Six Killed in Crash Between WWII-Era Planes at Dallas Air Show

Six Killed in Crash Between WWII-Era Planes at Dallas Air Show

Nov. 14, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

A World War II-era bomber and fighter collided during an air show performance in Dallas on Nov. 12, killing six members of the Commemorative Air Force who were flying as pilots and crew.

On Nov. 14, the CAF posted the names of the volunteers flying the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress and Bell P-63F Kingcobra:

  • Terry Barker
  • Craig Hutain
  • Kevin “K5” Michaels
  • Dan Ragan
  • Leonard “Len” Root
  • Curt Rowe

“We are heartbroken to announce that the following members of the Commemorative Air Force went west … at the Wings Over Dallas WWII Airshow while performing,” the organization said. “Please join us in mourning the loss of our good friends and fellow airmen.” 

The CAF owns 180 vintage airplanes in the U.S. and Europe, flying about 6,500 hours a year in performances and training, said Henry “Hank” Coates, the organization’s president and CEO, in a press conference later the day of the crash. The CAF produced the Nov. 12 event at the Dallas Executive Airport, which is where the CAF has its headquarters.

Coates described the show as “a World War II flight demonstration-type air show where we highlight the aircraft and their capabilities and what actually happened in World War II—it’s very patriotic.” About 4,000-6,000 people were estimated to be in attendance.

At about 1:15 p.m. local time, the two aircraft were flying in a formation the CAF refers to as “bombers on parade,” Coates said.

Videos recorded by witnesses show a number of aircraft flying in formation when the P-63 appears to approach from behind and collide with the B-17.

“The B-17 normally has a crew of four to five—that was what was on the aircraft. And the P-63 is a single-piloted fighter-type aircraft,” Coates said.

“The maneuvers that they were going through were not dynamic at all.” 

He couldn’t speculate on the cause of the crash pending an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. He said a preliminary report will come out first, followed at “a significantly later time” by the findings of a more thorough investigation involving engineering analysis and interviews.

“What I can tell you is, you’ve seen the same video that I’ve seen,” Coates said. “Until the FAA allows me to speak to what happened, it will be inappropriate for me to speculate.”

Volunteers maintain and fly the CAF’s fleet, adhering to what Coates described as “a very strict process of training and hours. All pilots are vetted very carefully. Many of them have been flying for us for 20 or 30 years or longer. So this is not … their first rodeo. These guys are very well versed. … Many of them are airline pilots, retired airline pilots, retired military pilots like myself.”

He said his wife recently rode in the B-17, “and I’d put her in it again. This is not about the aircraft. It’s just not, let me tell you. The aircraft are great aircraft. They are safe. They are very well maintained. The pilots are very well trained.” 

He said families and others involved or who witnessed the crash are receiving counseling.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, President of the Air & Space Forces Association, said in a statement that the association “extends its deeper sympathies to the families of those lost in the Nov. 12 crash of the Commemorative Air Force’s B-17 Flying Fortress and P-63 Kingcobra. The individuals who lost their lives in this tragic accident were working ardently to educate the public about America’s airpower history and also honoring America’s Air Force veterans.

“This is an incredibly important mission, keeping alive this crucial period in our nation’s history. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the lost.”

B-52s Fly Bomber Task Force Mission Over CENTCOM With Israeli, Saudi Fighters

B-52s Fly Bomber Task Force Mission Over CENTCOM With Israeli, Saudi Fighters

Nov. 14, 2022 | By Chris Gordon

Two B-52H Stratofortresses flew over the Middle East on Nov. 10 in the latest demonstration of American air power in the region. U.S. partners also participated, escorting the bombers with fighter jets and helping coordinate the mission.

Bomber task forces (BTF) routinely deploy around the world in the place of a U.S. permanent bomber presence. The recent BTF mission in the Middle East, however, comes at a time of increased tension in the region. According to media reports, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have intelligence indicating Iran may be planning an attack against Saudi Arabia, which hosts U.S. forces. The B-52s involved in the BTF mission are assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.

