New USAFE Commander: It’s Time to Concentrate on Russia, China ‘24-7, 365’

June 28, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds on and NATO looks to deter further aggression in Europe, a number of the top U.S. military leadership positions on the continent are changing hands in quick succession—starting with a change of command for U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa.

Gen. James B. Hecker pinned on his fourth star, formally succeeding Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian in a ceremony at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on June 27. The command change capped a rapid process that started with Hecker’s nomination just three weeks ago.

Hecker most recently served as commander and president of Air University. He has also spent time as vice director of operations for the Joint Staff, commander of NATO Air Command-Afghanistan, commander of the 19th Air Force, and commander of the 18th Wing.

Now, he takes command of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa as well as NATO’s Allied Air Command at a pivotal moment. The U.S. has significantly increased its troop presence in Europe in response to Russia’s aggression, particularly along NATO’s eastern flank, and that’s resulted in a high operations tempo for USAFE personnel. USAF Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin noted during the change of command ceremony that over the past few years, the major command has been involved in thousands of enhanced air policing sorties and tens of thousands of hours of missions devoted to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

And in his first remarks as commander, Hecker indicated that he would continue to bring a fierce focus on China, which the Pentagon has repeatedly called the U.S.’s “pacing challenge,” but most immediately on Russia.

Recalling his first assignment at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., in the early 1990s, Hecker said he and his colleagues were primarily focused on the former Soviet Union.

“That’s what we concentrated on 24-7, 365,” Hecker said. “Any free time that we had, we spent in the vault studying our adversary. And we knew everything about that adversary. We knew the airplanes they flew. We knew their capabilities. We knew how they thought. We knew who their leadership was. …

“It’s time to get back to that. Because we took a little timeout for 30 years and hung out in the Middle East. And our adversaries caught up to us a little bit. Our national security strategy talks about making sure that we’re ready for the strategic competition, particularly China and Russia. … Recent events … make us need to concentrate more on Russia. And that’s what I can guarantee you that we’ll do here at USAFE-AFAFRICA.”

Commander of U.S. European Command Gen. Tod D. Wolters offered enthusiastic praise of Hecker, saying he had the right temperament and skill set to lead USAFE, AFAFRICA, and Allied Air Command through the current crisis.

“As we all know, we are in challenging times,” Wolters said, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “And for this command, and all of EUCOM and all of NATO, our charter is to ensure that we don’t start a war with Russia on Ukrainian soil. And more importantly, it’s to ensure that we do everything within our power to protect every single inch of NATO territory. And our third objective is to make sure that we’re going to do everything within our power to support Ukraine. And I don’t know of one Airman that exists in this United States Air Force that is more qualified to embrace those strategic tasks and achieve success” than Hecker.

Wolters will be working alongside Hecker for only a few days. Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli was confirmed by the Senate to be Wolters’ successor on June 24, and that change of command ceremony is scheduled to take place July 1. Cavoli, who previously served as commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, formally handed over that role June 28 to Gen. Darryl A. Williams in another change of command ceremony.

Wolters, meanwhile, is poised to retire alongside Harrigian. The two have known each other since the beginning of their careers, they said, and Wolters called Harrigian “the most outstanding field leader that we’ve seen in these United States Air Force in 37 years,” praising his leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic, the military’s withdrawal from Somalia, the noncombatant evacuation out of Afghanistan, and the most recent conflict in Ukraine.

Harrigian, for his part, reflected on his tenure at USAFE-AFAFRICA by saying he “left it all on the field” and thanking Airmen for their service during such key moments.

“We had multiple opportunities to make a difference, to put our stamp on history. You, all of you, did just that. And you did it not once, but you did it multiple times. I want to thank you for what you do each and every day. I’m proud to have been a part of your team,” Harrigian said.

Air Force to Start Tactical Autonomy Research Partnership With HBCUs

June 27, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

The Air Force will look to the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in a closed solicitation that will create the Air Force’s first university-affiliated research center (UARC), Air Force leaders said June 27.

The center will study tactical autonomy. The DAF will select the center’s location from one of 11 qualifying schools. The current plan would make the chosen HBCU the leader of a consortium of other HBCUs studying the topic.

“Part of the future of the military is going to be autonomy—there’s no doubt in my mind of that,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in making the announcement.

Kendall said artificial intelligence is a “gap in our suite of research institutes” that is increasingly appearing on the battlefield.

