NATO Sounds Alarm on China’s Advances in Space and Nuclear, Ties with Russia

July 11, 2024 | By Chris Gordon and Unshin Lee Harpley

NATO leaders gathered in Washington D.C. for the alliance’s 75th anniversary summit said they were alarmed by China’s ambitions and aggression in nuclear, space, and cyberspace on top of its deepening ties with Russia, calling on the People’s Republic of China to act more responsibly.

“The PRC continues to rapidly expand and diversify its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems,” the Washington Summit Declaration, released July 10, stated. “We urge the PRC to engage in strategic risk reduction discussions and promote stability through transparency.”

The declaration also said allies were concerned about “developments in the PRC’s space capabilities and activities.”

China’s advancements in nuclear weapons and space in recent years have sparked widespread apprehension, with U.S. analysts and military leaders frequently highlighting Beijing’s extremely rapid progress. China currently operates nearly 500 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance satellites, forming a formidable “sensor-shooter kill web” that poses significant risks to U.S. forces, and the Pentagon estimates China could possess over 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030, many of which will be deployed at heightened readiness levels, with plans for continued expansion.

NATO leaders said China’s cyber ambitions exacerbate the threat. The declaration condemns Beijing’s “malicious cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation,” targeted at both the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. and its allies have reported increasing espionage and hacking attempts from China this year. Early this week, NATO allies raised red flags about a Chinese government-linked hacking group targeting business and government information.

“If we as a group of industry and nations don’t take steps to secure cyberspace now, we could find ourselves in a very bad place,” Robert Blair, senior director for national security and emerging technology at Mircosoft, said at NATO’s public forum on July 11. He added that NATO needs a common pact on cybersecurity, focusing on both attribution and cyber deterrence, labeling the increasing risk as an “immediate threat.”

Beijing’s growth in these sectors, coupled with its ties with Russia, remains a “profound concern” and a security challenge for NATO, officials said, as they work to build resilience, preparedness, and protection against China’s “coercive tactics and efforts to divide the Alliance.”

The official declaration saw strong condemnation of China, labeling Beijing as a “decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine” due to its “large-scale support” for Russia’s defense industrial base.

“We call on the PRC, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a particular responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” the declaration stated. “This includes the transfer of dual-use materials, such as weapons components, equipment, and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defense sector.”

“China is propping up Russia’s war economy,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg added July 11. “This is not just a temporary coalition of convenience, it is a major strategic shift.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the declaration’s language on China is purposefully “harsh” because while China may not be providing Russia directly with weapons like North Korea or Iran, it is offering “industrial assistance and maintaining trade” with Moscow.

Concerns over China’s military ties with Russia have prompted NATO to increase its focus on Indo-Pacific partnerships. Member nations have expanded dialogue, increased economic cooperation, and staged joint military exercises with countries including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan, who all attended the summit.

“China is an increasing concern for us, helping Russia with military equipment and doing a lot of things that the sanctions against Russia is aiming to stop,” said Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, which joined the alliance this year. “It also emphasizes the need to cooperate with the Indo-Pacific region. … Security nowadays is now a very global thing, not a regional thing.”

China is lashing out against the 32-member states’ collective statement. China’s foreign ministry said the Washington Summit Declaration is a “scaremongering piece about the Asia-Pacific,” denying responsibility for the war in Ukraine.

“Its paragraphs on China contain a load of biases, smears, and provocations,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters on July 11. “NATO has been spreading disinformation created by the U.S. and blatantly smearing China to undermine China’s relations with Europe and hamper China-Europe cooperation.”

But NATO officials said China’s activities have also drawn Asian countries closer to the alliance.

“What happens in Ukraine today can happen in Asia tomorrow,” Stoltenberg said in remarks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida July 11.

F-35 Deliveries Can Resume Immediately With ‘Truncated’ TR-3 Software

July 11, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Lt. Gen. Michael J. Schmidt, F-35 program executive officer, has approved use of “truncated” Tech Refresh 3 software, clearing the way for deliveries of more than 90 F-35s sitting in storage to U.S. military services and foreign users, the Joint Program Office announced July 11.

Schmidt approved the move July 3. The JPO said Schmidt took the action “after extensive coordination with the services, Joint Strike Fighter Executive Steering Board, pilots, maintainers, and industry.”

Deliveries of the F-35 have been on pause for a year now, as the TR-3 software—meant to underpin a host of Block 4 improvements to the jet—remains in flight testing. The jets in storage were built with TR-3 processors and other hardware.

A few months ago, manufacturer Lockheed Martin and the JPO agreed to accept a “truncated” version of TR-3 to get deliveries going again. The F-35 steering group—comprised of partners and users of the multiservice, multinational fighter—approved the plan to release jets with an incomplete TR-3 software package.

Yet Schmidt had been waiting for clear evidence that the truncated software is stable and safe for flight. Test pilots reported as recently as May that the software was still unstable and required in-flight rebooting multiple times per sortie.