“This Bomber Task Force is a clear reflection of enduring U.S. commitment to the region,” Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, commander of Air Forces Central (AFCENT), said in a statement announcing the mission. “Together with our partners, we can rapidly inject overwhelming combat power into our common operating area.”

The U.S. also recently deployed F-22 Raptor stealth fighters to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. F-22s have previously been called into the CENTCOM region to assure partner nations in response to threats from Iran and its proxy forces. B-52s from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., participated in a BTF mission over the CENTCOM area in September.

“In this dynamic environment, no one can go it alone, and each BTF we execute allows us to deepen interoperability and practice key operational tasks with our allies and partners,” Grynkewich added.

The mission involved U.S. forces along with 13 partner air forces, according to CENTCOM, though the command declined to provide specific details of each nation’s participation. The Israel Defense Forces and Royal Saudi Air Force publicized their involvement in the mission, which included fighter escorts of the B-52s, in separate statements. Israeli and Saudi aircraft did not fly together and joined the B-52s at different points in the mission.

Grynkewich, who took command of AFCENT in July, has stressed that he wants to increase the participation of allied forces with the U.S., particularly at the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

The CAOC, or 609th AOC as the center is also known, coordinates air operations in the region. U.S. Air Force and coalition partners support Operation Inherent Resolve, the counter-ISIS campaign, and fly missions to protect U.S. forces on the ground. The U.S. and its allies also conduct counter-drone exercises, among other missions. The bomber task force adds another element to help improve coordination, the senior Canadian officer at the CAOC said.

“The 609th Air Operations Center has witnessed an exponential increase in partner nation integration and cooperation with respect to day-to-day operations as a result of the coalition teamwork derived from the execution of BTF missions,” Royal Canadian Air Force Lt. Col. Terry Wong said in a statement.

Wong said BTF missions would continue.

“We are both enthusiastic and optimistic that future BTF missions will continue this trend of collaboration and solidarity,” he added.

The Israeli Air Force escorted the B-52s over Israeli air space with two F-35I Adir fifth-generation fighters. The IDF said its participation was part of “increasing cooperation” with the U.S. military. Israel came under CENTCOM’s area of responsibility in 2021 and deepened security ties with some Arab states in the region.

The Biden administration has said it will reevaluate the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia following the kingdom’s move to keep oil prices high as part of the OPEC+ cartel. For now, the U.S. has stressed that it will continue military cooperation with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense released photos of two F-15 and two Typhoon fighters flying with at least one B-52 over Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense said in a tweet that the sortie shows “the joint work between the two forces to contribute to efforts to enhance security and stability of the region.” Saudi Arabia also completed a weeklong maritime exercise dubbed “Nautical Defender” with the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and the U.K. Royal Navy. The drill, which concluded Nov. 7, involved training events ashore and in the Arabian Gulf, with participation from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Army, and Coast Guard and multiple U.S. vessels, including a guided missile destroyer.

B-52s CENTCOM
Air Force to Start Testing XQ-58 Autonomous Aircraft at Eglin

Air Force to Start Testing XQ-58 Autonomous Aircraft at Eglin

Nov. 14, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

A new aircraft will soon be in the skies for testing above Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

The Air Force has transferred two XQ-58 Valkyrie drones to the 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin, the 96th Test Wing announced Nov. 9—a key development as the service moves quickly to develop and field unmanned, autonomous aircraft that can pair with manned systems.

The 40th FTS will use the XQ-58s, developed by contractor Kratos, to test autonomous aircraft operations, airspace, and safety processes. An Autonomous Aircraft Experimentation team within the 40th FTS will lead the testing, partnering with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation office.

Some of that testing will include the software developed as part of the Air Force’s “Skyborg” program, which was aimed at developing an artificial intelligence-enabled system to control unmanned aircraft. But it will also include autonomy software “provided by third-party government and industry partners,” according to the 96th Test Wing’s release.

It’s all likely to play a key role in developing “Collaborative Combat Aircraft”—the name the Air Force has given to its plans for uncrewed aircraft that will fly in loose formations with crewed fighters, directed by the live pilots but carrying out tasks autonomously. 