“It’s here to stay, and we need to be at the front edge of that. This is an opportunity to tap into that,” he said. “I am very focused on the threat of Chinese military modernization and what that means in terms of our forces for the future.”

The Department of the Air Force will provide $12 million per year for five years to fund the research. DOD currently maintains 14 UARCs affiliated with the Army, Navy, and Missile Defense Agency. The first Air Force UARC will help close the gap of research dollars going to HBCUs, which currently receive less than 0.05 percent of total DOD research dollars, according to a news release.

Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu said that in targeting HBCUs, the Air Force is following proven scientific strategies for better problem-solving.

“We’re one of the most innovative countries in the world because of diversity,” she said in response to a question from Air Force Magazine.

“It’s a diversity of different ideas coming from a diversity of backgrounds that helps you to solve the most challenging problem with innovative ideas that you, maybe within your own perspective, wouldn’t have thought of,” she added, referencing her time working in a team of diverse engineers.

Shyu also said targeting HBCUs encourages American students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and opens them up to the possibility of joining the military or defense industry later on.

“One thing we ought to be doing is [tapping] into and growing our STEM education through universities, [where students] are U.S. citizens, rather than looking only externally for immigrants,” she said.

Chief scientist of the Air Force Victoria Coleman said the tactical autonomy center will look at trust, collaboration between platforms, and human-machine teaming.

“What we mean by that is systems that act delegated and bound to authority, in support of tactical short-term actions that are associated with a more strategic long-term vision,” Coleman explained.

While Coleman did not provide any specific examples, Kendall cited the battlefield in Ukraine, which has seen extensive use of unmanned aerial systems.

By partnering with HBCUs, Coleman said DOD is also responding to a call in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act to increase diversity; and that doing so will help the Air Force develop a new pool of talent.

Among the more than 100 HBCUs in the country, with over 220,000 students, just 11 qualify for the Air Force’s solicitation, meaning they have a research activity rating of R2. The R1 and R2 qualifications mean the university has “very high” or “high” research activity, as determined by the Carnegie Classification.

The eligible schools include Prairie View A&M University, Texas; Southern University and A&M College, La.; University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Tennessee State University; North Carolina A&M University; Morgan State University, Md.; Florida A&M University; Clark Atlanta University, Ga.; Jackson State University, Miss.; Howard University, D.C.; and Texas Southern University.

Tawanda Rooney, deputy director of the Air Force’s Concepts, Development, and Management Office, and herself and HBCU graduate, said research dollars may lift the schools from R2 to R1 and develop long-term relationships for the Air Force.

“One of the things we’re talking about is building that capacity,” Rooney said in response to a question from Air Force Magazine.

Added Coleman: “This is a very deliberate effort to have much better access in those schools.”

The Air Force plans to hold an industry day Aug. 8 and open solicitations Aug. 15. Kendall said he wants to make a decision on the AI university partner by year’s end.

New Space Acquisition Chief Wants to Apply Contracting Lessons from NRO

June 27, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

The new head of space acquisition for the Department of the Air Force plans to import lessons he learned at the National Reconnaissance Office—especially the “relentless pursuit of program management discipline”—to the Space Force.

Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration Frank Calvelli also said that “for now” he doesn’t think the Space Force will need to acquire commercial space data, such as imagery, separately from the NRO.

In his first public remarks in the role, Calvelli spoke to Explorer Chair for Space Warfighting Studies retired USAF Gen. Kevin Chilton of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in a webinar June 24. Calvelli served as principal deputy director of the NRO for eight years prior to his DAF confirmation in April.

Calvelli said he’s “so impressed with the portfolio of programs across the department” that his priority will be “to deliver on the things that got started over the last couple of years.”

Among “several things” he’d borrow from his experience at the NRO, Calvelli listed the project management culture and practices and a preference, in certain situations, for firm-fixed-price contracting as themes he expects to carry with him.

Discipline in estimating costs and schedules translates to faster space acquisition by reducing the need to replan a program after it’s deemed impossible to execute, Calvelli said.

“There’s a real solid project management culture at the NRO. Our program managers, when I was there, and still today, pride themselves on delivering on cost and on schedule,” Calvelli said. “It’s a culture, and I really hope to steal from the lessons I’ve learned at the NRO to bring that culture to Space Systems Command, the Space Development Agency, and the Space Rapid Capabilities Office.”

While “really pushing for cost realism and schedule realism in their competitive [requests for proposals],” the NRO’s program managers came up with the idea of scoring the bids on how realistic the cost and schedule appear to be. Independent cost estimators within the department get to weigh in, “and that seems to be working,” Calvelli said.