Schmidt’s action means Lockheed Martin can resume deliveries of the F-35s as early as July 11, government sources said. The JPO is expected to issue a statement when the first aircraft is delivered and accepted, a process named for the associated Defense Contract Management Agency form, the DD-250. This will happen in “the near future,” the JPO said in a brief press statement.

Lockheed has said it can deliver the F-35s at the rate of one plane per day, but the Government Accountability Office recently pointed out that the company has never before achieved that rate. Even if that rate is achieved, it will take more than a year to catch up on deliveries to where all stored aircraft have been handed over to their users. Complicating the math is the fact that F-35s are still being produced, requiring faster delivery than production. Lockheed has a goal to deliver 156 F-35s per year by 2025.

The hold on deliveries has thwarted absorption plans at user squadrons worldwide, disrupting the training of pilots and maintainers and delaying the divestment or retirement of older fighters, such as the F-16.

Denmark recently recalled F-35s it had stationed at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., in order to facilitate pilot and maintainer training at its domestic F-35 unit.

The TR-3 package of powerful new processors, displays and software is the basis for the Block 4 upgrade of the F-35 fleet; the configuration the Air Force has been waiting on to amp up its purchases of the fighter. However, delays in testing and development of some new capabilities prompted Schmidt to tell Congress this spring that the Block 4 will be “reimagined,” with some new features not coming until the 2030s.

Although neither Lockheed nor the JPO will discuss where the F-35s are being stored due to operational security, sources said the majority are parked at facilities near the company’s Fort Worth, Texas, manufacturing plant. The jets are still technically “owned” by Lockheed until they are delivered, but the DCMA has suggested the company’s liability for damage during the long storage period may be limited.

Lockheed has declined to disclose how the fighters have been stored; whether they’ve had their openings sealed to prevent intrusion of pests—akin to what is done with jets in long-term storage at the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.—or whether they are put in hangars to prevent weather damage, and whether they are occasionally run to lubricate their systems.

Maj. Gen. Joe Engle, X-15 Pilot and Shuttle Astronaut, Dies at 91

July 11, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Joe Henry Engle, test pilot, Apollo-era astronaut, and the only American to fly two different winged vehicles into space, died July 10 at the age of 91.

Engle made 16 flights in the high-speed X-15 research aircraft; on three of those flights, he ascended above 50 miles, earning him astronaut wings. He flew approach and landing tests in the Enterprise shuttle prototype, and commanded two shuttle missions in space: the second shuttle flight, STS-2, aboard Columbia in 1981, and STS-51I, the 20th shuttle mission, which in 1985 deployed three commercial satellites from Discovery.

Engle flew more than 185 different aircraft—38 of them fighter/attack types—and amassed more than 15,000 flight hours, including 9,000 jet hours. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving X-15 pilot out of only 12 men to fly that craft.

Engle was born in Kansas in 1932 and earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Kansas in 1955, receiving a commission in the Air Force through the ROTC program there. While in college, he earned his private pilot license. In 1958, he won his Air Force wings and was assigned to fly the F-100 Super Sabre at George Air Force Base, Calif.

Just three years later, he graduated from the USAF Test Pilot School and was assigned to test fighter aircraft, including most of the Century Series fighters. Soon after, he was assigned to the Aerospace Research Pilot School. Engle was selected for the third NASA astronaut group, but the Air Force pulled his application because it wanted him for the X-15 program, to which he was assigned in 1963. In June 1965, he made his first flight above 50 miles and qualified for astronaut wings. His last flight in the X-15 was on Oct. 14, 1965, another suborbital space flight.

In 1966 he applied to NASA again and was chosen for the fifth group, becoming the youngest astronaut in the program and the only one to have previously flown in space.

In the Apollo program, Engle was the backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 14 and was selected to be the lunar module pilot on Apollo 17. When budget cuts eliminated the last three Apollo moon missions and it was clear Apollo 17 would be the last moon landing, NASA replaced Engle with Harrison Schmitt, a geologist, in order to get at least one scientist-astronaut on the moon. Engle accepted the decision gracefully and for his next assignment was offered a choice between the Skylab program, the Apollo-Soyuz test project, or the Space Shuttle. Engle chose the latter.

In 1977, Engle flew approach and landing tests on the Enterprise, NASA’s non-spaceworthy test shuttle built to explore approach-and-landing procedures. In those tests, the Enterprise was carried to 25,000 feet atop a 747 freighter and released to fly a dead-stick (unpowered) glide to landing, as would all subsequent shuttles.

Engle was the backup commander to John Young for the first shuttle mission, STS-1, and commanded STS-2, flying with pilot Richard Truly. The two-day mission in November 1981, was a second shakeout flight for the shuttle Columbia, and the first use of the “Canadarm” space crane/manipulator arm.