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has made the CCA program a priority as one of his “Operational Imperatives” for the service to focus on, with hopes of producing aircraft in the very near future.

In order to develop the necessary requirements and prove out capabilities, however, the Air Force needs test data.

“The data generated during previous tests, along with feedback provided from our user community, show that in order to rapidly develop and mature tactical autonomy on an appropriate timeline, investment in, and utilization of, appropriate military range resources is required,” Matthew Niemiec, AFRL autonomous aircraft experimentation portfolio lead, said in a statement.

And so the XQ-58 has arrived at Eglin, with plans to start flying by December. Infrastructure and logistics for the drone still have to be built, the release noted, but given the urgency associated with CCA and autonomous software, the 40th FTS’s Autonomous Aircraft Experimentation team will have to move quickly.

Already, Maj. John Nygard, the team lead, has said the goal is to start experimenting with “crewed-uncrewed teaming display solutions” by the fall of 2023.

The XQ-58 has been a part of the Skyborg program for a few years now and recently was part of tests with autonomous software that Kratos announced in July. First developed as part of AFRL’s Low Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology portfolio, the Valkyrie has also flown tests showing capabilities such as releasing another drone in flight and carrying technology allowing an F-35 and F-22 to share data in-flight.

Most recently, Kratos announced Nov. 3 that the aircraft, flying at the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground, had completed a successful flight test showing it can fly longer, higher, farther, and at a heavier weight. 

And while the 96th Test Wing’s release emphasized the Valkyrie’s role in testing autonomous aircraft systems, Kratos executives have expressed hope that the XQ-58 can be tested and used in other ways as well.

“There are other activities going on with the Valkyrie system right now,” Jeffrey Herro, a senior vice president in Kratos’ unmanned systems division, said in an interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine. “We’re very happy with the performance of it. The performance on these last flights … was very good. We’re really happy with that. And we’re continuing to evolve other capabilities for other platforms. … Because at the end of the day, we’re building an airplane. And we’ve presented this airplane as a multi-mission-capable system.”

Space Force’s X-37B Lands After More Than 900 Days in Orbit; What Comes Next?

Space Force’s X-37B Lands After More Than 900 Days in Orbit; What Comes Next?

Nov. 14, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force’s X-37B space plane returned to Earth on Nov. 12, concluding its longest mission yet after nearly two and a half years in orbit.

The orbital test vehicle touched down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility early the morning of Nov. 12, the Space Force announced in a release. The vehicle launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., on May 17, 2020, and spent 908 days in orbit.

In its release, USSF highlighted several of the long-term payloads and experiments the X-37B hosted during its long stint in space, including a ring-shaped service module attached to the back of the plane that allowed it to host more experiments. That service module was separated before landing “due to the aerodynamic forces experienced by the X-37B vehicle upon re-entry,” the release stated.

In addition, the X-37B deployed the U.S. Air Force Academy’s FalconSat-8 while in orbit. The small satellite was built and is currently operated by USAFA faculty and students. The X-37 also hosted the Naval Research Laboratory’s experimental Photovoltaic Radio-frequency Antenna Module, which converted solar energy into RF microwave energy.

The Space Force also highlighted a pair of NASA experiments on board the space plane. The first, Materials Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space (METIS-2), “included thermal control coatings, printed electronic materials, and candidate radiation shielding materials.” The second involved plant seeds, as scientists are eager to understand the effects of long-term space exposure, particularly radiation, on seeds. The results will inform plans for crop production in space for future interplanetary missions and permanently manned bases in space. 

Many of the experiments and payloads on the X-37B, however, are classified and undisclosed.

Space Delta 9 operates the uncrewed, Boeing-built plane, which belongs to the 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron. In July, the X-37B eclipsed its previous endurance record of 780 days.

The Space Force hasn’t said how many more missions the X-37B will fly, but officials have indicated that they are looking forward to replacements. 

