EUCOM Command Changes Hands at a ‘Hinge in History’

EUCOM Command Changes Hands at a ‘Hinge in History’

July 1, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli took the lead of U.S. European Command on July 1, succeeding USAF Gen. Tod D. Wolters and facing “a hinge in history,” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dramatically transformed security on the continent.

The change of command ceremony at Patch Barracks, Germany, was marked by both celebrations and praise for Wolters and Cavoli and references to the historic situation still unfolding.

“Russia’s premeditated malice and baseless aggression against Ukraine [pose] the greatest threat to European security since the end of World War II,” Austin said.

Troops are “standing watch right now during one of the most pivotal and dangerous times in our lifetime,” added Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley.

Cavoli, for his part, also briefly acknowledged the challenging circumstances in which he is taking the job, thanking Austin, Milley, and President Joe Biden for their trust in him.

“​​I understand just how heavy the responsibilities are at this time in Europe,” Cavoli said. “I will not let you down.”

Wolters praised Cavoli as the perfect person to serve as commander of EUCOM and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe in this moment.

“When you talk about quicker, smarter, faster, and more capable in the next generation of commander, that is exactly what USEUCOM is getting with Chris,” Wolters said. 

He’ll face a dynamic, tense environment from Day 1. The U.S. has upped its presence in Europe to 100,000 troops in recent months, and Biden highlighted a series of force posture movements in a June 29 press conference at the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain. At the same time, NATO has announced plans to expand its Response Force dramatically, from 40,000 to 300,000. 

Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion has dragged on, leaving tens of thousands dead and millions as refugees. The U.S. has continued to send billions of dollars worth of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as have dozens of other countries. U.S. European Command’s EUCOM Control Center Ukraine helps to coordinate the logistics of delivering all that aid to the front line inside Ukraine.

All of this comes less than a year after EUCOM shifted rapidly to help with the influx of refugees from Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from that country. U.S. bases in Europe erected entire “cities” to house the refugees.

Given all those challenges, Milley credited Wolters for “masterfully” leading EUCOM.

“It’s not an exaggeration that Tod Wolters, as the EUCOM commander and as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, has faced more challenges than any SACEUR since Eisenhower,” Milley added. Later in the ceremony, Milley pinned the Defense Distinguished Service Medal on Wolters.

But while Russian aggression remains the most pressing concern for NATO and Europe, Austin said Cavoli, the former head of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, will also need to consider other challenges.

“Gen. Cavoli is exceptionally well prepared to further strengthen NATO’s posture on the Eastern Flank—and to help forge a truly 21st-century security architecture for Europe. Because NATO, Chris, as you’ve said, ‘cannot be a one-problem alliance,’” Austin said. “And as you’ve also noted, NATO must stay vigilant across 360 degrees—from aggressive behavior from [China] to terrorism to climate change.”

Cavoli’s move to the head of EUCOM is just one of several changes to the top Pentagon leadership positions in Europe in the past few days. Cavoli formally handed over the command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa on June 28 to Gen. Darryl A. Williams, and Gen. James B. Hecker succeeded Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian as head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa on June 27.

Wolters’ retirement leaves two USAF generals as combatant commanders at the moment. Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost leads U.S. Transportation Command, and Gen. Glen D. VanHerck heads U.S. Northern Command. Gen. Anthony J. Cotton has been nominated to take command of U.S. Strategic Command.

F-16 Modernization Sale to Turkey Now Awaits Congress After Biden, DOD Voice Support

F-16 Modernization Sale to Turkey Now Awaits Congress After Biden, DOD Voice Support

July 1, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

The fate of a $6 billion deal with Turkey to modernize its F-16 fleet is in the hands of the U.S. Congress, President Joe Biden said June 30. Biden also denied any “quid pro quo” to incentivize Turkey’s lifting of objections to Finland and Sweden joining the NATO alliance.

“We should sell them the F-16 jets and modernize those jets as well,” Biden said in a press conference following the NATO leaders’ summit in Madrid. “There was no quid pro quo with that—it was just that we should sell. But I need congressional approval to be able to do that, and I think we can get that.”

A day earlier, the Defense Department also signaled its support for Turkey’s modernization effort.

“The U.S. Department of Defense fully supports Turkey’s modernization plans for its F-16 fleet,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander said in a June 29 press call.

“These plans are in the works. And, you know, they need to be worked through our contracting processes,” she added. “The United States supports Turkey’s modernization of its fighter fleet because that is a contribution to NATO security and therefore American security.”