He later commanded STS-51I, with a crew of five, on a seven-day mission from August-September 1985 that included a 12-hour spacewalk for two of the crew to retrieve and repair LEASAT-3, a military communications satellite, and deployment of three commercial satellites.

While on astronaut flight status, Engle served as deputy associate administrator of NASA for manned spaceflight for most of 1982. He later participated in the investigation into the loss of the Challenger shuttle in 1986.

Throughout his NASA career, Engle retained his Air Force commission. His last Active-Duty assignment was as assistant to the commander-in-chief of North American Air Defense Command.

He retired from NASA on Nov. 28, 1986, and from the Air National Guard two days later, promoted to major general upon retirement. In retirement, he was a consultant to various government and corporate aerospace organizations and a technical advisor to NASA’s International Space Station Advisory Committee.

Gen. Kevin Chilton (Ret.) a three-time Shuttle astronaut who commanded STS-76 and later headed Air Force Space Command, told Air & Space Forces Magazine, “What I loved most about Joe was his willingness to share his knowledge and experience with anyone who would ask.” Chilton said he always had lot of questions for Engle “about his experiences in the X-15, and he would always patiently and excitedly answer them and more.” Chilton said Engle had the reputation of being “the best ‘stick and rudder’ man in the business,” and it is “no wonder that Joe uniquely was selected to hand-fly the Space Shuttle through re-entry on STS-2. He paved the way for all of us in the program.”

Engle’s extensive list of honors and decorations include the Defense and Air Force Distinguished Service medals; the Distinguished Flying Cross; two NASA flight medals; the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and NASA Special Achievement Award. The Air Force presented him the Gen. Thomas D. White Space Trophy. He received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Pioneer of Flight Award; the Society of Experimental Test Pilots Iven Kincheloe Award; the Collier Trophy; Goddard Trophy and Harmon Trophy. He was elected to the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, the Aerospace Pilot Walk of Honor and the International Space Hall of Fame. In 1964, he was named both the Air Force Outstanding Young Officer of the Year and one of the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce’s ten Outstanding Young Men of America. The University of Kanas awarded him its Distinguished Engineering Service Award.

Engle received the Air Force Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

‘Like Your Uncle’s Old Porsche’: Why the Aging C-21 Is Still in High Demand

July 11, 2024 | By David Roza

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. — Air Mobility Command is known for large, lumbering aircraft such as the C-5 transport jet and the KC-135 tanker. But tucked away in a hangar here at AMC headquarters is a fleet of shiny C-21s, zippy business jets that ferry distinguished visitors (DVs), wounded troops, and vital cargo in a hurry.

At an average age of 38.5 years, the C-21 is on the older side, which makes for a unique flying experience.

“It’s like your uncle’s old Porsche,” C-21 evaluator pilot Maj. Angus MacDonald told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “It’s not going to drive as nice as the new Porsche, but it’s pretty cool to drive.”

Like a Porsche sports car, the C-21 also accelerates faster than its airlift peers, both in flight and in terms of preflight preparation.

“It’s a simple aircraft to prep, to hop in, and to take off,” MacDonald said. “The mission can be complex, but the ability to efficiently set up a mission, task a commission, and get the plane off the ground is pretty quick.”

That ability to accelerate is what makes the aging, 19-jet C-21 fleet still in high demand around the world. While the C-130 transport plane can land almost anywhere, and the C-5 can carry small armies across oceans, the C-21 offers short-range rapid delivery for DVs, patients, and essential cargo.

When the demand is “‘Hey, we need this right now and we don’t want to schedule it on a different airplane that’s going to take a while to spin up and get going,’” the C-21 responds, MacDonald said.

A U.S. Air Force C-21 assigned to the 458th Airlift Squadron takes off from Scott Air Force Base, Ill., Feb 26, 2021. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Sam Eckholm)

Multi-Capable Aircrew

Most C-21 crews are on the younger side: MacDonald estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the 458th Airlift Squadron at Scott Air Force Base are company-grade officers (lieutenants and captains), with a large percentage of those on their first assignment out of pilot training. For younger pilots, flying the C-21 is like stepping back in time to a less-automated age.

“We don’t have a computer that’s going to squawk at you saying ‘this box is in trouble, please pull that circuit breaker,’” the evaluator pilot explained. “You need to know what checklist to run and how to do your own diagnostic. It’s a little bit more rudimentary.”

And that’s just the flying. At the 458th, pilots are also expected to do the preflight logistics, planning, diplomatic clearances, and other details that the Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott usually handles for most other Air Mobility Command units. MacDonald once got a call on a Friday afternoon to bring a presidential advisor back from Mexico City in time for an important meeting in Washington, D.C. on Monday.

Commercial travel and other airlift units were not viable, so the major and another pilot spent all weekend setting up the mission and getting hold of U.S. embassy officials and defense attachés for diplomatic clearance. They managed to bring the advisor back in time—it was not easy, but it was fulfilling.