In 2020, then-Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said the service had gained invaluable lessons and insights from the reusable vehicles, but that the X-37B was “an example, maybe, [of] technology that has served its purpose and it’s time to start looking at the next available capability.”

A little more than two years later, now-Gen. Saltzman is the Space Force’s second Chief of Space Operations, and a new commercial reusable spaceplane is slated to launch in mid-2023.

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser space plane is intended to deliver cargo to the International Space Station on its first flight. The timeline for that mission has slipped several times, with current estimates putting it in the summer of 2023. It will be launched on board United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket and be capable of flying back to Earth and landing on runways.

There are also plans for a crewed version of Dream Chaser, though such a version is still several years away.

While Dream Chaser is a commercial vehicle, organizations in the Pentagon have shown interest. Sierra Space has already signed an agreement with U.S. Transportation Command to develop concepts and plans for how Dream Chaser could be used to transport military personnel and supplies. 

The Department of the Air Force is pursuing a similar idea, with a so-called “Vanguard” program to study using space launches to deliver cargo across the globe.

X-37B
X-37B orbital test vehicle concludes sixth successful mission. Photo by Staff Sgt. Adam Shanks
Skyborg, Golden Horde Closing Out Vanguard Phase, Moving Into Program of Record

Skyborg, Golden Horde Closing Out Vanguard Phase, Moving Into Program of Record

Nov. 10, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

Two of the Air Force’s most prominent “Vanguard” technology incubator programs—Skyborg and Golden Horde—are graduating to become part of a program of record in 2023 and will form the nucleus of new combat systems, a senior USAF official said.

Kirsten J. Baldwin, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for science, technology, and engineering, said Skyborg and Golden Horde will be “closing down” and transitioning into a new Collaborative Combat Aircraft program in 2023, under Brig Gen. Dale R. White, program executive officer for fighters and advanced aircraft. Data acquired from both programs will feed other efforts, as well.

The CCA effort aims to create uncrewed aircraft that will fly in loose formations with crewed fighters, directed by the live pilots but carrying out their tasks autonomously.

Speaking on a Defense News streaming program on future air dominance, Baldwin noted that both Skyborg and Golden Horde generated successful experiments in the past year, and that after a “final demonstration” of their software, will move into a CCA program of record.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has said the CCA concept is mature enough to form such a program, and that its structure will be revealed in the fiscal 2024 budget submission. It hasn’t been clear, however, what would happen to Skyborg and Golden Horde after that happened, and whether they would continue in some other form.

Baldwin said Skyborg will demonstrate “autonomy and different applications … in ‘23” in one more demonstration that again shows that the technology is “portable” across a range of aircraft. The program developed and demonstrated a generic package of autonomous piloting capability that was used to operate such aircraft as the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie and UTAP-22 Mako uncrewed aircraft. 

“This program demonstrated autonomous collaborative software” that can be applied to CCAs doing “different types of missions, whether it be sensing, or weapons, or electronic attack, or training.” The lessons learned will be applied across a number of other programs as well, Baldwin said.

As a Vanguard program, Skyborg demonstrated and evaluated that technology—“how would it work and … what are the concepts … of operation and [tactics, techniques and procedures] really informing” the CCA program, she said.

Golden Horde is also “coming to closure,” Baldwin said. It demonstrated how a group of unmanned aircraft or weapons could “communicate with each other and … operate collectively rather than singularly.” In one experiment, the system coordinated the actions of a number of Small Diameter Bombs. Those lessons are being applied “into what we call Golden Horde Colosseum,” in which the autonomous software will allow a group of munitions in a strike package to adjust to changing conditions or instructions and retarget themselves to achieve desired effects.

“Colosseum is an engineering environment and a modeling environment, just like our digital transformation activities,” Baldwin said, and it will help “our engineers design the future weapons so that maybe they can … have this capability designed-in from the start.”

A new Vanguard, named Resolute Sentry, will begin demonstrations in 2023, Baldwin said, “which is going to provide us real-time, multi-domain battlespace awareness to address contested environments.” It will assist in “how we do mission rehearsal and planning and how we apply technology to rapidly iterate different types of missions and war fighting options, and … facilitate complex air attack plans in rapid succession.”

