues the Space Force should leverage commercial, customized, and military-specific capabilities to increase satellite mobility.

In June 2020, the Space Force released “Spaceopower,” its first doctrine document, which included Space Mobility and Logistics (SM&L) among the five core competencies the service would have. Defined as “the movement and support of military equipment and personnel into the space domain, from the space domain back to Earth, and through the space domain,” space mobility and logistics includes launch capabilities as well as the ability to sustain, update, and recover spacecraft in orbit, the doctrine states.

Achieving that aspiration and “true militarily useful mobility in space,” the new report states, “will take work.”

Using the Defense Department’s definition of mobility, which it defines as the ability of military forces “to move from place to place while retaining the ability to fulfill their primary mission,” the Space Force faces fundamental challenges, say the report’s authors, Harrison Wight, Joshua P. Davis, and Rebecca Reesman. Because propellant for in-orbit movement is limited and existing satellites are not designed for in-flight refueling, mobility is inherently limited.

“Satellites have never been designed to be refueled,” the authors write. “Functioning, costly assets are left to drift in orbit long before the other critical systems fail. Each and every maneuver has to be carefully planned so as to not prematurely deplete the spacecraft’s precious propellant.” By comparison, Navy ships and Air Force planes can be refueled while underway.

“Business as usual for the military space domain is severely limited in the inclusion of SM&L capabilities because the current understanding begins and ends with the launch vehicle,” the authors write. “In a full-scope SM&L implementation, key benefits can only be realized after vehicle separation.”

In November 2021, the Space Force began soliciting and funding ideas for mitigating orbital debris and other aspects of on-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing through SpaceWERX, its innovation arm. In April 2022, Space Systems Command revealed plans for an experiment for refueling small satellites in geostationary orbit. And in September, SSC held an industry day to see what the commercial sector is working on for assured access to space, including on-orbit servicing, maneuver, and debris removal.

In a nod to the “Spacepower” document, then-Brig. Gen. Stephen Purdy, commander of Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space Directorate, told attendees at an industry conference in October that “elements of that have actually been in the Space Force doctrine since the beginning,” according to C4ISRNet.

But In the Space Force’s first few years, “we’ve had no operational units do it, no acquisition programs. It’s not been something that we’ve had a chance to get to,” Purdy reportedly said.

Now, as interest in the area grows, “it is not a question of if but how SM&L capabilities should be acquired and fielded,” the authors of the report say. They highlighted six areas the Space Force should address in the future:

Inspection
Orbit Modification
Materiel Logistics
Refueling
Client Augmentation
Active Debris Mitigation

“Key to understanding these activities is recognizing one spacecraft will be serviced by another, just as B-52 bombers are refueled by KC-135s,” the report states.

The Space Force doesn’t need to build up its own capabilities in each area, however, but can “leverage the capabilities the commercial sector.” The Space Force can leverage emerging commercial expertise in materiel logistics, including launch capabilities and pre-positioned resources and depots in space, and it could modify orbits by moving satellites at different stages in their life cycles. But debris mitigation and client augmentation—upgrading or repairing satellites in orbit—may require heavier direct Space Force investment to develop such capabilities.

“Though additional optimization could be done to figure out strategies and approaches for more specific applications, the least optimal choice is to do nothing at all,” the authors write. “SM&L is required in order to transform the USSF into a 21st century space warfighting force.”

No Longer Protected by Congress, Air Force RC-26 Fleet Heading to the Boneyard

Jan. 6, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The Air National Guard is retiring its entire fleet of 11 RC-26 Condors, the Air Force said Jan. 6. The twin-prop plane had an often under-the-radar but sometimes controversial role as a reconnaissance aircraft used for both counterdrug and homeland security missions.

A converted civilian airliner, the aircraft attracted unwanted attention several times recently, and for years the Department of Defense has sought to retire the aircraft in favor of cheaper platforms such as drones.

Those efforts had been blocked by advocates on Capitol Hill, most vocally former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), an RC-26 pilot in the Air National Guard. In both the 2020 and 2021 National Defense Authorization Acts, there were provisions preventing the Air Force from using funds to retire the Condor.

