KC-10 Tankers Get Their Final Inspections at Travis Before Retirement

July 3, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Editor’s Note: This story was updated July 8 to correct the fuel and cargo capacity of the KC-46.

The 60th Air Mobility Wing, the last active-duty wing to operate the KC-10, conducted its final inspection on their Extender fleet ahead of the aircraft’s retirement in September.

Maintenance teams at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., concluded the A-check for the K-10 on June 28, a routine biannual inspection assessing wear and tear, engines, landing gear, flight controls, avionics, and other critical components. A base spokesman told Air & Space Forces Magazine that this marks the last evaluation for the tankers, with no further inspections scheduled.

“An A-check is a weeklong inspection performed on a KC-10,” Master Sgt. Wessley Chandler, 60th MXS maintenance flight superintendent, said in a statement. “If the inspection does not happen, the aircraft is grounded until the inspection is performed.”

Maintainers at Travis and other bases have long upheld the KC-10’s readiness with comprehensive A-checks, addressing repairs and confirming system functionality to ensure operational readiness.

With the final inspection at the aircraft’s last operational base complete, Airmen are preparing to bid final farewell to the KC-10 fleet. Once decommissioned in September, the Travis aircraft will relocate to the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. There the tankers will be put in open-air storage and preservation, overseen by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group.

One of the Travis’ KC-10s is serving its retirement as a display aircraft at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Ohio, instead of at the Boneyard. An Extender with a serial Number 84-0191 was delivered to the museum in April. This particular aircraft played a pivotal role in 1986 during Operation El Dorado Canyon, serving as the primary refueling aircraft for the Air Force’s F-111s targeting a Libyan terrorists in Tripoli, according to the museum.

The Extender, fondly known as “Big Sexy,” has been in the service for 42 years serving a variety of combat and humanitarian missions. The aircraft served its final combat sortie from its last deployment assignment at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, in October. The last KC-10 left the East Coast in June 2023, leaving Travis as the only Extender base left.

“It’s a bummer that the KC-10 is leaving,” said Senior Airman Thomas Mihalyi, 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron inspection section team member. “We are moving to a whole new era of aircraft. We have already done four or five A-checks on the KC-46, and we are all learning.”

As the base transitions from the KC-10 to the KC-46 Pegasus for air refueling, crews will complete cross-training on the Pegasus before the Extender fleet’s decommission in two months.

Travis received its first KC-46A Pegasus in July 2023. The spokesperson added that the number of remaining KC-10s or incoming KC-46As at the base won’t be disclosed, citing operational security. The new tanker promises greater survivability than the aging Extenders in contested environments, equipped with numerous self-protection, defensive, and communication features. It can also carry more than 212,000 pounds of fuel and nearly 65,000 pounds of cargo. The Air Force expects a total of 179 Pegasus aircraft to be delivered by 2028.

AFSOC Gets a New Commander, Resumes Osprey Flights in Japan

July 3, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

Lt. Gen. Michael Conley succeeded Lt. Gen. Tony D. Bauernfeind as the head of Air Force Special Operations Command in a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla., on July 2, while halfway around the world, an AFSOC CV-22 Osprey took flight at Yokota Air Base, Japan, for the first time since last November.

Conley, a career CV-22 pilot, is making a two-grade jump, from brigadier to lieutenant general. Among his challenges will be to keep the valuable Ospreys flying.

At Hurlburt, Bauernfeind, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin, and the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, Gen. Bryan Fenton, all acknowledged that the recent past has been “the most challenging of times,” following the fatal crash of Gundam 22 off the coast of Japan last November. The crash killed all eight Air Commandos aboard, making it the deadliest Air Force mishap in five years. The Air Force grounded its Ospreys after that. In May, AFSOC was shaken further when Senior Airman Roger Fortson was killed by a sheriff’s deputy in Florida, who had come to the wrong door in response to a complaint. The shooting unleashed outrage and grief throughout the Air Force community.

Baurenfeind, meanwhile, was guiding AFSOC through a transition after decades of asymmetric warfare in the Middle East as the command adjusts to today’s era of great power competition with China and Russia.

Allvin made clear that such a transition is not a black-and-white shift. “In this business, we don’t have the luxury of doing ‘or,’” he said. “We can’t help the unit heal or continue the mission,” Allvin said, praising Bauernfeind for his “engaged leadership” through the multiple crises and their fallout.

Bauernfeind noted the importance of community and how Airmen rallied together in the wake of the crash and Fortson’s killing.