Baldwin said the Vanguard program called Rocket Cargo will continue, as it serves one of Kendall’s “Operational Imperatives” of being able to provide logistics in contested areas. The concept calls for rockets to fly at intercontinental distances to take ammunition and supplies to forward-located forces without the need for established ground, sea, or air lines of communication.

Rocket Cargo allows the Air Force to leverage commercial investment and advancement in tail-landing rockets, possibly doing so with only “minor modifications” to technology that already exists, she said.

SDA Director: Next Batch of Data-Transport Satellites Will Amount to ‘250-ish’

SDA Director: Next Batch of Data-Transport Satellites Will Amount to ‘250-ish’

Nov. 10, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Development Agency’s warfighter council will set requirements in March for the second large batch of satellites to join the Transport Layer of the agency’s National Defense Space Architecture, a planned constellation in low Earth orbit. A solicitation will then go out in the “late spring of 2023,” SDA director Derek M. Tournear said Nov. 10.

While the agency is still waiting to hear from the council before it finalizes the minimum viable product and exact force design structure for the Tranche 2 Transport Layer, Tournear indicated that the tranche will include “250-ish” satellites for data transport.

That’s about twice the number of satellites included in the Tranche 1 Transport Layer. SDA awarded contracts for that tranche’s 126 satellites in February. The number would also well exceed how many satellites the Space Force currently has in orbit. 

SDA’s warfighter council meets twice yearly and guides the agency’s process for determining what capabilities are most important. The council’s next meeting is in March, Tournear said during a webcast hosted by the National Security Space Association, and the goal is to release a request for proposals for the Trance 2 Transport Layer “shortly thereafter.”

After that, a contract award will likely follow in the summer of 2023, Tournear said, which would keep the program in line “so that we can hit that September 2026 launch date” planned for Tranche 2.

Meanwhile, Tranche 2 of the architecture’s Tracking Layer won’t be far behind, as SDA will once again rely on the March meeting of the warfighter council to fully set requirements.

“We’re looking at on the order of 50 Tracking satellites,” Tournear said. “And the mixture between wide-field-of-view and medium-field-of-view will be determined during the warfighter council … and that will come out later in summer or early fall of 2023, is when the Tranche 2 Tracking solicitation will go.”

Like the Transport Layer, the second tranche of the Tracking Layer, responsible for missile tracking and missile warning, will be roughly double the size of Tranche 1. SDA awarded contracts for 28 satellites for the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer in July.

For both the Transport and Tracking Layers, Tournear said, the main difference between Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 will be the expansion of coverage provided. SDA has referred to Tranche 1 as providing “initial warfighting capability.”

“It will allow us persistence over given regions of the globe,” Tournear said. “Tranche 2 will give us complete global persistence. So we don’t have to do any kind of prioritization over different areas of the globe. It’ll also give us enough satellites to where we have built-in resilience just because of the numbers of satellites.”

In the meantime, Tranche 1 is scheduled to begin launching in September 2024 and should be finished by mid-2025, Tournear indicated. And that timing could be key as Pentagon officials continue to warn that China is building up its capabilities, with the goal of having the ability to invade Taiwan by 2027.

“It’s no mystery that [Chinese president] Xi Jinping has given his military until 2027 to develop the military capability to forcefully reunify with Taiwan, if he makes the decision to do that,” undersecretary of defense for policy Colin Kahl said in September.

Should such a timeline come to pass, Tranche 1 will be “ready for the fight in that timeframe” and capable of providing coverage for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility, Tournear said.

“That will give you the persistence over INDOPACOM for those real-time tactical data links,” Tournear said. “So that means we will be able to tie in their existing fielded radios … so those tactical radios that our war fighters use on the ground, on ships, and in the air, they’ll be able to talk to the satellites. They’ll be able to communicate targeting data back and forth within each other. Eeven though they’re outside of what would traditionally be supported by a tactical data link, the space layer will be able to make that global, will be able to tie that back to targeting cells located anywhere in the globe, to be able to move that data in real time in a theater.”