“There’s a reward afterwards, looking back and saying ‘we definitely accomplished something cool and did a lot of work with just two pilots,’” he said.

c-21 — U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Riley Snowden (left) and Capt. Ramiro Rios, C-21 pilots assigned to the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, fly a mission over the Middle East, Feb. 7, 2018. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Phil Speck)

It also forces younger pilots to grow up fast. MacDonald recalled flying a mission as a first lieutenant with another silver bar-wearer over the Middle East, an uncommon level of responsibility for junior air crew.

“We’ll take a first lieutenant out of undergraduate pilot training and a year from now they could be a full-up aircraft commander flying DVs and aeromedical evacuations,” the major said. “They’re 24, 25 years old and we’re giving them all of this autonomy. It is on them to get it done.”

Connective Tissue

C-21 crews get plenty of practice planning missions due to the high demand for the jet. Most sorties involve ferrying high-level military and civilian leaders. The C-21 crews might fly generals to deliver two different speeches in two different states on the same day, shuttle top Air Force leaders to and from the biannual CORONA conference, or take Pentagon leaders to explain new strategies to their troops.

“The C-21 is the connective tissue to bring those leaders directly to the units that need that information and need it in person,” MacDonald said. “That’s literally what we do.”

c-21 — U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Leonard Isabelle, the Assistant Adjutant General for the State of Michigan, interacts with airman from the 110th Airlift Wing during a C-21 fini-flight at the Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, Battle Creek, Mich., June 15, 2013. ((U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman Justin Andras)

It’s not exactly luxury flying; the small cabin fills up fast, while the lavatory is a box with a toilet seat on top that slides out from under a jump seat. But the Air Force flies the jet for speed, and that speed saves lives: C-21 crews also fly aeromedical evacuation missions for injured troops, State Department employees, and others in need of urgent higher care. Recent flights involved picking up service members with punctured lungs or late-stage pregnancy issues and flying them back to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany on short notice.

The crew may have as little as two hours to coordinate and brief a critical care action team, get the medical experts on board, and get moving, MacDonald explained. One advantage of the C-21 is that its wide door can accommodate a Spectrum life support system, a kind of mobile hospital bed.

“I thought it was one of the most rewarding missions I have ever done in an aircraft,” a C-21 pilot said about an aeromedical evacuation mission in 2016.

Besides transporting generals and patients, C-21s also act as high-speed couriers for U-2 spy plane logistics, blood supplies for partner forces fighting ISIS, and other important cargo. During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, C-21 crews flew classified air tasking orders and intelligence photos to units that could not receive them otherwise.

All of these missions: VIP transport, aeromedical evacuation, and courier, are grouped under the term operational support airlift, MacDonald said. Sometimes those missions involve flying into dangerous territory, leading to the tongue-in-cheek motto “unaware, unafraid,” which highlights C-21 crews’ dedication to carrying out their mission.

“We don’t have any defensive systems on this aircraft, but name a base in CENTCOM and we’ve probably been there,” MacDonald said. “In regards to acceleration: sometimes we don’t even know what we’re going to be asked to do, we’re pretty much unaware, and then we get a mission tasking and we do the best job that we can.”

Leadership from the 379th Expeditionary Operations Group render a salute to a C-21A Learjet assigned to the 912th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron C-21 Detachment, as it taxis towards the runway before its last flight out of Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, June 30, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Leon Redfern)

Looking Ahead

With an average age of 38.5 years, the C-21 fleet is older than many of the pilots who fly it, but recent upgrades keep the jet relevant. Starting in 2017, the Avionics Upgrade Program replaced the cockpit’s analog dials with digital displays, modernized the aircraft’s navigation, communication, and flight management systems, brought the jets in line with Federal Aviation Administration mandates, and improved crews’ ability to work in unfamiliar environments without the usual navigation aids.

The upgrades, plus contract maintainers scrounging spare parts from civilian jets or retired Air Force C-21s, keep the aircraft’s mission capable rate at a remarkable 100 percent, a critical factor considering its high operational tempo. MacDonald estimated that the 458th may be flying more than any other active-duty Learjet squadron in Air Force history.

But the future for the C-21 is uncertain. The Air Force originally had about 80 C-21s when they first entered service in 1984, but cost-cutting efforts shrank the fleet to its current size of just 19 jets split between two locations: Scott Air Force Base, Ill., where the 458th handles operational support airlift in the western hemisphere, and Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where the 76th Airlift Squadron handles the same responsibility in Europe.

There currently are no public plans to replace the C-21, and an AMC spokesperson said the fleet is currently cycling through a 20,000-hour flight control inspection program in an effort to keep it flying into the 2030s.

“Given the challenging fiscal environment, AMC continues to review each weapon system in the context of our warfighting requirements to ensure we recapitalize and modernize the fleet to meet the mobility demands of the joint force,” the spokesperson said. “AMC values the important contribution to our executive fleet with the operational support airlift mission, and we will continue to monitor these aircraft to ensure they continue to provide safe and reliable airlift.”