News reports have indicated that Turkey is interested in buying 40 Block 70 airplanes and 80 modification kits with a rough value of $6 billion. Turkey has said in the past that it hopes to use the $1.4 billion already invested in the F-35 program, which the country was kicked out of in 2019 when it purchased the S-400 Russian missile defense system.

The new F-16 Viper Block 70 and 80 modernization kits provide advanced electronically scanned array (AESA) radar with a new avionics architecture, structural upgrades to extend aircraft life by 50 percent, new software, and advanced datalink, targeting pod, and weapons, according to Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed Martin referred questions from Air Force Magazine about the F-16 sale to the U.S. government.

The State Department’s office of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) declined to comment to Air Force Magazine on any “potential or pending arms transfers before they are formally notified to Congress.”

FMS, however, provided a statement in support of the U.S.-Turkey defense partnership.

“The United States and Turkey have longstanding and deep bilateral defense ties, and Turkey’s continued NATO interoperability remains a priority,” a State Department official said.

The chair and ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the committee’s press office did not immediately respond to inquiries from Air Force Magazine.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Sen. Bob Menendez previously told Air Force Magazine that he opposed selling Turkey the F-16s in comments following a ceremony to welcome the first two KC-46 refuelers to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., in November 2021.

“It’s not Turkey—it’s Erdogan,” Menendez said, citing Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s human rights record. “At the end of the day, he needs to change course. We’ve given him off ramps.” Menendez took exception to Turkey’s jailing of lawyers journalists and opposing U.S. interests in Libya and Syria.

Meanwhile, Finland’s and Sweden’s formal approvals to join NATO may hang in the balance if Turkey is not granted any real or perceived requests. Each of NATO’s 30 members must approve the ascension of Finland and Sweden in their domestic parliaments.

An agreement signed in Madrid between the three countries gave Erdogan assurances that concerns about perceived terrorists and terrorism financing by opposition group members residing in Sweden would be addressed.

“First, Sweden and Finland must fulfill their duties, and those are already in the text,” Erdogan said after the NATO summit, according to media reports. “But if they don’t fulfill these, then, of course, there is no way we would send it to our parliament.”

Hybrid Approach to Imaging Advances Space-based ISR

Hybrid Approach to Imaging Advances Space-based ISR

July 1, 2022

Multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) is a key tool for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency efforts in the post-9/11 era. But the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine is highlighting new use-cases for ISR as well as the advantages of integrating a hybrid approach – multiple types of ISR imaging satellites – to capture a fuller picture of developing threats.

“The modern threat is more advanced and it’s evolving to the point where we need these satellite-based ISR systems more and more because airborne systems are vulnerable,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Millennium Space Systems. “A wide range of ISR imaging capabilities is more important than ever. With the current conflict in Ukraine as an example, whether ISR is being used for the threat environment or for disaster relief, small satellites bring unique advantages to the table.”

Panchromatic imagery is a pivotal imaging sensor for military defense missions. Kim calls it, “the workhorse of ISR.”

“It supports battlespace awareness, technical intelligence, as well as other non-ISR applications like natural disaster response and humanitarian relief operations,” he said. “Panchromatic imagery provides useful insight into areas of interest, especially with image resolution getting better than ever as the technology advances.”

When used alone, panchromatic imagery has its drawbacks.

“One limitation of high-resolution panchromatic imagery is that as you get higher and higher resolution, your coverage area gets smaller,” Kim said. “This means your ability to look at large swaths of area suffers with higher resolution. Another limitation is that you need daylight and clear weather to get good images.”

But when combined with other types of ISR imagery, those limitations can be overcome.

“When you combine [panchromatic] with other types of imagery, like multispectral and hyperspectral, you can really increase things like spectral resolution and identification and detection of targets, enabling overall better image quality,” Kim said. “Together, these sensors help paint a complete picture of the battlespace and provide continuity of custody for the warfighter so that they never miss anything.”

Hyperspectral imaging, especially, can provide significant advantages for ISR missions.

“Hyperspectral imagery is different because it’s not based on high resolution, it’s breaking each image pixel down into hundreds of adjacent spectral channels,” Kim explained. “You’re not just looking at the spatial 2D image of the target, you get a better contrast from the background and information on the materials of the surface and the elements surrounding the atmosphere. A good example is detecting a methane gas leak.”