More immediately, though, SDA is focused on its next industry solicitation, for the “app factory” for battle management/command and control communication—BMC3.

“Basically, it’s the software that will be used by performers on the ground to build the apps and test out the apps in a secure environment to basically do uploads onto the satellite, so that we can upgrade the BMC3 processors on orbit,” Tournear said.

The battle management function of the National Defense Space Architecture is still being fleshed out, and contractors that don’t win the deal for the app factory will still be able to build and offer applications developed for BMC3 in the coming years, Tournear said. 

A draft of the solicitation for the app factory was released Nov. 9. SDA plans to listen to industry feedback and re-issue a final solicitation in February, Tournear added.

Safety Board: NASA Needs a Better Plan to De-Orbit the International Space Station

Safety Board: NASA Needs a Better Plan to De-Orbit the International Space Station

Nov. 10, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

The U.S. and Russia need to work together on a plan to de-orbit the International Space Station, a plan that a NASA advisory board said is needed both in case of an emergency—a growing likelihood—and to prepare for the station’s retirement.

Meanwhile NASA, together with SpaceX, should address a backup launch pad for crew and cargo missions to the ISS in case the company damages its existing launch pad when it begins launching its new Starship rockets from there.

Risk to the ISS itself—not to mention the risk it poses to other objects in space and to people there and on the ground—only grows as more satellites enter low Earth orbit, said Sandra H. “Sandy” Magnus, a member of NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, or ASAP, at the group’s October meeting.

A former stealth engineer for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft before becoming an astronaut, Magnus also worked as the Defense Department’s chief engineer for advanced capabilities as well as deputy director of engineering in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

The panel first recommended in 2012 that NASA estimate the risk to people on the ground if the ISS re-entered Earth’s atmosphere uncontrolled; and said the agency should hammer out a timeline for safe de-orbiting.

“Our rationale was, of course, that an unexpected emergency event could precipitate the need to de-orbit the ISS at any time, and timely development of the plan on how to respond to such a situation before it occurs will allow an optimum response and maximize the safety of the public in that situation,” Magnus said. 

After “conceptual agreement” later emerged on an approach, the board was satisfied, but it’s now circling back: “Subsequent detailed discussion amongst the ISS partners have identified technical and operational issues, which needs further addressing,” Magnus said.

Already, NASA and the Russian Space Agency are discussing how to make the plan for a controlled re-entry “more robust,” Magnus said. “And the panel would like to reiterate its concern first stated … in 2012 about the lack of a well defined, fully funded, controlled re-entry and de-orbit plan for the ISS that is available on a timeline that supports the planned ISS retirement,” anywhere from 2024 to 2030.

NASA’s existing plan, outlined in January 2022, assumes that controlled de-orbiting maneuvers will take place in the second half of 2030 with the assistance of three of Russia’s Progress cargo vehicles—the space station’s own propulsion together with that if its normal rotation of visiting vehicles wouldn’t be enough.

But in case of an emergency, NASA needs to prepare, the board said.

“The risk to public safety and space sustainability is increasing every year as the orbital altitude in and around the ISS continues to become more densely populated by satellites, increasing the likelihood that an unplanned emergency ISS de-orbit would also impact other resident space objects,” Magnus said.

The panel’s new recommendation: “NASA should define an executable and appropriately budgeted de-orbit plan that includes implementation on a timeline to deliver a controlled reentry capability to the ISS as soon as practicable, to be put in place for the need of a controlled de-orbit in the event of an emergency, as well as in place before the retirement of the ISS, to ensure that the station is able to be de-orbited safely,” Magnus said.

In part because Boeing’s crew capsule, the Crew Space Transportation-100 Starliner, hasn’t yet entered service, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program doesn’t have the intended redundancy available to fly astronauts to the ISS, according to the panel’s report made Oct. 27. Contracting for five more future SpaceX Crew Dragon missions brought the coming roster to eight crew flights, which should last into 2027. Meanwhile, NASA and Boeing postponed the first crewed test flight of a Starliner capsule two months, to no earlier than April 2023, to address anomalies from an uncrewed test flight.