In the meantime, MacDonald expects the high demand is here to stay.

“We’re relied on pretty heavily and I think we will continue to be relied on until the 21’s done,” he said. “The plane is not going to last forever but I think the mission will.”

ACC Boss: CCA Drones Will Mostly Be Kept in ‘Flyable Storage’ Outside of Missions

July 11, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

With the Air Force’s fighter plans in flux—the Next-Generation Air Dominance program’s future in doubt and the F-22 potentially being extended—Collaborative Combat Aircraft autonomous drones will be all the more important for restoring capacity to the fleet, the head of Air Combat Command said July 10.

Speaking at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach emphasized the importance of CCAs and described how the service may train with them, even as he acknowledged he cannot quantify how many CCAs would equate to a single crewed aircraft.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s that linear,” Wilsbach said. “It’s a force multiplier.” Air Force officials have discussed anywhere from two to five CCAs each accompanying a manned fighter, expanding its ability to sense, complicating an adversary’s targeting, and taking hits for the crewed fighter fleet as necessary.

“I would say the better way to think about this is, what is the total capacity?” Wilsbach said. “And you know, the service has talked about potentially having as many as 1,000 of these CCAs to use in a contingency. And I think that’s a noble goal, and one that would create a lot of dilemmas as people think about getting into a fight with us and having to contend with that many, plus all of our manned platforms.”

The Anduril “Fury” autonomous aircraft. Anduril and General Atomics were picked to develop the first Collaborative Combat Aircraft designs on April 24. **Anduril**

The Air Force plans to field CCAs in the near future and build mass fast, and Wilsbach said he is “excited that we’re going to get Collaborative Combat Aircraft on ramps pretty quick … quicker than some of the manned platforms that we’ve experienced in the last few decades.”

More expensive than small, cheap, “attritable” drones but cheaper than manned fighters like the F-35 and F-15EX, CCAs will require new approaches for sustainment and operations, Wilsbach added.

The current thinking is that CCAs would be stored in a hangar, “ready to go,” but that only a handful would be used in training, saving on sustainment costs, Wilsbach said. They would not, however, be stored “in a box” like the MQ-9 Reaper or other, similar remotely-piloted aircraft of the last 25 years.

Crewed aircraft have to be flown “pretty regularly,” because crews need practice, Wilsbach explained, but an autonomous aircraft like the CCA doesn’t require proficiency sorties, other than its launch crew.

“You probably don’t need to fly that aircraft every day,” Wilsbach said. “And in fact, what we think is that we’ll have these aircraft available to fly, but they won’t fly that often. And the benefit of that is you don’t need the maintenance. You don’t need the long-term sustainment, and so you get a lot more airframes for a given amount of money.”

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s XQ-67A Off Board Sensing Station, or OBSS, designed and built by General Atomics, took its maiden flight Feb. 28 from Gray Butte Field Airport, Palmdale, Calif. Courtesy photo

Without practice sorties and the accompanying maintenance, Wilsbach added, the Air Force can also expand the lifespan of CCAs.

They’ll be in “flyable storage,” Wilsbach said. “They’ll basically be in a hangar and they’ll be ready to fly” and will fly probably once a month.

“That’s going to save us a tremendous amount of money and sustainment and manpower, but still allow us to have a huge capability. If you think about having maybe as many as 1,000 more aircraft available to commit to a fight, that’s real power,” he said.

NATO Plans Upgrades for Air and Missile Defense on Its Eastern Flank

July 10, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg unveiled new plans July 10 to enhance the alliance’s air and missile defense with combat-ready forces and an additional ballistic missile defense system.

“Today, we decided to adapt NATO’s command structure, improve our integrated air and missile defense systems, and to go further, to match our defense plans with the necessary capabilities,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference during the NATO summit in Washington D.C. “On deterrence and defense, we have deployed combat ready forces on NATO’s Eastern Flank, put in place the most comprehensive defense plan since the Cold War, and we now have over 500,000 forces at high readiness in the Alliance.”

The enhanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense system, or IAMD, will be based on a so-called “360-degree approach”—a concept that defense posture should align across the land, air, maritime, cyber, and space domains and against all other threats. The updated IAMD policy promises continued increases in the alliance’s “readiness, responsiveness, and integration through various initiatives.”

One initiative is the implementation of an IAMD rotational model across the Euro-Atlantic area, initially focusing on the Eastern Flank, a region encompassing member states like Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. The U.S. Air Force permanently deployed aircraft in Poland for the first time last year, amid heightened regional tensions driven from Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.

“Allies also agreed to strengthen our air and missile defenses, including with the new Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense Base in Poland,” said Stoltenberg.

The deployment of the Aegis Ashore system in Poland is set to complement existing missile defense assets in Romania, Spain, and Turkey, strengthening NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defense system. The system, based on the shipboard Aegis Combat System, offers “dependable 360-degree protection,” military leaders have previously noted.