Kim says that’s why using multiple types of ISR imagery together is the future of space-based ISR missions.

“With its large swath of coverage, hyperspectral imaging is more of a bellringer in that it can tip and cue the high-resolution panchromatic sensors to look at the specific area warfighters are really interested in,” Kim said. “When hyperspectral is combined with panchromatic, it helps you find targets through camouflage to detect hard-to-find things like landmines by distinguishing between different surfaces. That’s why a hybrid approach of panchromatic and hyperspectral imaging gives you the best of both worlds in terms of capability.”

With a hybrid approach is implemented through a constellation of small satellites, more advantages can be realized through lower costs, e.g., low time latency between image collection and distribution.

“With the conflicts we’re seeing today occurring in large, countryside areas, if you have a ‘soda straw’ type of viewpoint that panchromatic imagers offer, it’s going to be very challenging to synoptically search an entire area in a very timely manner,” Kim said. “This would require a high number of satellite-based panchromatic sensors and that becomes an expensive proposition. But a low-cost constellation of small satellites enables frequent revisit times to refresh technology, keeping ahead of the threats and making coverage more affordable.”

“What makes Millennium different is that we can get more performance out of these hyperspectral imagers because we’re able to bring over two decades of experience supporting national security space missions,” Kim said. “We work very closely with our customers. We listen to them, and we work with them on providing the end-to-end solutions because at the end of the day, they need that data fast to win the mission and we’re able to focus on giving them solutions rapidly and affordably.”

ISR capabilities can be further enhanced with additional imaging sensors like Synthetic Aperture Rader (SAR) and Radio Frequency (RF) sensing.

“Customers need a diverse set of imagery because there is still that day-night weather challenge with panchromatic and even hyperspectral imagery,” Kim said. “The good thing about SAR and RF sensing is they can see and sense through the weather, no matter if it’s day or night and provide that additional capability on top of panchromatic, hyperspectral, and multispectral imagery.”

For current context, Kim points to the long Russian convoy that was based outside of Kyiv, Ukraine for several days.

“[The convoy] was parked on the roads for several days and if there’s no movement, that’s where RF signals could really come into play,” Kim said. “If everything is visibly static but you’re seeing a lot of radio signals, then you’re starting to get information that shows there’s going to be some impending change and movement. That’s an example of how the RF sensing can help.”

Similarly, because SAR relies on radar signals, it can also provide relevant information that isn’t visible with panchromatic, hyperspectral, or multispectral.

“SAR picks up radar signals that are pinging the background and the scenes even through clouds and poor weather,” Kim said. “You can then process that data and turn it into these virtual images and that allows you to look through the cloud cover and gives you that added information that you’re not always getting with the other sensing modalities.”

Using a variety of different sensing modalities to quickly identify areas of interest and to detect potential threats will enable time-critical decisions to be made on tactical timelines.

“Warfighters have to find, fix and track targets to engage and assess in what is called the ‘kill web,’” Kim said. “These ISR modalities are a critical part of that sequence of events and the faster we can do that with higher confidence in quality-assured data, the more you speed up that kill web. Speeding up that timeline for the warfighter will ensure they can perform what they need to do to keep us safe.”

NATO Summit Closes With More Warnings on China, Air Defenses to Ukraine

NATO Summit Closes With More Warnings on China, Air Defenses to Ukraine

June 30, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

President Joe Biden previewed $800 million in new defense assistance to Ukraine, including “a new advanced Western air defense system,” in closing a NATO summit in Madrid that saw formal invitations offered to Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.

Also during the historic summit, mention of China was added to the new NATO Strategic Concept to better prepare allies to defend against threats to the international order.

“At this summit, we rallied our alliances to meet both the direct threats that Russia poses to Europe and the systemic challenges that China poses to a rules-based world order,” Biden said at a closing press conference June 30 before returning to Washington, D.C.

Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine prompted a strengthening of the alliance and the U.S. force posture in Europe.

“The United States is doing exactly what I said we would do if Putin invaded: enhance our force posture in Europe,” the President said.

Biden said that meant increasing the number of Navy destroyers stationed in Spain from four to six; more air defenses in Italy and Germany; more F-35s in the United Kingdom; the permanent headquarters of the Army Fifth Corps in Poland; an additional brigade combat team in Romania; and more rotational deployments in the Baltic countries.

Both Russia and China figured prominently in the new NATO Strategic Concept, last updated in 2010. At that time, it referred to Russia as a “partner,” and it did not mention China.