“We’ve got to keep improving the conditions for our families, so that our Air Commandos continue to serve and continue to go forward to take the fight against our adversaries,” Bauernfeind said. “And I especially appreciate what you did in crisis.”

AFSOC must now continue to fulfil its role in Special Operations Command’s push to reinvent itself.

Fenton credited the command with pioneering new technologies and concepts for communications, counter-drone weapons, and “air drop insertion of unmanned systems,” while Allvin noted that “it’s no mistake that many of the things we’re pursuing are being birthed right here at AFSOC.”

One of those “things” is the “Power Projection Wings” that AFSOC is building, which combine different systems and capabilities from across the command.

“Transforming to Power Projection Wings so that every theater special operations command and air component command has access to every AFSOC capability is groundbreaking and is going to be the basis of our future Deployable Combat Wings,” Bauernfeind said.

Allvin also noted the command’s role under Bauernfeind in contributing to Air Task Forces, the forerunner to Combat Deployable Wings, and Agile Combat Employment, the idea of creating small teams of Airmen that can move quickly and operate from remote or austere locations—much like Air Commandos can do.

Work on these changes will now continue under Conley, who was Bauernfeind’s director of operations and will now go straight to the top of the command.

“He’s ready,” Allvin said. “He has not only proved his qualifications, but also his currency. … His leadership qualities have been demonstrated over and over again in the squadrons and wings throughout AFSOC throughout his career. Unblemished records, fantastic personal accounts of his leadership. He also possesses the breadth. The assignments he’s held give him a larger perspective.”

Conley previously commanded at the group and squadron level, and has worked at both Air Mobility Command and U.S. Space Command. Conley’s “leadership qualities have been demonstrated over and over again in the squadrons and wings throughout AFSOC throughout his career,” Allvin said, citing his “unblemished records, fantastic personal accounts of his leadership” and the breadth of his assignments as all contributing to “give him a larger perspective.”

The incoming commander kept his own comments to a minimum. Conley thanked family, friends, and teammates, then focused on the mission ahead. “We must remain ready to fight tonight, just like our teammates that are currently in the fight down range,” he said, “but also adapt and prepare for future battles and future battlespaces.”

For Conley, the gradual return to full flight operations for the Osprey will be a major initial focus.

U.S. Air Force CV-22B Osprey assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron, takes flight for the first time since last November at Yokota Air Base, Japan, July 2, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Samantha White

Ospreys Fly at Yokota

The start of Osprey flight operations at Yokota on July 2 comes nearly eight months after the Gundam 22 crash, and leaders emphasized the meticulous approach taken to get there, with additional safety measures in place.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring the safety of the men and women who operate our aircraft and the safety of our community both on base and in Japan,” 21st Special Operations Squadron commander Lt. Col. Matthew Davis said in a statement. “These safety mitigation measures have been taken seriously, and we would not fly this aircraft without full confidence in the measures, the maintenance professionals implementing them, and the skilled professionals who fly it.”

Yet even with its return to flight, the CV-22 is not yet out of the dark. Defense Department officials said last month that the V-22 will continue to fly under restrictions until mid-2025. In the meantime, Osprey pilots and crews who haven’t been airborne in months must regain their currency and familiarity, while learning new flight protocols to avoid further incidents.

CSO Sports New Mess Dress Look, But Space Force Says Design Not Finalized

July 3, 2024 | By David Roza

About a month after the top Guardian was spotted wearing a unique black mess dress uniform to an event in Los Angeles, Calif., a Department of the Air Force spokesperson said the Space Force is still working on its official mess dress design.

On June 7, Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman attended the 50th Annual “Salute to Space Systems Command,” an event hosted by the Gen. Bernard A. Schriever Los Angeles chapter of the Air & Space Forces Association. Several other Space Force luminaries also attended, including Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of Space Systems Command, and 15 other Guardians, Airmen, and civilian Space Force employees who were recognized for their contributions to Space Systems Command.

While most of the uniformed Guardians wore blue mess dress coats similar to the current Air Force mess dress, Saltzman wore an all-black coat and trouser set that had some social media observers wondering if it was the service’s new signature mess dress. That uniform is still under development, but in the meantime the Space Force wants its top Guardian to stand out, said Sarah Fiocco, a spokesperson for the Department of the Air Force.

“Part of establishing a meaningful culture within the Space Force requires shaping our own identity as a service we can be proud of and build upon throughout the years,” Fiocco told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

“Developing a new USSF mess dress uniform is another example of how we are moving forward building that identity leading up to our fifth anniversary,” she added. “While the designs are not finalized, it is important for the service chief to be more easily distinguished from the other services when representing the Space Force in public engagements.”