“Allies remain committed to the full development of NATO BMD, to pursue the Alliance’s collective defense and to provide full coverage and protection for all NATO European populations, territory, and forces against the increasing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles,” stated the Washington Summit Declaration from the meeting of the North Atlantic Council on July 10.

NATO’s new air and missile defense posture wouldn’t be possible without more and more members of the alliance meeting their pledge to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense, Stoltenberg argued.

“All of this has been made possible by historic increases in defense investment across the Alliance,” said Stoltenberg. “When we made the pledge to invest 2 percent of GDP in defense, back in 2014 at the NATO summit, only three allies met the mark. Today, 23 allies are investing at least 2 percent of GDP in defense, a record-high number. This also brings the total defense spending of European Allies and Canada above the 2 percent target.”

NATO estimates indicate Poland remains the highest defense spender for the second consecutive year, allocating 4.1 percent of its GDP. Estonia and the U.S. are both projected at 3.4 percent.

Among other measures, the modernization of NATO’s collective defense system announced on July 10 includes the following:

Increasing the frequency and scale of exercises to demonstrate readiness to defend and quickly support allies, including through Steadfast Defender 24, NATO’s largest military exercise in decades

Urgently increasing capabilities under the NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP), focusing on critical munitions and air and missile defense

Integrating space into planning, exercises, and multi-domain operations, with a focus on enhancing NATO’s Space Operations Center

Investing in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) defense capabilities to operate effectively in all environments

Establishing a NATO presence in Finland and fully integrating Finland and Sweden into NATO plans, forces, and command structures to leverage their capabilities

Wilsbach: Air Force Should Keep, and Not Divest, Block 20 F-22s

July 10, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, head of Air Combat Command, came out in favor of retaining 32 Block 20 F-22 fighters, despite the fact that the Air Force has sought to retire the older jets in each of its last three budgets.

Speaking at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies on July 10, Wilsbach also said there is still no set replacement for the F-22. Taken together, it now appears clear the Air Force is likely to retain that aircraft into the next decade, contrary to earlier stated plans.

Wilsbach acknowledged ambiguity about the future of the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter—a topic raised by senior leaders several times in recent weeks. He sees that as a key factor in why he believes the older F-22s shouldn’t be divested.

“I’m in favor of keeping the Block 20s,” he said. “They give us a lot of training value, and even if we had to—in an emergency—use the Block 20s in in a combat situation, they’re very capable.”

Air Force requests to divest the Block 20 aircraft, which have not been upgraded to the combat configuration applied to the rest of the fleet, have been repeatedly rebuffed by Congress. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has said it would cost upwards of $50 million each to raise them to that standard, and that the service has higher priorities for that money. USAF configured its last two budgets assuming it would not have to provide pilots or sustainment for those jets, but lawmakers, nervous about high-end fighter capacity, blocked any such divestments until fiscal 2028 at the earliest.

With the Air Force constrained in how many F-35s and F-15EX jets it can acquire, maintaining combat capacity has become a key issue for airpower advocates. Keeping the F-22s, whether upgraded or in their present Block 20 configuration, provides low-observable combat mass that cannot be acquired any other way until F-35 volumes increase, experts have stated.

As for the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), a family of systems now in development that would include manned and unmanned aircraft, Wilsbach said it is a mistake to see it as a “replacement” for the F-22.

“There isn’t an F-22 replacement,” he said. “The F-22 is fantastic aircraft. We’re actually planning several upgrades to the jet as we speak, and there is no official replacement to the F-22 right now.” Clarifying the point later, he explained: “There is no official F-22 replacement. There isn’t. Because we haven’t decided. … We haven’t done a source selection.”

Wilsbach said at the event that he still expects a choice to be made for an NGAD contractor this calendar year, confirming previously stated timelines.

He also said NGAD should be viewed as a “family of systems” and not a specific crewed airplane.

“I just want everybody to be clear that it’s a family of systems. And there’s a lot of things that are not in the public sphere that we’ve been working on for a while, and we’ll continue to expand that part of it, but I’ll just say it’s a family of systems, not one thing,” Wilsbach said.

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies presented Aerospace Nation with Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, Commander, Air Combat Command on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at AFA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/Air & Space Forces Magazine

The fiscal 2025 defense budget now making the rounds on Capitol Hill telegraphed that the Air Force may not retire the F-22 around 2030, as it said it would three years ago, claiming the fighter will soon no longer be able to outmatch Chinese J-20 stealth fighters.

The 2021 fighter force-defining plan called “4+1” by then-Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. called for the fighter fleet to consist of:

The F-22, giving way to NGAD circa 2030

The F-35

The F-15EX

The F-16

The A-10 was originally intended to be the “+1,” but rapid divestments mean that type will soon leave the fleet.