Indo-Pacific allies, including South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, were also invited to attend the summit.

In referring to the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the strategic concept said that the “Euro-Atlantic area is not at peace.”

“Russia has violated the norms and principles that contributed to a stable and predictable European security order, and poses the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area,” according to the document.

On China, NATO’s security assessment said China’s ambitions challenge the alliance’s interests, security, and values.

The document also warned of the growing partnership between Russia and China.

“Russia and China are developing a strategic partnership and are at the forefront of an authoritarian pushback against the rules based international order,” the document said.

New Aid to Ukraine

On Ukraine, Biden said the United States and its allies would continue to provide Ukraine with defense assistance for “as long as it takes,” even if that meant Americans would continue to pay premiums at the gas pump.

“I don’t know how it’s going to end, but it will not end with a Russian defeat of Ukraine in Ukraine,” Biden said.

The President highlighted Ukraine’s success retaking Snake Island earlier in the day, a strategic outpost just 30 miles from Romania and NATO’s coastline in the western portion of the Black Sea.

“We are going to stick with Ukraine, and all of the Alliance is going to stick with Ukraine, as long as it takes,” Biden said.

Ukraine’s strategic victory, retaking an island taken by Russia on the first day of the invasion, may help the country loosen a naval blockade by Russia that has prevented grain exports and commercial vessels from reaching the port of Odessa.

In discussing America’s commitment to Ukraine, Biden previewed a new $800 million defense assistance package.

“In the next few days, we intend to announce more than $800 million more, including a new advanced Western air defense system for Ukraine,” Biden said without naming the system.

A Ukrainian defense official told Air Force Magazine that recent media reports indicating that the system would be the joint Norwegian/American NASAMS air defense system were correct. Raytheon and the Norwegian firm Konsberg make the system. Raytheon calls it the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System while Konsberg calls it the Norwegian Advanced Surface-to Air Missile System.

The short- to medium-range ground-based air defense system has been used to protect Washington, D.C., since 2005, according to its makers.

In recent weeks, the United States has provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to allow Ukraine to more precisely target Russian assets in the Donbas region, where Russia has seized some 20 percent of Ukrainian territory since Feb. 24.

Biden also said the package would include counter-battery radars, additional ammunition for the HIMARS multiple-launch rocket system, and more HIMARS from other countries.

AC-130J Crews Awarded 2021 Mackay Trophy for Safeguarding Afghanistan Evacuation

AC-130J Crews Awarded 2021 Mackay Trophy for Safeguarding Afghanistan Evacuation

June 30, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

A pair of AC-130J Ghostrider crews have been tapped to receive the 2021 Mackay Trophy, awarded by the Air Force and the National Aeronautic Association for the year’s most meritorious flight. The trophy is in recognition of their actions during the withdrawal from Afghanistan that aided in the rescue of some 2,000 American diplomats.

All told, 18 Airmen from the 73rd Expeditionary Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla., received the recognition June 30.

As the U.S. completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, the Taliban seized territory at a rapid rate. On Aug. 15, Taliban fighters entered the capital city of Kabul, forcing the U.S. to rapidly evacuate its embassy in the city.

In the midst of that evacuation, two AC-130Js, call signs Shadow 77 and 78, alert-launched from Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates to provide close air support for the evacuating personnel.

According to the NAA citation, the crews “maintained visual custody of all American personnel” headed to Hamid Karzai International Airport and provided real-time video to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley. 

The citation also notes that the crews flew the longest unaugmented flight in the AC-130J’s young history—the gunship first flew in 2014.

With the AC-130Js providing close air support, 2,000 Americans were able to evacuate with zero casualties. 

The following Airmen crewed Shadow 77 and 78:

Shadow 77

  • Capt. Lawrence S. Bria
  • Capt. Sam B. Pearce
  • Capt. Aaron M. Rigg
  • Maj. Joshua T. Burris
  • Capt. Michael G. Shelor
  • Staff Sgt. Daniel J. Mayle
  • Staff Sgt. Kevin P. Heimbach
  • Senior Airman Denver M. Reinwald
  • Senior Airman Timothy J. Cisar

Shadow 78

  • Capt. Culley R. Horne
  • 1st Lt. William A. Bachmann
  • Capt. Ryan M. Elliott
  • Capt. Benjamin A. Hoyt
  • Staff Sgt. Dylan T. Hansen
  • Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Malinowski
  • Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Blue
  • Staff Sgt. Gregory A. Page
  • Senior Airman Miguelle B. Corpuz

The crews of Shadow 77 and 78 are the latest Airmen to be recognized for their efforts in the evacuation of Kabul amid chaotic conditions. A number of C-17 crew members, who landed at Hamid Karzai International Airport to airlift personnel and civilians out, have been recognized with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.