Saltzman was not the only one with a unique outfit. Standing to his left in the same photo, Garrant and Chief Master Sergeant Jacqueline Sauvé, senior enlisted leader for Space Systems Command, wore grey trousers and what appeared to be a darker shade of cummerbund, lapels, and tie than the usual Air Force mess dress uniform. Those outfits are one of several potential mess dress variations currently being tested by senior Space Force leaders and selected wear testers, Fiocco said.

The Space Force mess dress is still in the early stages of the design process, she explained. After a design is chosen, the service will need to collect Guardian feedback, conduct fit and wear testing, and complete other development and production processes.

“We understand there is a lot of Guardian interest in developing distinct, professional, and comfortable uniforms they can proudly wear that represents the identity and culture of the new service,” Fiocco said.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, left, Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force John F. Bentivegna and Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force Roger A. Towberman sing “Semper Supra,” the Space Force service song, during their change of responsibility ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sept. 15, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich

The Space Force made waves when it first unveiled its service dress uniform in 2021. With a dark blue coat, upturned collar, and diagonal row of six buttons, the uniform reminded some of science fiction uniforms, but Space Force uniform designers said it was intended to be “more futuristic looking.”

Service members wear mess dress at formal “black-tie” events, and service dress at less formal events. In September, the Space Force announced that its prototype service dress uniform had entered the final stage of wear testing, with more than 100 Guardians trying on the outfit around the world. The Space Force expects the uniform will roll out to Guardians everywhere in 2025.

In the meantime, Guardians can still enjoy their unique physical training gear, which on March 8 became the Space Force’s first ever finalized service-specific uniform. The PT gear includes black shorts, a dark gray T-shirt, black sweatpants, and a black windbreaker, with a patterned “USSF” on the sleeves of the shirt and jacket, “Space Force” on the back of the shirt, and the Space Force’s Delta logo on the left side of each item.

What It’s Like to Fly a KC-46 Around the World in 45 Hours

July 2, 2024 | By David Roza

A KC-46 touched down at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on July 1 after a record 45-hour nonstop flight around the world. The mission, called Project Magellan, saw the two crews aboard test their limits as they refueled Air Force jets around the planet.

“Air refueling is a very specific process: you have to be at a point at a certain time,” Col. Brent Toth, aircraft commander and head of the 22nd Operations Group at McConnell, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “And we did that four times all around the world without missing a beat.”

Project Magellan is the latest maximum endurance operation, the term for long-haul missions meant to test Airmen as transport and tanker crews under Air Mobility Command prepare to carry the rest of the military’s troops and equipment across the vast distances of the Pacific in a possible conflict with China.

“In an era of great power competition, crews need the ability to operate longer than they have in the past, and Project Magellan is the next step in getting AMC crews experience in the game-changing new construct that is MEO,” Capt. Cody Donahue, 22nd Operations Group executive officer, who took part in the flight and played a key role planning it, said in a press release.

A U.S. Air Force KC-46 Pegasus from McConnell Air Force Base’s 22nd Air Refueling Wing, departs after flying in formation with a KC-135 Stratotanker from McConnell Air Force Base’s 350th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, July 1, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo

The idea for Project Magellan first came to tanker crews at McConnell about two years ago, but the team had to work fast over the past month once the coordination with units around the world finally took shape.

“Once that came together, we had to move out very quickly,” Toth said. “The sprint for the last 30 days has been pretty hard, but we had a fantastic planning team.”

At the end of the sprint was the mission itself, which broke new ground for the KC-46. In 2019, a McConnell crew first flew a Pegasus around the world, but that trip included six stops and overnight stays. Project Magellan marked the first time the new tanker flew around the globe nonstop.

Besides the length of the flight, the MEO also stood out for carrying just two basic crews. Normally, three Air Force pilots can fly as an augmented crew for up to 24 hours, but Air Mobility Command now wants crews of four pilots to fly up to 48 hours to prepare for future conflicts, Donahue explained.

When the KC-46 took off from McConnell at about 4 p.m. on June 29, it carried just four pilots, two refueling boom operators, two flying crew chiefs to oversee the health of the airplane, and a flight surgeon to oversee the health of the crew.

The next 45 hours saw Magellan take gas from another KC-46 off the coast of California; give gas to a C-17 transport jet training near Hawaii; and take on more gas from two other McConnell-based KC-46s as they approached Guam.