The 2025 budget, though, calls for more than $7 billion in improvements to the F-22 over the next five years—including new stealth wing tanks, infrared search-and-track systems and other upgrades—which makes little sense if the type is to be retired as soon as they are fielded. Air Force officials have said that those technologies would have applicability to NGAD, however.

The F-22 moves come as the government is still not accepting new F-35 fighters from contractor Lockheed Martin due to delays in testing for the new Tech Refresh 3 configuration.

Both the F-22 and NGAD “obviously will be in complement with the F-35, which we’re continuing to build,” said Wilsbach. “And hopefully, soon, we’ll start to take delivery of more of those as we get through the TR-3 slowdown at Lockheed Martin, and then, of course, the F-15EX.”

The F-35 international partners have agreed to accept a “truncated” version of the TR-3 hardware and software, and deliveries of nearly 100 aircraft that have been in storage are expected to resume imminently.

Wilsbach also said he recently declared Initial Operational Capability for the F-15EX. The updated Eagle will be “a tremendous platform for us because of its fourth-gen-plus capability and external weapons carriage,” Wilsbach added.

Some of the Air Force’s new long-range weapons, such as the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, “can’t be carried on an F-35 or an F-22 because they don’t fit in the internal weapons bay,” but the EX “can carry some immense weapons that can go a long way. And so that F-15EX and F-15E will continue to be important platforms,” he said.

Meanwhile, the F-16 will continue to be “a good portion of our fighter force … and we’re continuing to upgrade those with new electronic warfare suites, and new electronically-scanned array antenna radars for them, so they can see much farther,” said Wilsbach.

“So the fleet that we have right now is in pretty good shape,” he added.

Air Force C3/BM Czar, ICBM Modernization Boss Nominated to Be Major Generals

July 10, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

Nearly 20 Air Force brigadier generals have been nominated to pin on second stars, the Pentagon announced July 10, including the service’s acquisition czar for C3 and battle management and the head of a new office created to oversee the modernization of the Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile fleet.

All 18 nominees will stay in their current roles while moving up a rank if confirmed.

Brig. Gen. Luke C.G. Cropsey became the first ever program executive for command, control, and communications/battle management nearly two years ago. Initially, Cropsey was focused on finding ways to operationalize the Advanced Battle Management System concept, but over time, his scope has expanded to encompass a Department of the Air Force-wide “DAF Battle Network” that covers all the ways the Air Force and Space Force connect sensors, shooters, and commanders around the globe.

Brig. Gen. Luke C.G. Cropsey, Integrating Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management, is leading the department’s effort to modernize its Battle Network. **Jud McCrehin/staff**

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has called the job “the hardest acquisition job I’ve ever given anybody,” and Cropsey has admitted the vast scale of the challenge. However, he has also said his office has succeeded in starting to field new operational capabilities for Airmen and Guardians.

Cropsey—or his successor as C3/BM czar—will command the new Air Force Information Dominance Systems Center, Air Force Materiel Command has said.

Also slated for a promotion is Brig. Gen. Colin J. Connor. Late last year, Air Force Global Strike Command set up an “A10” directorate for ICBM modernization, headed up by Connor. The move also satisfied a requirement in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that the Air Force establish an ICBM Modernization Site Activation Task Force to “oversee and coordinate” the planning, construction, and installation that will go into getting Sentinel online while keeping the existing Minuteman III missiles viable.

Like Cropsey, Connor also faces a large task in preparing for the massive Sentinel program.

“It is the most complex thing we’ve done, I’ll say, since the 1960s,” Connor said last fall. “And I would say even then, because of technology that we’re trying to equip, whether it’s [nuclear command, control, and communications] technology, digital engineering aspects to it, it’s even different than what was done in the ’60s.”

Then-Col. Colin Connor speaks at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, July 31, 2018. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alyssa M. Akers

Connor’s comments came before the Air Force declared “critical” cost and schedule overruns on the Sentinel, prompting a six-month review. That review, recently concluded, will lead the program to be restructured, and officials said launch facility designs will be scaled back. Infrastructure is seen as the driving force behind most of the program’s cost increases.

Other Air Force one-stars nominated include:

Brig. Gen. Steven G. Behmer: Deputy commanding general, Security Assistance Group – Ukraine, U.S. European Command, Wiesbaden, Germany.

Brig. Gen. William D. Betts: Director, Operations, Ninth Air Force, Air Forces Central; and director, U.S. Central Command Combined Air Operations Center, Air Combat Command, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.

Brig. Gen. Joseph L. Campo: Director, Operations, Strategic Deterrence, and Nuclear Integration, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Brig. Gen. Robert D. Davis: Director, Operations, Headquarters North American Aerospace Defense Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado.

Brig. Gen. Gerald A. Donohue: Director, Operations, Strategic Deterrence, and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

Brig. Gen. Aaron D. Drake: Ssenior defense official/defense attaché-Russia, Defense Intelligence Agency, Moscow, Russia.