No such provision made it into the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, though, and Air Force said that without a need or funding for the aircraft, the plane will finally be out of service.

“There are no Air Force specific RC-26B validated requirements nor dedicated funding to support sustainment of the weapons system,” an Air Force spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The Wisconsin Air National Guard concluded operations on Dec. 28, it announced. Representatives for the Air National Guard did not say whether all RC-26 operations have ceased—Alabama, Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, West Virginia, and Washington all have the aircraft as well.

The Air Force said all 11 RC-26 aircraft will head to the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

While the Air Force sees no requirements for the RC-26, the Wisconsin National Guard touted the aircraft’s usefulness in its release.

“Officers, civilians, suspects, families and regular citizens who have no idea that the reason that they are alive is because those guys were experts at their jobs, helped chase down and arrest drug dealers, in ways that could not have been done in any other platform,” Lt. Col. Benjamin West, the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s program manager, said in a statement.

“Having spent a large time of my policing career in narcotics work, I can tell you that this mission saves people’s lives,” added Army Col. Paul Felician, director of the Wisconsin National Guard’s counterdrug program. “The stuff that this aircraft enabled law enforcement to do took more drugs off the street and kept people safe from having to go into the direct risk of harm—it’s a sad day to see it go away.”

But the RC-26’s use in law enforcement missions was questionable at times, according to the Air Force’s own accounting. The aircraft monitored protests and relayed information to law enforcement in Minnesota, Arizona, California, and Washington, D.C. after the murder of George Floyd in police custody the summer of 2020. Congressional concerns prompted an Air Force Inspector General investigation, which concluded that the National Guard Bureau erred in its deployment of RC-26s in some cases.

The aircraft were directed to fly “overhead imagery Incident Awareness and Assessment (IAA) missions in support of law enforcement and/or National Guard units responding to destruction of property and violence” after Floyd’s murder in 2020, the report said.

“Properly approved missions can support civilian law enforcement, but there is no scenario in which it is acceptable or permissible to use DOD assets to deter demonstrations and protests, assuming they remain lawful,” the report said.

The National Guard Bureau didn’t have “a clear authorization” approved by civilian leaders before RC-26s began flying the missions, according to the IG report, and some of the missions over protests were, in the inspector general’s view, implausibly done for “training” purposes.

Air National Guard leaders have said the platform should be retired because cheaper platforms such as drones could fulfill counternarcotics and homeland security functions. Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh, Air National Guard director, said the cost to keep RC-26 in the fleet—$30 million per year—could be used to field and invest in newer systems.

“It’s an old aircraft, and there’s current language right now that says I can’t retire that fleet or even expend money to prepare to retire that fleet,” Loh said in 2021. “And so, each year, I’m spending millions of dollars to keep a fleet alive that quite frankly has run its useful life, and I need to actually get out of those to get into something new.

“We’ve actually had better technologies out there to take care of the mission, so even if I needed to do the mission today, I can [do] it with better technologies that are cheaper to operate,” Loh said at the time.

This is the First-Ever ANG Flight Nurse to Earn Distinguished Flying Cross

Jan. 6, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

A Minnesota Air National Guard flight nurse who responded to a deadly suicide bombing in the midst of the Afghanistan evacuation in August 2021 is set to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross on Jan. 7.

Maj. Katie Lunning of the 133rd Airlift Wing will be the first Air National Guard nurse ever to be awarded the DFC, the military’s fourth-highest award for heroism.

Lunning was a captain deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, when the noncombatant evacuation from Kabul, Afghanistan, began. The mission resuced thousands of Afghan civilians, foreign nationals, and U.S. personnel fleeing the advancing Taliban as the Afghan government collapsed. Lunning and her team at Al Udeid set up a ground aid station and helped treat the flow of civilians arriving in Qatar, according to an Air Force release from November 2021. But it wasn’t long before Lunning and her CCATT teammates were mobilized to fly to Kabul on a C-17.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” she said in the release. “On the flights to Kabul, we were wearing protective helmets and vests. The intelligence brief was concerning, and you could feel that everyone was on alert.”