“You bring independent cost folks on the cost team with you, and if they tell you, “Eh, I think they’re low bidding this,’ you … rate [the bid] a high risk and throw that proposal out.”

Another characteristic he’d like to introduce into the Space Force’s contracting is for program managers to “be proactively managing cost, schedule, and performance.”

“Our government PMs need to proactively manage the baseline,” Calvelli said. “I call it the relentless pursuit of program management discipline. … You drive that discipline into it, and you’re going to start to achieve some speed.”

Calvalli also said firm-fixed-price contracts can help keep programs on schedule and that they have “a lot of benefits we want to explore on the Space Force side of the house,” citing the Space Development Agency’s choice to award fixed-price contracts and success with the contracting method in space acquisition at NASA as well.

Asked whether he envisioned a role for the Space Force in acquiring commercial space sensing data, such as photography and radar imaging, to provide to U.S. Space Command or other combatant commands, Calvelli said he didn’t see an immediate need.

“The NRO has a whole Commercial Systems program offices that deals with commercial industry, and they work in partnership with [the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency] and the commercial sector,” Calvelli said. “I would see first going through [NRO] to see if they could satisfy those needs.”

Air Force Picks a Prototype for Its New Aircrew Helmet

June 27, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force has selected a prototype to develop as its new helmet for all fixed-wing aircrew, Air Combat Command announced June 25, picking LIFT Airborne Technologies’ design.

The new helmet, which still has to undergo additional research and testing before the Air Force confirms the design and offers a production contract, is better equipped to handle the addition of helmet-mounted devices and will offer a better fit for more diverse crews, the Air Force said in its announcement.

The service’s current standard issue helmet for aircrew is the HGU-55/P, first introduced in the 1980s. With the advancement of helmet-mounted display systems and other devices, however, the weight on crew members’ heads and necks increased, and the center of gravity shifted.

Several academic studies over the years have found that heavier helmets or those with mounted devices can cause greater discomfort or muscle strains in the neck, compounded by the effects of high G forces.

“The legacy helmet was not originally designed to support advances in aircraft helmet-mounted display systems, causing pilots to fly with equipment not optimized for them, especially our female aircrew,” Scott Cota, ACC Plans and Requirements branch aircrew flight equipment program analyst, said in a release.

ACC worked with other major commands and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Human Systems Program Office to develop requirements for a next-generation helmet. Among those requirements were “weight, pilot comfort, optimized fitment and protection, stability, optimized center of gravity, and integration with different helmet-mounted systems,” the release stated.

ACC then collaborated with AFWERX, an Air Force innovation-focused organization designed to seek out interesting ideas from nontraditional vendors, to open up the competition process, according to the release. More than 100 designs were submitted, and from those 100, 38 companies were invited to present their proposals. The most promising were tested by the Air Force Research Laboratory, other labs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and squadrons at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

LIFT touts its design, called AV 2.2, as being substantially lighter than competitors, with increased ventilation and custom fitting options available. The helmet also has a modular design, making it easier to attach devices such as night-vision goggles or a helmet-mounted cueing system (HMCS).

It will still be years before pilots get their hands on the new helmets, however. The Air Force is estimating that a production contract won’t come until 2024, and after that, ACC will deliver them in a phased approach, giving the first ones to those flying on the F-15E Strike Eagle.

One aircraft whose crew won’t need the new helmet is the F-35—the Joint Strike Fighter has its own helmet, custom-made for each pilot and costing roughly $400,000 each.

‘Herk Nation’ Adds Air National Guard’s New C-130J Formal Training Unit

June 27, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

As the Air National Guard moves forward with its plans to replace aging C-130Hs with new C-130Js, it has decided where it wants to base its formal training unit for the new aircraft—Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.

The decision, announced by the Department of the Air Force on June 24, will result in four C-130Js being located at Little Rock to help Air Guard members “gain the experience and knowledge needed to operate the newer aircraft,” according to a DAF release.

The Air Force has conducted the site survey and environmental analysis necessary to make the final decision for Little Rock. Arkansas lawmakers indicated in May 2021 that military leadership had selected Little Rock as its preferred location, with final approval coming from Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.

Little Rock AFB’s selection is in many ways unsurprising. The base already hosts the 314th Airlift Wing, the nation’s tactical airlift “Center of Excellence” and the largest C-130 formal training unit in the Air Force. The 314th AW helps train C-130 crew members across the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, and 47 partner nations.