Brig. Gen. Lyle K. Drew: Director, Logistics, Civil Engineering and Force Protection, and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Brig. Gen. Russell D. Driggers: Commander, 502nd Air Base Wing, Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Brig. Gen. Michael R. Drowley: Director, Joint Training and Exercises, Headquarters U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.

Brig. Gen. David S. Eaglin: Deputy director, Operations, Headquarters U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.

Brig. Gen. Gregory Kreuder: Director, F-35 Integration Office, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Brig. Gen. Joseph D. Kunkel: Director, Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability, deputy chief of staff, Strategy, Integration, and Requirements, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Brig. Gen. Jefferson J. O’Donnell: Commander, Air Force Personnel Center, deputy chief of staff, Manpower, Personnel and Services, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.

Brig. Gen. Derek J. O’Malley: Deputy director, Operations, Headquarters North American Aerospace Defense Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado.

Brig. Gen. Neil R. Richardson: Deputy director, Strategic Planning and Policy, Headquarters U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.

Brig. Gen. Frank R. Verdugo: Director, Financial Management, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

In addition to them, two colonels were nominated to become brigadier generals:

Col. John M. Schutte: Deputy chief of staff, Headquarters U.S. European Command, Wiesbaden, Germany.

Col. Lucas J. Teel: Commander, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, Air Combat Command, Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan.

New USAF Commanders Take Over in Japan, Facing ‘Increasingly Aggressive’ Actors

July 10, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

Two of the U.S. Air Force’s three bases in Japan got new commanders on July 8 and 9 ahead of major force changes meant to fortify the region against what the outgoing head of U.S. Forces Japan and the 5th Air Force described as “increasingly aggressive” adversary behavior.

At Yokota Air Base just outside Tokyo, Col. Richard McElhaney assumed command of the 374th Airlift Wing from Col. Andrew Roddan. At Misawa Air Base in the north, Col. Paul T. Davidson succeeded Col. Michael P. Richard as commander of the 35th Fighter Wing.

Both bases play “vital” roles for the Air Force in the Indo-Pacific, USFJ commander Lt. Gen. Ricky N. Rupp said.

At Yokota, the 374th Airlift Wing and its C-130J transport planes serve as the Air Force’s primary airlift hub in the Western Pacific. At Misawa, the 35th Fighter Wing flies F-16s primarily focused on the “Wild Weasel” mission: suppression of enemy air defenses.

Yokota is a key factor in the defense of Japan, Rupp said, while Misawa is “the closest U.S. Air Base to all three regional adversaries [China, Russia, and North Korea] who have become increasingly aggressive and seek to impose their will at the expense of like-minded nations that embrace a rule-based order.”

Both bases also face transitions and challenges in the years ahead. Besides its large fleet of C-130Js, Yokota also hosts CV-22 Ospreys tiltrotor aircraft that are still slowly returning to flight operations following a deadly crash off the coast of southern Japan last November and a subsequent grounding. The base’s aging fleet of UH-1N helicopters were supposed to be replaced in the coming years but now face uncertainty after the Air Force changed its plans for buying newer MH-139 helicopters.

“Yokota will be user agnostic,” McElhaney declared, emphasizing that his command will focus on more than just air mobility. “We’re all here for the same goal and it will take all of us to achieve it.”

U.S. Air Force Col. Richard McElhaney, 374th Airlift Wing incoming commander, delivers a speech during the 374th AW change of command ceremony at Yokota Air Base, Japan, July 9, 2024. **U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Natalie Doan**

Misawa, meanwhile, is poised to get 48 new F-35 fighters, the Pentagon announced last week, though the timeline for the change is uncertain. The base would be the first overseas installation in the Indo-Pacific to host USAF F-35 fighters. Kadena Air Base in southern Japan is poised to get new F-15EX fighters to replace its aging F-15C/D models.

“We’re here in a strategic location at a significant time of change in our Air Force and the world,” Davidson said at his change of command ceremony. “We must and we will stay focused on our mission here in northern Japan to protect, to defend, to deter aggression and, if necessary, to fight and to win.”

In speeches at both change of command ceremonies, Rupp praised the new commanders as well-suited for their new roles, but also highlighted regional threats as cause for concern.

“The [People’s Republic of China] conducts aggressive and dangerous intercepts against U.S. and allied aircraft and conducts routine incursions of their sovereign territory,” Rupp said at Yokota. “Russia, despite their illegal invasion of Ukraine, has paired with the PRC to conduct joint naval and bomber patrols in the Pacific. And [North Korea] conducts routine missile launches, testing their nuclear-capable weapons, adding another layer of security threats.”

Rupp himself is poised to rotate out of his position soon—Maj. Gen. Stephen F. Jost was confirmed by the Senate in May to pin on a third star and take over as head of USFJ and the 5th Air Force. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has said he is looking “very closely” at a plan to make the head of USFJ a four-star position.