They arrived Aug. 26 in Kabul, the same day a suicide bomb killed 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans, and injuring hundreds of others.

“We were pulling them out as they are getting injured. … We were the first CCATT in,” Lunning recalled in a Jan. 3 press release. “It was the largest medical evacuation out of that coalition hospital ever, and very dangerous on the ground. We had to leave the airplane to go get our patients…. We took injured Marines and Afghan civilians who really weren’t flight worthy, but there was no choice. We just had to get them out of there. So, a lot of medical events occurred on the airplane, but we ended up being able to safely deliver everybody to Landstuhl, Germany [for further medical care].”

A few days later, Lunning was on the last convoy of C-17s to fly out of Afghanistan, officially ending the U.S. presence there.

Air Force leaders have praised Lunning and other CCATT medical professionals for their work during the Afghanistan evacuation, when they created “flying hospitals” to treat sick and wounded Afghans, delivered babies en route, and treated life-threatening injuries. A number of other medical professionals have been honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross in recent months, as Air Mobility Command and the Air National Guard honor Airmen involved in the operation, but Lunning is the first Guard flight nurse among them.

The entire crew of MOOSE 98, a C-17 flight that brought in a critical care air transport team on Aug. 26, was honored at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., in December.

Tech. Sgt. Katherine Rosa Orellana, a critical care and trauma team respiratory therapist who also responded to the suicide bombing was decorated by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. In November.

Capt. Jedd Dillman, a flight nurse, and Master Sgt. Matthew Newman, a respiratory therapist, were the first aeromedical evacuation Airmen in AMC history to receive the DFC. And Capt. Leslie Green, also a flight nurse, received the award at Joint Base Charleston, S.C.

Including Lunning, the Air Force has now awarded 99 Distinguished Flying Cross medals for actions during the Afghanistan airlift mission.

Air Force’s Task Force 99 Looks to ‘Impose a Cost For A Low Cost‘ in CENTCOM

Jan. 5, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

A small Air Force team at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is working on solutions to mitigate one of U.S. Central Command’s primary issues: doing more with less.

As part of a broader push in CENTCOM towards what leaders call “a culture of innovation,” Task Force 99 at Air Forces Central is working to help alleviate some of the pressure on the current force, as the U.S. military’s resources shift from the region but American forces continue to battle the remnants of ISIS and confront Iranian-backed attacks.

Their innovation: Use what already exists in different ways.

“It’s fostering an environment where we come up with new processes, new ways of thinking about how we employ our assets,” Task Force 99 commander Lt. Col. Erin Brilla told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Brilla leads the small team of eight Airmen, though the exact numbers fluctuate based on deployment cycles. The unit was originally unveiled by Air Force Central (AFCENT) commander Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich at AFA’s Air, Space, & Cyber Conference in September. But at the time, there were no members, including Brilla; she read about the new unit in a news article.

With a background in acquisition and intelligence, Brilla moved from another role inside CENTCOM to lead the new unit.

“Next thing I know, I found myself here,” Brilla said by phone from Qatar. “The acquisition skill set is not one that you would normally find in operational command in theater.”

The unit originally had no headquarters. Its members worked out of repurposed dorm rooms at the base. Even its name wasn’t settled at first—when Grynkewich announced the unit’s formation to reporters, it was called Detachment 99. In October, though, it formally stood up as Task Force 99—and it got a nickname, the “Desert Catalysts.”

Brilla says the team is currently working with commercial technology and seeing how they can apply that to military uses. CENTCOM has pitched itself as a prime experimentation hub for the U.S. military as a “literal sandbox,” in the words of multiple CENTCOM officials.

CENTCOM officials envision a new regional counter-drone exercise. The Navy’s Task Force 59 begin the innovation effort in 2021 by fielding a small fleet of maritime drones that will grow into a coalition network of around 100 vessels that will monitor the region’s waters, according to CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla.

Task Force 99 took many of the lessons learned by Task Force 59 and applied them from the start, Brilla said. The Air Force team is also being assisted by the Defense Innovation Unit.