The Mackay Trophy was first awarded in 1912 and is on permanent display at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. A ceremony to present the trophy to the crews of Shadow 77 and 78 will occur at a date to be determined, the NAA said.

A-10s, AFSOC Aircraft Land on Michigan Highway to Practice ACE

A-10s, AFSOC Aircraft Land on Michigan Highway to Practice ACE

June 30, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

A Michigan highway traded pickup trucks and minivans for A-10s and U-28s as members of the Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and Air Force Special Operations Command trained for agile combat employment.

All told, five different kinds of fixed-wing aircraft landed on and took off from a 9,000-foot section of Michigan Highway M-28, located on the state’s upper peninsula, on June 28 and 29, according to a Michigan National Guard release—the A-10, U-28A, C-145, C-146, and MC-12W.

Not only did the aircraft land on the highway, they also performed integrated combat turns, in which Airmen quickly refuel and rearm the aircraft while the engines are still running, enabling the jets to take off again as quickly as possible. It is the first time integrated combat turns have been executed on a public highway in the United States, according to the release.

The training was part of the Michigan Air National Guard’s exercise Northern Agility 22-1 and builds off of Exercise Northern Strike 21-2 last summer, in which four A-10s and two C-146As landed on a different highway in Michigan. That was believed to be the first time the Air Force has purposely landed modern aircraft on a civilian roadway in the U.S.

A month later, a C-130J landed on a highway in rural Wyoming. The Air Force’s interest in landing aircraft on civilian roads is part of its overall larger push to embrace and develop the concept of agile combat employment, in which smaller teams of Airmen are able to move quickly and operate in austere, nontraditional locations.

ACE was originally developed by Pacific Air Forces, and exercises have often focused on operating on smaller airstrips without the resources of a typical Air Force installation. But roads have also been utilized, too—in 2016, A-10s landed on a highway in Estonia.

During this exercise, Airmen from six different units were involved in the highway landings: AFSOC’s 1st Special Operations Group and 6th Special Operations Squadron; the Air Force Reserve’s 119th Special Operations Wing; the Michigan ANG’s 127th Wing; the Oklahoma ANG’s 137th Special Operations Wing; and the Maryland ANG’s 175th Fighter Wing. An MQ-9 Reaper drone from the North Dakota ANG and operated by the Michigan ANG was also involved.

“Northern Agility 22-1 is an historic exercise that supports the Air Force’s directive to ‘accelerate change or lose,’ as well as the ability of our Airmen to generate combat power anytime, anywhere,” Brig. Gen. Bryan J. Teff, commander of the Michigan ANG, said in a statement. “Michigan is a champion for Agile Combat Employment, so when it comes to leveraging our state’s unique partnerships, training environment and resources to ensure the Joint Force stays one step ahead of our adversaries, today was a huge success.”

Space Flag Becomes USSF’s First Joint Accredited Exercise

Space Flag Becomes USSF’s First Joint Accredited Exercise

June 30, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force’s Space Flag exercise has been accredited by the Joint National Training Capability initiative, joining a small group of exercises across the Department of Defense that have received such a designation, the service announced June 28.

The accreditation, affirmed by the Joint Staff, will give the exercise access to joint funding and support and will better allow the Space Force to integrate with joint partners as part of the exercise, according to a Space Training and Readiness Command release.

Only three dozen other exercises that have JNTC accreditation, and Space Flag is the first for the Space Force. It now joins the likes of the Air Force’s Red Flag and Green Flag exercises as well as the Army’s Joint Warfighter Assessment and the Navy’s Fleet Synthetic Training.

These exercises share the capability “to provide a realistic environment which includes applicable elements of joint context,” according to JNTC guidelines.

Space Flag, which officials have said is modeled after the Air Force’s Red Flag exercises, first began in 2017, before the Space Force even stood up. In 2020, it was held for the first time under the Space Training and Readiness Delta Provisional, which officially became STARCOM in August 2021.