A 22nd Air Refueling Wing pilot flies a KC-46A Pegasus from McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, that is participating in a Maximum Endurance Flight around the globe called Project Magellan June 29, 2024. (Courtesy Photo)

Over the Middle East, the thirsty Pegasus received more fuel from a pair of KC-135 tankers flying out of Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, where one crew was from McConnell and the other was from the Utah Air National Guard. The Magellan crew went on to refuel two F-15E Strike Eagles flying a combat sortie over Iraq, then meet two KC-135s for more gas over England: one from McConnell and one from RAF Mildenhall. The McConnell tankers had been prepositioned around the world to support the MEO.

The KC-46 enjoyed a hero’s welcome back over the continental U.S., where the jet met up with another McConnell-based KC-46 and the two refueled three B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., then offloaded fuel onto another McConnell Pegasus with Brig. Gen. Gerald Donohue, AMC’s director of operations for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration onboard as an observer.

When they finally landed back at McConnell at around 1 p.m. on July 1, Magellan had taken on 454,000 pounds of gas—about the weight of two blue whales—over the course of four refuelings from seven different tankers, and contributed to a combat sortie and a training exercise.

“This wasn’t just taking off and landing someplace,” Toth said. “We did complex missions in each part of the world.”

A view outside a KC-46A Pegasus from McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, participating in a Maximum Endurance Flight around the globe, June 30, 2024. Courtesy Photo

Part of what enabled such a long string of midair meetings was a suite of systems allowing beyond line of sight communications between the Magellan crew, planning teams at McConnell, and crews around the world. Tactical data networks such as Link 16 allowed them to track and communicate with receiving aircraft hundreds of miles away to find out what direction they were traveling, how much fuel they needed, and other factors which normally would not be communicable until the aircraft were much closer within radio contact.

“We knew more about what was happening on this flight than I’ve known on most of the flights that I’ve been part of throughout my career,” Toth said. “So even though it was more complex than anything I’ve ever done, I felt like I was more notified than I’ve ever been before.”

While Link 16 is already widely available in other parts of the Air Force such as Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command is still getting up to speed in terms of connectivity. Last year, AMC boss Gen. Mike Minihan set a goal to connect 25 percent of the tanker and transport fleet with beyond line of sight communications by 2025.

The relatively new KC-46 has more modern communication equipment compared to its older siblings in the mobility fleet such as the KC-135 and the C-130, but flying between four combatant commands and quickly syncing with each one on the same flight is an achievement in its own right, Toth and Donahue explained.

“We always talk about air refueling being a sort of force multiplier, well, same thing with this tactical data link,” Donahue said. “Now you are talking about two force multipliers on one platform, so you’re exponentially multiplying your force.”

Two 22nd Air Refueling Wing pilots fly a KC-46A Pegasus from McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, that is participating in a Maximum Endurance Flight around the globe called Project Magellan June 30, 2024 Courtesy photo

Besides solid communications, Magellan also benefited from years of research in human performance. Flying an aircraft is a tiring task, and Air Mobility Command wants to use the latest science in sleep and nutrition to keep crews as well-rested as possible on long sorties.

At first, the two Magellan crews took 10-hour shifts, but over time those shrank to between six and seven hours. When not at work, crews slept on bunks in a rest area that was kept dark throughout the flight. Other Airmen have said the KC-46 is a more comfortable experience than past refueling tankers.

“I was able to get five or six hours of sleep multiple times with a sleep mask and noise-canceling headphones or earplugs,” Donahue said. “It’s really not too bad and it allowed us to just keep this sustained operation with only four pilots flying 45 hours.”

To prepare for the flight, the first crew tried to go to bed at around 4 a.m. and sleep until noon about three days prior to takeoff, while the second crew went to bed at four in the afternoon and woke up at midnight.

“It was pretty amazing how quickly we were able to adjust to that new timeline,” Donahue said.

A McConnell Airman marshals a KC-46A Pegasus at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, July 1, 2024 after the KC-46 circumnavigated the globe. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Paula Arce)

It also helped that one crew member made cookies using the galley onboard, and another, instructor pilot Capt. Daison Batangan, brought a birthday cake to celebrate turning 31 years old midflight. By the time they were back over the U.S., the crew were feeling the effects of a very long day, but they still safely accomplished what Toth described as one of the most complex operations he’s seen near McConnell in a long time.

“Meeting up with another tanker for a midmission join-up and then doing formation aerial refueling against three B-2s, it was pretty fantastic,” he said.

“I’d fly 45 hours just to refuel B-2s any day of the week,” Donahue added.