Therefore, according to the panel, as the only provider able to transport crew, SpaceX should rapidly complete tasks surrounding the certification of a backup launch pad—Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla.—before commencing launches of its super-heavy-lift Starship rocket at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39. The Starship launches could start as soon as this year, so NASA and SpaceX need a backup in case of problems “related to a launch failure,” according to the panel. 

Air Force Orders 2 More New E-11A BACN Aircraft Systems, Making 5

Air Force Orders 2 More New E-11A BACN Aircraft Systems, Making 5

Nov. 9, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to outfit two more E-11A Bombardier business jets with the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system. The service already operates three such aircraft, which are used to improve tactical communications for joint and coalition forces.

The work will be performed under a $3.6 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract awarded by the Air Force to Northrop Grumman in January 2021. The company will provide the BACN payload as well as integrate it with the aircraft. Bombardier Defense is providing aircraft under a separate $464.8 million contract awarded in June 2021.

The Air Force wants to transition all its BACN payloads onto Bombardier Global Express 6000/BD-700 aircraft. Some of the extant BACN fleet are EQ-4B Global Hawk autonomous uncrewed aircraft, also built by Northrop Grumman, which the Air Force wants to retire.  Fiscal year 2021 budget plans called for one new E-11 BACN to be added to the fleet every year for six years; nine aircraft in total are budgeted.   

The existing BACN aircraft have amassed some 200,000 operational hours as a “key command and control facilitator supporting airdrops, personnel recovery, convoy, humanitarian assistance and close air support operations,” Northrop Grumman said in a press release.

In Afghanistan, the aircraft were tapped to provide better communications between air and ground units in mountainous terrain, where signal quality was poor or frequently interrupted. The BACN aircraft have also been used as a “gateway” allowing F-35 and F-22 fighters—the data systems of which are not compatible—to share information; and as a beyond-line-of-sight communications relay. The BACN fleet is sometimes referred to by the sobriquet “wifi in the sky.”

“Our battle-tested family of gateway systems improves mission effectiveness and provides the secure and connective tissue between systems and sensors for joint warfighters across space, air, land and sea domains,” said Kevin Berkowitz, Northrop Grumman’s director of network solutions.

The January 2021 contract also provides for Northrop Grumman to develop new BACN capabilities and integrate them on the fleet. That contract also covers ground stations or controls; support gear; and operation of system integration labs.

The BACN payload is being modified for fourth- to fifth-generation fighters to share data via the gateway. It will have an upgraded GPS system to function in a higher-threat environment; Link 16; advanced navigation and performance improvements; and reliability enhancements. Other upgrades will be made to the aircraft’s self-protection and survivability suite.

Meet the New Air Force Veterans Elected to Congress, and Other Midterm Takeaways

Meet the New Air Force Veterans Elected to Congress, and Other Midterm Takeaways

Nov. 9, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The 2022 midterm elections produced several major surprises as races began to be called late Nov. 8 and early Nov. 9, and the biggest effects were yet to be decided, as neither Republicans nor Democrats had secured control of the House or Senate.

But for national security and defense watchers, some of the most important races on Election Day produced definitive results. Here’s what it means for the Pentagon and Air Force.

Air Force Veterans

In the current Congress, 15 Air Force veterans are in office—13 in the House, two in the Senate.

Neither of the USAF vets in the Senate—Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)—were up for re-election. Three in the House were not on the ballot either, but nearly two dozen other former Airmen sought office for the first time

All told, every Air Force veteran currently in the House who was running again has been projected as winning. In addition, three newcomers are projected to win: Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), and Donald Davis (D-N.C.).

Luna is a former enlisted Airman who joined at the age of 19 and served as an airfield manager, according to media reports. She earned the Air Force Achievement Medal, was honorably discharged, and subsequently joined the Oregon Air National Guard for a time.