Space Flag is run by Space Delta 1’s 392nd Combat Training Squadron, and recent editions have included participants from the Army’s 1st Space Brigade, the National Reconnaissance Office, and partner nations such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Space Flag “has advanced Delta 1’s initiative to ensure all combat training and exercises are underpinned by relevant and recent intelligence, with a focus on winning in competition and conflict,” Col. Jason Schramm, commander of Space Delta 1, said in a statement.

While Space Flag is the Space Force’s premier joint exercise, the service is looking to expand its training exercises in other ways in the coming months. STARCOM commander Maj. Gen. Shawn Bratton said earlier this year that USSF will conduct a command-and-control-focused exercise in the fall called Polaris Hammer. The service is also planning a “Black Skies” exercise, a more focused version of Space Flag that will be patterned off the Air Force’s Black Flag exercises.

“I think there’s nothing too creative going on here, but we replaced ‘Flag’ with ‘Sky,’ and I see the Space Force going down that road of Black Skies, Blue Skies, Red Skies exercises to get after the needs of those specific training audiences,” Bratton said at the time.

The Air Force uses Red Flag exercises for aerial combat training, Black Flag exercises as a way to test large weapons and capabilities, and Blue Flag exercises to train participants at the operational level.

Experimental IR Satellite Heads to GEO to Advance Hypersonic Missile Warning and Tracking

Experimental IR Satellite Heads to GEO to Advance Hypersonic Missile Warning and Tracking

June 29, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

The Space Force’s experimental satellite bound for geosynchronous orbit should inform plans to improve space-based missile warning and tracking.

The Wide Field of View Testbed satellite (WFOV) is one of two payloads scheduled to launch on a ULA Atlas 5 rocket during a two-hour window starting at 6 p.m. Eastern time June 30. The second payload on the USSF-12 mission is a ring-shaped adapter with its own propulsion that will carry multiple classified experiments for the Space Test Program.

The work planned for the WFOV satellite relates to the Space Force’s Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) constellation, characterized as “the cornerstone” of the U.S.’s future architecture for missile warning, tracking, and defense.

Hypersonic missiles are challenging the U.S. military’s ability to provide sufficient warning. The hypersonic missiles maneuver, and they generate a dimmer infrared signature.

“The threat is certainly evolving at an unprecedentedly fast pace that we haven’t seen before,” said Space Force Col. Brian A. Denaro during a call with reporters June 28. “We’re looking at a range of targets and missiles in the hypersonic domain that are more maneuverable; they’re dimmer—harder to see; and that’s requiring a new approach to how we both detect and then track all of these missiles throughout their flight.

“If you could imagine, with our current systems, they largely rely on a ballistic trajectory of those missiles, with a predicted impact point. The change in the threats that we see coming online today are highly maneuverable, and so it’s hard to predict where those missiles are going to go. … We’re seeing these developments both in China and in Russia at a very fast pace.”

Built by Boeing’s Millennium Space Systems, the WFOV satellite will monitor Earth’s atmosphere for infrared signatures at a higher resolution and over more of the Earth than the existing Space-Based Infrared System satellites.

L3Harris Technologies built WFOV’s new large-focal-plane infrared sensor—”4k by 4k,” or 4,000 pixels by 4,000 pixels—to provide “an OPIR capability on orbit with enhanced sensitivity that can track dim targets over large areas,” said Col. Heather B. Bogstie of the Space Force’s Space Systems Command during the call. SSC is one of three Space Force field commands organizationally similar to Air Force major commands. It’s the successor to the former Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base.

Bogstie said the new sensor also features “reduced noise.”

From the faraway GEO belt 36,000 kilometers above the equator, the WFOV satellite will have a role in proving the equipment works, but that’s not all. Teams will also test aspects of future activities such as mission planning, data handling, and algorithm development, the officials said.

“This mission will give us unprecedented 24/7 coverage across 3,000-plus kilometers over the Pacific theater,” Bogstie said. She said WFOV “is integral to the nation’s missile warning and missile track[ing] architecture” and that its large-focal-plane sensor is appropriate for other orbits besides GEO. The Space Development Agency and SSC are working on plans for infrared missile warning and tracking constellations in low and medium Earth orbits, respectively.

WFOV is “really going to be an important pathfinder for our future MEO missile track[ing] systems,” Bogstie said. “The data exploitation, the mission planning pieces for the Wide Field of View Testbed, [are] going to be very critical in how we operationalize the data that goes to the warfighter and also ultimately gets put into the integrated missile warning/missile tracking/missile defense architecture. …

“So that’s why it’s important, knowing that the threat’s imminent right now, how this particular mission is a pathfinder for what we are looking to field here in ’26.”