When they landed back at McConnell, the crew had experienced just one sunrise and one sunset on their long westbound flight, “so even though it’s been 45 hours, we’ve really experienced only one solar day,” Toth said. “So that is a bit of a mind trip.”

Even more than a test, the colonel thinks Project Magellan demonstrated AMC’s ability to reach anywhere on Earth.

“Taking off from the [continental U.S.], refueling a C-17 over the Pacific and a combat sortie over Iraq, and coming back to support global strike aircraft showcases that we really can provide air refueling and support global reach anytime, anywhere,” he said.

The complete crew list included Col. Brent Toth, aircraft commander; Capt. Cody Donahue, instructor pilot; Capt. Daison Batangan, instructor pilot; Capt. T.J. Buckley, instructor plot; Master Sgt Jonathan Lauterbach instructor boom operator; Master Sgt Patrick Murray, instructor boom operator; Capt. Jacob Heyrend, flight surgeon; Staff Sgt Alejandro Melendez, flying crew chief; and Staff Sgt Dustin Shaffer, flying crew chief.

kc-46 — The Project Magellan crew pose in front of a KC-46A at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, July 1, 2024 after executing the world’s first nonstop, KC-46A Pegasus westbound circumnavigation endurance flight. **U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Paula Arce**

Space Force Re-Aligns ‘Commit’ Phase for All Its Operators

July 2, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force is reforming the way it presents teams of Guardians to combatant commanders, announcing July 1 that it will synchronize the “commit” phase of the Space Force Generation Model.

Under SPAFORGEN, as the model is known, the Space Force cycles units through three phases: prepare, ready, and commit. Each defines a period of focus, so that units and the Guardians assigned to them get a break from day-to-day operations to train, regenerate readiness through high-end training and exercises, and then stand ready for full-time operational duty.

But over the nearly two years the model has been in place, the cycles have not been in sync from one unit to the next. Now that’s changing, with Space Operations Command taking a more consistent approach to rotating units in and out of phases all at once, regardless of mission area.

“Aligning the timing of these phases for all units across our command helps us ensure combat-credible force elements and warrior leaders across our formations are postured and ready for employment,” SpOC boss Lt. Gen. David N. Miller Jr. said in a statement.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said the shift is another way the Space Force is “solidifying how the Space Force presents forces is an important way we are “optimizing for great power competition.”

“Form must follow function,” Saltzman added. “Our force presentation must reflect that every mission we perform requires expertise in intelligence, cyberspace operations, space system operations, engineering, and sustainment.”

The move goes hand in hand with the Space Force decision announced earlier this year that “combat squadrons” would be the “units of action” the Space Force presents to combatant commanders. Space Force “combat detachments” are deployable units and will follow SPAFORGEN as well.

Brig. Gen. Devin Pepper, vice commander of Space Operations Command, has described an “eight-crew model” in which five crews from a unit are in the “commit” phase at any given time, while the other three are either in either the prepare or ready phases.

Unlike the Air Force Force Generation Model, which cycles through four six-month phases, the SPAFORGEN cycles are uneven, and spread over a five-month cycle time:

Commit lasts 105 days

Prepare runs 21 days

Ready lasts 42 days

Most Space Force operations are conducted at home station, which is why the cycles can be tighter. Leaders say the phases of SPAFORGEN are more about creating high-end readiness and a predictable rhythm for Guardians.

Saltzman has said the prior approach to being ready for anything all the time didn’t achieve the objective of heightened readiness for serious competition with the likes of China and Russia.

“Day-to-day space operations do not prepare Guardians for the challenges they will face in a high-intensity combat environment,” Saltzman wrote in a letter to Guardians in April. “Balancing operations with readiness requires a different approach than the ‘all-in, all-the-time’ construct we used before.”

The prepare phase will include “training, positional upgrades and professional military education,” as well as planned leave, SpOC noted in a release. The ready phase will include advanced training and exercises, as well as “validations” for squadrons to work on their advanced skills. The commit phase will include time on console, conducting everyday space operations.

This shift in focus makes SPAFORGEN “the most drastic change accompanying the establishment of the Space Force” yet, Saltzman said. But it will take time, he added, to work out the kinks and “resource and normalize” the process.

Former NSC Official Calls for ‘More Intensive Training’ with Taiwan

July 2, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea, a former deputy national security advisor from the Trump administration thinks the U.S. should ramp up its joint military exercises with Taiwan in order to counter growing threats from China.