Davis is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and, according to media reports, served for eight years, working as a mortuary officer; coordinating operations for VC-25A “Air Force One” at Joint Base Andrews, Md.; and serving at an ROTC detachment in North Carolina.

Nunn is a retired lieutenant colonel who served on both Active duty and in the Guard and deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan, amassing nearly 1,000 combat flight hours, mostly in reconnaissance aircraft, according to an Air Force release and his LinkedIn page.

Most of the other former Airmen seeking office for the first time lost, but one race still remained uncalled. Sam Peters, a retired major who won the Bronze Star medal and was running in Nevada, narrowly trailed Rep. Steven Horsford.

Incumbents 

Of the 26 members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, only two were up for re-election: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). Duckworth rolled to an easy win, with the Associated Press calling her race at 8 p.m. Eastern time, just as polls in Illinois closed. 

Kelly, meanwhile, faced a tight battle with Republican Blake Masters and had not secured victory, but with a projected 72 percent of the vote in, he was winning by a 51-46 margin, according to ABC News. 

Of the 59 members of the House Armed Services Committee, 50 were on the ballot Nov. 8. And of those 50, the vast majority were successful—45 were projected as winners by the Associated Press as of 3:45 p.m. Nov. 9. That included the top Republican and Democrat on the committee, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.).

Only one lawmaker on the panel had been projected to lose, but she was a major figure. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) was the vice chair of the committee and a powerful advocate for the Navy. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) sought re-election but was defeated in her primary.

That left four races involving HASC members still uncalled, all involving Democrats. Reps. Marilyn Strickland (Wash.), Pat Ryan (N.Y.), Jared Golden (Maine), and Steven Horsford (Nev.) were all leading in their races, but by narrow margins (as of 3:45 p.m. Nov. 9).

Some of the other most vulnerable incumbents on the ballot, however, survived. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) were projected as winners. The relatively junior lawmakers could be poised to rise up the ranks now, as Luria and Cheney join eight HASC members who did not seek re-election in leaving the panel, creating fairly substantial turnover.

Majority/Minority Ratios

Of course, the compositions of both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees is still to be determined, depending on who ends up in the majority and by how much.

On that front, political observers have noted that Republicans are still likely to take control in the House, but by a far smaller margin than predicted entering Election Day. As of 3:45 p.m., ABC News had called 211 races for Republicans and 194 for Democrats, with 30 still up in the air.

With a 222-213 advantage in the current Congress, Democrats held a 31-28 advantage in seats on the HASC. Generally speaking, the majority party gets a slightly higher ratio of seats on every committee than it has in the overall House, according to data from the Congressional Research Service.

For the Senate, a perfectly divided 50-50 chamber in this past Congress led to an even 13-13 split on the SASC. As of 3:45 p.m., ABC News is projecting a 48-48 tie, with four seats still up for grabs. The final composition of the chamber won’t be determined for weeks though—most major media outlets are projecting the race in Georgia to go to a runoff in December.

If it all ends in another 50-50 tie, Democrats will retain the majority thanks to the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. But should either party gain at least 51 seats, they’ll likely get an extra seat on committees to fill.

The breakdown of seats on both committees could have implications for the Department of Defense and the Air Force, as the majority party is able to call hearings on issues that matter most to them.

A number of Republican lawmakers have expressed alarm about the Air Force’s plans to retire older aircraft at a faster rate than it buys new ones to pay for other modernization efforts, while others have decried Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s indications that there may be no competition for a future KC-Y tanker. Many have also raised objections to diversity and inclusion efforts within the Pentagon, arguing that they are political and take focus off lethality.

Some top Democrats, meanwhile, have sharply criticized the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, from its sustainment problems to its high costs. There is also a minority within the party who have voiced objections to nuclear modernization efforts.

More broadly speaking, control of the House and Senate will likely go a long way in shaping debates in the next few years about the budgets the DOD and the Air Force get. Republicans have argued that President Joe Biden’s proposed funding doesn’t keep pace with inflation and needs to be increased, while some Democrats have expressed reluctance to do so.