Altogether, the mission, including the two satellites and the launch, cost $1.1 billion, according to an SSC spokesperson.

ULA placed the two satellites in position at the top of the rocket June 15, encapsulated within their Atlas 5 fairing. As of June 29, the forecast for favorable weather for the June 30 launch was 60 percent, with the possibility of cumulus clouds. A second launch window was on July 1. 

“Also unprecedented,” Bogstie added, “is the launch of the SBIRS GEO-6 mission later this month, which means there will be two OPIR satellites launching in a very close timeframe, further increasing the U.S. missile warning capability.”

One Year in, Air Force’s Spectrum Warfare Wing Focuses on Connecting ‘Pockets of Excellence’

One Year in, Air Force’s Spectrum Warfare Wing Focuses on Connecting ‘Pockets of Excellence’

June 29, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

It has been almost exactly one year since the Air Force activated the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing, the first of its kind, as part of the service’s effort to build back electronic warfare and electromagnetic spectrum capabilities after years of letting them atrophy.

And in some ways, the service’s lack of focus over the past couple decades is allowing it to start fresh and take a more comprehensive, integrated approach, the 350th SWW’s commander said June 29.

Throughout the joint force, there are “pockets of excellence” when it comes to spectrum warfare, Col. William Young said during a virtual event with the Hudson Institute. But those pockets have not been integrated well—different capabilities are configured for different hardware platforms and are not easily shareable.

It’s a problem David Tremper, director for electronic warfare in the Pentagon’s acquisition office, sees in a service such as the Navy, which even so has taken the lead on EW in many respects.

“If you look at how the Navy does EW, you’ve got [tactical air] EW systems that are platform specific, surface platform specific, submarine specific, right?” Tremper said. “There is no really connective tissue across those.”

By contrast, both Young and Tremper said the Department of Defense’s current strategy for EW is focused on “missionware”—software-focused capabilities that can be used across different platforms.

“You could think of it as the missionware sits on top of the [operational flight program], which drives the underlying hardware,” Young said. “And so we’re going to hopefully continue to learn ways to acquire hardware faster, and then we’ll get better at OFP development—folks are working on that. But it’s the addition of the missionware, which in the field, increasingly closer and closer to the edge, gives us the ability to change the behavior of our underlying systems.”

Missionware has become one of the key pursuits of the 350th SWW, Young said, as the wing is trying to connect those “pockets of excellence.”

“My direction from my four-star [Gen. Mark D. Kelly], commander of Air Combat Command, is that we are the services’ integrator and deliverer of EMS capability,” Young said. “So now … that capability begins to take the form of missionware, which gives us the ability to change the behavior of the underlying hardware.”

As part of that effort, the wing is set to conduct a flight demo in which it will try to do “the equivalent of taking Android apps and running them on an iPhone,” Young said. Specifically, the demo will take four “app-like capabilities”—two from companies, one from the Air Force, and one from the Navy—and run them all on a system they weren’t designed for.

In this pursuit, the Air Force is building off a “clean slate,” Young said—at least one benefit after some 30 years in which Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. has said the service was “asleep at the wheel” when it came to electromagnetic spectrum warfare.

One of the challenges, however, is the need to increase awareness of and preparedness for spectrum warfare across the force so it is no longer an afterthought for most warfighters, said Brig. Gen. AnnMarie K. Anthony, deputy director of operations for joint electromagnetic spectrum operations at U.S. Strategic Command.

“What does the average joint force operator need to understand about [electromagnetic spectrum operations]?” Anthony said. “Getting that training at the very beginning, at your accessions, getting the training as you go through your initial weapon system training, and then having that reoccurring training. … Now you’re out in live-fly exercises, you’re actually going into a contested and congested environment and testing out everything and preparing, and then all the way into when you have to actually employ it for real. So it has to be completely embedded and part of our entire thought process, not a Band-Aid that you put on at the very end.” 

When it comes to better research and capabilities for that training, Young said he sees the 350th SWW as unique—and just getting started.

“I think what’s been missing in the past is that you’ve never really had that sort of operational unit to transition all the greatness that exists in the silos of excellence, and [to] couple that with a warfighter need and do that in near-mission planning timelines,” said Young. “And so as we get to do that more and more and scale that, I think that is potentially a game-changer in EMS.”