“We should be doing much more serious, multilateral planning together with Taiwan, much more intensive training,” Matthew Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation’s event July 2. “In part because of what Beijing is doing around the Second Thomas Shoal.”

China continues to ratchet up its military aggression towards the Philippines and other nations in the region. Just last month, a Filipino sailor was severely injured in what the Philippine military described as a “deliberate, high-speed ramming” by the Chinese Coast Guard during a resupply mission. Analysts have argued such moves could lead to open conflict and pose significant risks for the U.S. and its allies, and Pottinger argued this threat specifically endangers Taiwan.

“Beijing has made a mockery of international law and traditional laws of the sea,” said Pottinger. “There need to be military costs. It might mean that we are working together with the Philippines to put far more capability in the Philippines to threaten the Chinese navy in any contingency, not just against the Philippines but also against its neighbors like Taiwan.”

In the air, Pottinger argued there is room to grow the partnership between the Republic of China Air Force and the U.S. Air Force, especially given that this February, the USAF finished upgrading Taiwan’s 139 F-16s to the advanced F-16V (Viper) configuration, now rivaling or surpassing most U.S. F-16 capabilities. This $4.5 billion program, initiated back in 2016, enabled Taipei to commission its first operational wing of F-16Vs in 2021. The next step in boosting Taiwan’s air defenses is to deliver 66 new-build F-16s in a comparable configuration, expected within the next two to three years.

“They (Taiwan) got some of their F-16s, and they go head-to-head in training with the U.S. pilots,” said Pottinger. “It only makes sense that we would deepen quality of our planning and training with Taiwan, and that we would start to involve other partners as well, including Japan, but also Australia.”

The U.S. does engage in military visits and training with Taiwan to bolster its defense capabilities—but such efforts are carried out discreetly due to China’s objections to military interactions between the U.S. and Taiwan. Pottinger, however, insisted on scaling up these actions to the point where the U.S. sends a definitive message.

“We should not be seeking to merely manage our competition, but actually to try to win it with Beijing first,” argued Pottinger. “It’s a recognition of the fact that Beijing is not playing for a stalemate; Xi Jinping is playing to win. So, we define an end state that we believe would entail, first and foremost, persuading Xi and the party that he leads that they cannot win either a hot war or a cold war against the U.S. and its allies.”

In recent years, the Air Force has been expanding its training in the area with other regional allies, including the Philippines and Singapore via joint aerial exercises featuring long-range bombers and fighters. The U.S. is ramping up other joint exercises in the region too. This year saw the first joint exercise involving the U.S., Japan, Australia, and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

Pottinger noted that while the China policy of the Trump era, continued under the Biden administration, was initially well-executed, but is now deemed “out of date,” in light of Beijing “leading proxy wars” against the U.S. in multiple theaters.

Picture of Matthew Pottinger (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

Humvee Mishap at Malmstrom Leaves One Airman Dead, Five Injured

July 1, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Airman killed in a vehicle mishap at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., on June 29, has been identified as Staff Sgt. Jorge Delgado, a 37-year-old Airman assigned to the 341st Security Forces Squadron at Malmstrom, according to a July 1 release.

The accident resulted in three other Airmen being injured, as the four Airmen were traveling on-base to their duty location in an up-armored High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, better known as Humvee.

Two additional first responder Airmen sustained injuries while responding to the incident. After all five Airmen were taken to nearby medical facilities, two are now in stable condition, while three have been discharged, the release added.

“Team Malmstrom and our surrounding community grieve not only the loss of an outstanding Airman, but a family member and a friend,” said Col. Dan Voorhies, 341st Missile Wing commander, in the release. “As we help our impacted Airmen and families, I urge us all to spend a little extra time checking in on one another, wrap our arms around those in need, and provide love and support, so we can keep enduring. Wing One is committed to the safety and security of our members, and we will continue to stand strong during this time.”

The spokesperson stated that the accident is under investigation, and no additional details are currently available.

“The safety and well being of all of our Airmen is our priority and we are providing support and assistance to those impacted by this tragic event,” the base’s initial release following the accident on June 29 stated.

Malmstrom, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., and Minot Air Force Base, N.D., are the hubs for the Air Force’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.

With hundreds of nuclear silos, the three bases span vast areas, requiring extensive driving and often use of specialized military vehicles like Humvee, and the new JLTV, or Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, to maintain readiness and security. While it is currently unclear which vehicle was involved in the June 29 crash, last year saw two separate accidents involving Humvees, resulting in the loss of two Airmen’s lives across the nuclear missile fields.