The 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard, meanwhile, already has the C-130H Formal Training Unit.

All told, Little Rock has hosted C-130 Hercules training missions in some form or fashion for more than 50 years, resulting in its nickname of “Herk Nation.” Between the 314th AW, the 189th AW, and the 19th Airlift Wing, the base has dozens of C-130Hs and C-130Js.

While the Active-duty Air Force has almost completely transitioned away from the C-130H to the new C-130J Super Hercules, the Air National Guard is still very much in the midst of its changeover, with its number of H models still far exceeding the number of Js. The Guard previously announced four other locations that are getting the C-130J—Louisville Air National Guard Base, Ky.; McLaughlin Air National Guard Base, W.V.; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas; and Savannah Air National Guard Base, Ga.

Those first three locations have all taken delivery of their first C-130Js.

Collins Aerospace and the USAF: A Parallel History in Evolving Aviation Technology

June 27, 2022

In the days before the Air Force was an independent service, when it was still part of the U.S. Army, companies like Collins, Goodrich, Hamilton, and Sundstrand filled the skies. That shared legacy still ties today’s U.S. Air Force to Collins Aerospace, a modern company built on a long historic legacy of shared innovation.

“We’ve provided electromechanical flight displays, autopilot systems, and flight directors in military cockpits dating back to WWII,” said Marc Ayala, senior director, customer capabilities and requirements for Military Avionics at Collins Aerospace. “Collins’ components supported USAF aircraft like the KC-135, B-52, and C-130 from World War II through the Cold War, with some still operating today.”

Collins delivers and upgrades aircraft avionics to sustain venerable USAF aircraft like the C-130.

“The C-130 has existed in various models from the 1950s to the current day J model,” Ayala said. “We’ve upgraded its flight director and autopilot in the 1970s, added military radios and advanced cockpit displays in the 1990s, and the C-130 AMP [Avionics Modernization Program] is retrofitting the H-model fleet going forward.”

Modernizing the C-130 is essential to the vital mission sets and theaters it serves.

“Inter-theater airlift has always been [the C-130’s] specialty and that capability has proven itself necessary over every major conflict since the birth of aviation,” Ayala said. “The C-130 excelled in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and throughout the Cold War. The need [for inter-theater airlift] is constant.”

Inter-theater airlift has long been a differentiating factor in military operations. It will continue to be in the future.

“The ability to move our Department of Defense assets and resources around the theater of operations in short order is a major capability discriminator for the U.S. Air Force,” Ayala said. “That capability separates us from our peers and adversaries, and [Collins] couldn’t be prouder to associate our name with that.”

Communications Technologies and Systems

Collins also develops and supports communication technologies and systems delivered to the USAF. Collins made communication possible during the Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury space programs including for the iconic Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

In today’s modern geopolitical context, Collins’ systems enable communications between USAF and international partners.

“We need to communicate securely with our international partners and allies, and within our own forces as well,” Ayala said. “Our airborne communications systems, such as the ARC-210 V/UHF radio, are present in the vast majority of USAF platforms and those communication technologies help make USAF’s interoperability objectives a reality.”

Collins is leveraging its experience to ensure USAF communication capabilities are secure well into the future.

“The transmission of secure data in modern conflicts is more important than ever,” Ayala said. “The country that can transmit, process, and distribute data the fastest and most efficiently is the one that is going to prevail.”

Modular and Open Avionics Solutions

As Collins continues to innovate around USAF priorities and interests, the company has invested in development of Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) avionics solutions to better enable and more quickly integrate technology for the operator and the mission of tomorrow.

“Modular systems, open systems architecture, and the need to outpace the technical evolution of peer adversaries is vital to air dominance,” said Jeffry Howington, principal business development manager for Military Avionics at Collins Aerospace. “We need to keep aircraft relevant by upgrading their capability in days, if not hours, rather than the years it takes under traditional approaches.”

Collins has been utilizing open systems for decades. A prime example is Collins’ upgrades to the KC-135, which has been upgraded dramatically over the past 50 years. The tanker’s evolution is key to [the] Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), according to Howington.

“To compete with peer adversaries and the Joint Automated Command Control network of the future, that’s going to require additional upgrades using open systems,” he added.

Collins Aerospace has played an integral role in making key upgrades to the KC-135.

Collins is focused on developing software-centric capabilities that incorporate digital engineering and enable efficient flexibility and reuse of capabilities. That’s why, Howington says, up to 80 percent or more of avionics capabilities are already implemented in the software Collins provides.