Currently, the Airmen are experimenting with drones that cost around five to six figures, with payloads as low as $40, typically some form of sensing device or camera. Grynkewich has said he wants to field systems that cost under $1 million. Kurilla said Task Force 99 will follow a similar model to Task Force 59. CENTCOM will also stand up a land-based Task Force 39 for the Army.

“Task Force 99 will replicate Task Force 59’s maritime efforts with aerial drones complete with tailored payloads and other capabilities operating together to observe, detect, and gather data that feeds into an operations center,” Kurilla told reporters Dec. 22. “Task Force 99’s fleet of unmanned aircraft will impose dilemmas on our adversaries and detect and defeat threats to our systems and to our partners.”

Task Force 99 is using what the Department of Defense classifies as Group 1 to Group 3 unmanned aerial systems, with grouping based on size, speed, and altitude. Group 1 drones are small systems that weigh under 20 pounds, fly at less than 100 knots, and do not exceed 1,200 feet of altitude. Group 3 drones can weigh over 1,000 pounds with an operating altitude of up to 18,000 feet.

Group 1 systems in military use include drones such hand-launched Puma system, which was used by the British Army at the American-hosted Project Convergence exercise in the fall. Group 3 drones may have launch and recovery systems. But Task Force 99’s efforts are a far cry from the more expensive drones such as the RQ-9 Reaper that AFCENT supports from airfields in the region.

“It’s a wide variety of what we’re looking at,” Brilla said. “But it’s all: what we can do with things that are all readily available that we can potentially combine in a new way or use in a new way.”

The Task Force 99 team is looking at using drones for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and possibly electronic warfare. Brilla declined to specify exactly which systems the team was using, citing a desire not to endorse specific commercial products that the U.S. military was still testing out.

“Anything we can potentially use to impose a cost, for a low cost from our own perspective,” Brilla said of what types of drones Task Force 99 will use. “We want to be able to ensure financial prudence and make sure that we are using our resources in the best manner possible. So there are places where you can put an unmanned or a digital technology in place where there might have been a time-intensive human process in order to free up that human manpower for something that’s a higher priority or more critical. Those are our goals.”

CENTCOM sees each service’s task force as part of a holistic effort, eventually combining in a network to identify threats. Those real threats—from ISIS fighters to Iranian-backed drone and missile attacks—are something CENTCOM says is useful to experiment with new technology. However, Brilla concedes Task Force 99 has to rely on things it expects to work, and cannot replace current manned assets with unmanned ones if that hampers U.S. military efforts in the region or poses risks to U.S. troops and allies.

“In many cases, it’s already been proven out—maybe not in government or military channels, maybe it’s been out in the commercial or the industrial sector,” Brilla said. “Even though we’re using the word experiment here, it is not a new technology. We’re very careful about choosing something that is mature, unclassified, and low-cost. If it fails, it is a much lower risk. If it does fail, that might be an acceptable answer. But it is a question of risk that we’re willing to accept because we would not be losing life, limb, eyesight, or millions and millions of dollars.”

In the near term, Task Force 99 hopes to double its team up to around 20 Airmen. Because members cycle through deployments, the team needs to continuously replace expertise, though Brilla believes it will benefit from new approaches brought by different Airmen. The unit is also exploring how it might incorporate Guard or Reserve members that have relevant civilian expertise, and Air Forces Central has invited 17 allies to assist Task Force 99 efforts.

“Innovation will extend the value of our partnerships, fill some of the gaps in resources,” Kurilla said. “The American commitment to the region used to be measured by boots on the ground. That is the old way of thinking.”

F-15EX Fires Missiles from New Underwing Stations in Successful Tests

Jan. 5, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

The new F-15EX’s ability to carry and launch more air-to-air missiles than the F-15C was proved in a pair of late November tests at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the service said Jan. 5.

The two F-15EX aircraft of the 96th Test Wing each fired a missile in the tests: one launched an AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missile from station 1 and the other launched an AIM-9X heat-seeking missile from station 9, according to an Eglin release.