Air Force 1st Lt. Lee Feldhausen, 341st Operations Support Squadron ICBM instructor combat crew commander, spots a driver as he parallel parks a Humvee during the 10th Missile Squadron Humvee Olympics on the Malmstrom Air Force Base flightline Nov. 8. More than 30 Airmen from the 10th MS participated in the event. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Katrina Heikkinen)

On Sept 16, a Humvee crash killed an Airman from the 90th Missile Security Forces Squadron of F.E. Warren, while another Airman sustained minor injuries. The accident occurred near a nuclear missile field near Grover, Colo.

About a month later, another Humvee crash killed an Airman from the 341st Missile Security Forces Squadron at Malmstrom. The Airman was initially hospitalized and succumbed to his injuries six days after the accident. Another individual involved in the incident sustained injuries but was in stable condition afterward. According to a report from the Montana Highway Patrol provided to local media, the Humvee driver attempted a downhill right-hand curve “at an excessive rate of speed for the vehicle,” crossing into the opposite lane and veered off the road.

Unlike the outdated Humvee, the JLTVs are billed as more reliable, more mobile in rough terrain, and better protected, making them better for snow- or mud-covered conditions throughout Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming. While the JLTV requires extensive training due to its complexity, the vehicle is also smarter, equipped with computers in the dashboard that help Airmen keep track of their fellow defenders and build situational awareness.

Boeing to Buy Spirit AeroSystems, Contractor on B-21 and KC-46

July 1, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Boeing has announced it will buy Spirit AeroSystems, one of its chief suppliers, for $4.7 billion, a move aimed at giving Boeing more cradle-to-grave control of quality, a huge issue for the commercial and military plane-maker in the past year.

The deal is expected to get quick approval from the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice.

The move comes amid industry speculation that former Boeing executive, Spirit CEO and former acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan could succeed David Calhoun as Boeing’s new CEO. Calhoun has already announced he will step down later this year, and Shanahan was known as “Mr. Fix-It” at Boeing during his tenure there, for getting troubled programs back on track. However, Shanahan headed Spirit when its current quality control problems erupted.

Spirit was Boeing’s Wichita Division until it was sold off to a holding company in 2005 and was structured as an independent entity. Spirit makes commercial airliner fuselages, fuselage sections, flight decks, wings, and wing components for both Boeing and its archrival Airbus, among other aerospace-related products for various users.

Part of the deal will also be a stock swap between Boeing and Spirit. The total value of the sale, including Spirit’s debt, is $8.3 billion. Spirit’s defense and space revenue came to about $800 million out of a total of $6.1 billion in revenue in 2023.

“Bringing Spirit and Boeing together will enable greater integration of both companies’ manufacturing and engineering capabilities, including safety and quality systems,” Shanahan said in a press release.

Spirit is also a major supplier on some key Air Force programs; notably the Boeing KC-46 tanker and the Northrop Grumman B-21 bomber. For the KC-46, Spirit makes the forward fuselage, strut, and nacelle components, and the fixed leading edge. The Air Force has never disclosed what Spirit contributes to the largely classified B-21, although it is likely its work involves internal structures and some external skin sections. Spirit is one of only seven companies the Air Force has disclosed as B-21 subcontractors.

On its website, Spirit said it contributed to the design of the KC-46. The company also makes large portions of the P-8 patrol aircraft, on which the E-7 Wedgetail airborne battle management aircraft is based. The E-7 and P-8 have large assemblies in common and will be built on the same production line, so Spirit is also likely to be a major supplier on the E-7 when production of that aircraft gears up for the Air Force.

In March, when quality issues at Boeing and Spirit were making headlines, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told Air & Space Forces Magazine he was “not aware” of any quality issues at Spirit affecting any Air Force programs. A service spokesperson reiterated that comment two weeks later.

One element of the deal is an agreement with Airbus that the European airliner company will take over Spirit facilities that support Airbus programs after Boeing completes the acquisition of Spirit. Among those facilities are one in Kinston, N.C., where Spirit makes Airbus A350 fuselages; a plant in Northern Ireland that makes A220 wings; a plant in Casablanca, Morocco, that does A320 engine nacelles and A220 fuselage work and a French facility that assembles fuselage sections built in N.C.

Airbus is seeking to compete for the KC-135 Recapitalization Program under which the Air Force will buy 50-75 tankers. The buy will “bridge” between the end of the KC-46 contract and the start of the Next-Generation Air refueling System (NGAS) program, which seeks a new, smaller, and stealthier aerial tanker than USAF has previously operated.

Boeing said its decision to re-acquire Spirit was based on an effort to increase quality and safety at the Wichita-based company, which whistleblowers have charged covered up quality “escapes” that were then only partially caught at Boeing. The quality issues highlighted included mis-drilled holes, mis-aligned fuselage panels, and sloppy administration that either failed to catch and correct mistakes or deliberately under-reported or covered up such errors.

In the press statement accompanying the announcement, Calhoun said Boeing executives believe the deal is “in the best interest of the flying public, our airline customers, the employees of Spirit and Boeing, our stakeholders, and the country more broadly.”

Boeing’s current difficulties came to national attention in early January when an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 suffered a door-sized panel blowout at 16,000 feet altitude. It was later determined that bolts that were supposed to hold the panel in place were removed for a check and then not re-installed. The incident did not result in any lives lost, but did prompt the Federal Aviation Administration to deploy inspectors and watchers to monitor quality at both Boeing and Spirit.

Since then, Boeing has been hit by a series of whistleblower accusations; a Federal Aviation Administration audit; the firing of the 737 program manager; complaints by the National Transportation Safety Board that Boeing is not cooperating with its investigations; loss of paperwork related to the door plug incident, and the death of a Spirit whistleblower.

Previous quality issues moved Spirit’s board to bring Shanahan in last October. Other names floated as a possible successor to Shanahan include Greg Smith, CEO of American Airlines, and a former Boeing Chief Financial Officer; and Larry Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace.

Why Deorbiting SpaceX Satellites Is a ‘Tremendous Opportunity’ for the Space Force

July 1, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

As SpaceX begins to decommission and “deorbit” 100 of its oldest Starlink satellites, the Space Force is gathering crucial data and real-world experience for Guardians.

Since May, Space Forces-Space, the Space Force unit that presents forces to U.S. Space Command, has publicised on social media the many satellites, rockets, bits of debris it’s tracking as they reenter the atmosphere. But while that work has gone on for years, the difference now is that SpaceX isn’t passively waiting for its spacecraft to decay or drop from space, but is actively pursuing their demise.

SpaceX announced in February it would initiate controlled descents for 100 of its older Starlink satellites over the span of several months, dropping them into lower orbits so the Earth’s gravity can finish the job, pulling them down into the atmosphere, where they burn up upon reentry.

The Space Force’s Space Delta 2 tracks spacecraft orbits and debris and issues warnings when there’s risk of collisions so satellite operators can maneuver to avoid them. But tracking de-orbiting satellites also gives space operators a chance to practice Space Domain Awareness with real-world events, said retired Air Force Col. Jennifer Reeves, a senior resident fellow for space studies at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

“This is an amazing opportunity for the Space Force to work with SpaceX to understand when they think everything is going to be burning back in, based on the actions that SpaceX is going to be taking to deliberately deorbit these … and then we get the immediate feedback of what the sensors on the military side are actually seeing,” Reeves said. “That validates in a very specific way what our sensors are actually seeing, that they’re actually seeing these de-orbits, and what might be different from one event to another.”

The Space Surveillance Network—a collection of ground- and space-based sensors—will track the de-orbits, offering Guardians “reps and sets” to hone their skills. “We really are at the beginning of a lot of de-orbiting and understanding what that looks like in the sensor and the reporting network of the Space Force,” Reeves said.

The expansion of so-called “mega-constellations” in space, featuring thousands of small satellites in low-Earth orbit, will necessitate de-orbiting as the satellites age. There are more than 5,000 Starlink satellites alone, and other companies are fielding or developing similar-sized constellations, as is the Space Force’s Space Development Agenc, which is planning the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, which will consist of hundreds of satellites in LEO.

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted a rule requiring commercial operators to de-orbit their satellites within five years after a satellite completes its assigned purpose—so ultimately, as many satellites as are launched into space will have to be de-orbited.

“The lessons learned out of what happens with a [proliferated] LEO constellation are going to be applicable to everybody, including the Space Force,” Reeves said.

Guardians will also be able to use deorbiting to hone missile-warning skills. That’s because, like the infrared signatures of missile launches, satellites reentering the atmosphere will also have their own haveinfrared signatures.

“As a person who’s done this for years and years as a youngster, how you actually see that on console tends to look different,” Reeves said. “However, there are instances where sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. So more examples of things coming back” is just an ideal opportunity to practice with real-world data, rather than simulations.

“Man, talk about getting to test out not just our equipment, but to test out the eyes of our young operators,” Reeves said, and “to make sure they know what to look for and what to see. And of course, they do, but more reps is always better.”