The outboard missile stations are new to the F-15EX and give the fighter the ability to carry and launch 12 air-to-air missiles at once. The F-15C was limited to eight such missiles; four on conformal fuselage stations and four on underwing stations. The two new stations add another four underwing missiles; two each on two pylons.

“Once initial testing is complete, operational units receiving the new F-15EX will be able to carry and employ a full loadout of 12 missiles on the aircraft, upon fielding,” the test wing said.

Boeing, maker of the F-15EX, has previously advertised that the fighter can carry 22 air-to-air weapons, but the Air Force’s armament center wasn’t immediately able to say whether that full capability is being acquired by the service or is an option for future upgrades. Boeing did not respond to queries.

The additional weapons are enabled both by the additional stations but also by increased processor power and thrust on the F-15EX.

“This mission provided the first test points for validating the expanded carriage and employment capabilities of the Eagle II,” according to the release.

Eglin described the missiles as having been successfully “released … on separate passes against a target drone,” but was not able to say what the target was or whether it was struck by the missiles. Eglin employs a variety of targets ranging from QF-16s to dedicated, reusable target drones.

The 96th Test Wing said the tests mark “another milestone in the F-15EX’s developmental test program, but also incorporated many operational test objectives during the mission.” These were not described. The F-15EX fired its first missile nine months ago.

The F-15EX is being tested in a novel way, taking advantage of its similarity to the aircraft it replaces. The test aircraft are being used for simultaneous developmental and operational testing and have already deployed to several exercises to confirm the performance of new systems and capabilities.

In addition to its capacity to carry more weapons, the F-15EX has a fly-by-wire flight control system, an advanced, very powerful processor, an active electronically-scanned array radar, and the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS), which is a new self-defense electronic warfare suite.

“The integrated test strategy has been critical to our test success, allowing us to break the mold of traditional testing, ultimately resulting in a better overall product for the warfighter in a shorter timeline than a traditional approach, said Col. Colton Myers, combined test force F-15EX operational flight program test project manager.

Retention Returns to Pre-COVID Levels as More Airmen Depart

Jan. 5, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Air Force retention spiked to a 20-year high during the COVID-19 pandemic, as enlisted Airmen reenlisted rather than risk the uncertainties of the pandemic job market.

Two years later, however, officers and enlisted retention is back at or below pre-COVID levels. For 2022, 93.1 percent eligible officers stayed in uniform, as did 89.4 percent of enlisted Airmen. Rates for the Space Force are still hard to determine because of the small number of Guardians in the force.

“These retention rates are consistent with those over the last six years,” said Air Force spokeswoman Tech. Sgt. Deana M. Heitzman. “While there may be some impact from COVID, it is too early to make that correlation.”

Retention rates have held near 90 percent since 2017, but 2022’s rates are the lowest for both officers and enlisted since 2018, when 93.2 percent of officers and 89.6 percent of enlisted remained with the service

Retention ticked up in 2019 and then peaked in 2020, especially among enlisted service members, going from 90 percent to 91.1 percent. That marked the largest year-over-year increase for either group in the six years of data provided.

In 2021, retention among officers increased slightly, while enlisted retention fell to 90.5 percent. Both groups saw retention fall by at least a percentage point in 2022.

Heitzman said a lack of robust data makes it hard to determine clear rates for Guardians in the Space Force.

Amid the pandemic, the Air Force slashed the number of career fields eligible for reenlistment bonuses and offered waivers to let more Airmen transfer their service commitment to the Reserve or Air National Guard.

Then, as competition in the job market grew fierce, recruiting faced a downward trajectory and hundreds of Airmen were booted for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, the service updated its retention bonus program, adding career fields in mid-2021 and twice in 2022.

As of Sept. 30, 2022, the Air Force’s Active-duty end strength was 328,517 Airmen, a hair below the 329,220 authorized in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Authorized end strength declines this fiscal year, as enacted by the 2023 NDAA, to 325,344.

Fiscal Year	Officer Retention	Enlisted Retention
2017	93.00%	90.00%
2018	93.20%	89.60%
2019	93.60%	90.00%
2020	93.70%	91.10%
2021	94.10%	90.50%
2022	93.10%	89.40%

Source: Air Force data