“We’re seeing more software seamlessly integrate with cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and containerization methods,” Howington said. “Digital engineering and open architecture are easing implementation and integration times by providing a ‘digital testbed’ to the operator, so we can understand how any changes might affect an aircraft’s operations, performance, and capability before implementers physically touch the aircraft. That’s a huge win.”

Throughout the Air Force’s 75-year history, Collins Aerospace has evolved alongside USAF to meet the technological demands of the day. It’s a partnership that, Ayala says, will continue to develop to meet the demands of the future.

“We provided precise navigation and control for USAF aircraft, which ultimately led to electromechanical instruments and flight management systems,” Ayala said. “That’s evolved into the digital infrastructure we have today, with glass and helmet-mounted displays, multi-core processors, and advanced networking, so the journey Collins has experienced embodies aviation itself.”

INDOPACOM Boss Wants the Air Force to Base Fifth-Gen Fighters Closer to China

June 24, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii.

In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.

INDOPACOM’s commander Adm. John C. Aquilino also stressed the strategic importance of the island of Guam during an event hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on June 24.

The Marine Corps has stationed F-35Bs at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, and the Navy has moved aircraft carriers with F-35Cs into the Indo-Pacific. Japan, South Korea, and Australia all operate F-35s as well. But the Air Force thus far has kept its fifth-gen fighters east of the international date line, thousands of miles away. Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, has Pacific Air Forces’ only F-35s, and both Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska, and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, have F-22s.

When asked if he thought it would be reasonable for the Air Force to station fifth-generation aircraft west of the date line, closer to China, Aquilino indicated that he would be in favor of such a move.

“I would envision that capability is … well, it’s certainly desirable,” Aquilino said. “But we would like to get to that ability to, like I said, operate in contested space. Fifth-generation capabilities, whether they be F-22, F-35, are critically important to the ability to deliver deterrence.”

The Air Force currently maintains three air bases in Japan—Misawa Air Base, Kadena Air Base, and Yokota Air Base—and two in South Korea—Osan Air Base and Kunsan Air Base—as well as Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. A mix of F-16s, F-15s, and A-10s are currently stationed at some of those locations, but Aquilino noted that in drafting INDOPACOM’s investment priorities, he’s asked the Air Force for more advanced capabilities.

“Forward stationed, persistent, deep-penetrating capability is what I’ve asked for,” Aquilino said. “Additionally, the ability to be expeditionary and move around the theater in places that matter when needed, that’s what I’ve asked, and [PACAF commander Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach] has been tremendous.”

Aquilino did not specify whether he preferred the F-35 or F-22 or where the aircraft should go. But elsewhere in the conversation, he did highlight Guam as “absolutely a strategic location.”

“We will need to operate from Guam. We will need to both fight for and from Guam, and it will provide a variety of capabilities and support functions should we end up in some crisis situation,” Aquilino said. “So that’s extremely important, and … 125,000 United States citizens, it’s the homeland, who would expect to be defended and we treat it, obviously, as important as it is.”

Guam is also farther removed from China than the locations in Japan and Korea, but Aquilino was quick to note that the island is still very much within China’s range.

“The PLA rocket forces are clearly developing continuous advanced capabilities—longer range,” Aquilino said. “Guam has a 360-degree threat, so our ability to defend it and to be able to operate from there is absolutely critical. … I can see a continuous improvement and a continuous threat [from China], and what that leads me to do is to move with a sense of urgency in order to provide the capabilities that both defend and we can project power from Guam.”

Even in a region where the “tyranny of distance” is a frequent concern, “we expect to be attacked in that domain,” Aquilio added. And as part of that mindset, he would like to see Guam’s missile defenses built up. It’s an issue that has become increasingly emphasized in recent years, and the Pentagon has proposed an array of new defensive systems for the island as part of its 2023 budget.

“The key,” Aquilino said, “is to take the tremendous effort in the budget and then move forward to deliver that capability against all those threats, whether they be maneuvering, whether they be ballistic, whether they be cruise missiles. We have to be able to deliver that capability to protect the forces and the people against all those threats.”

Kendall: ‘Unrealistic’ for Air Force to Fight Two Wars While Modernizing

June 24, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

As Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall looks to modernize the force, he is calling for tough decisions that will shrink the size of the fleet and make the waging of two simultaneous wars “unrealistic,” he said at an AFA Leaders in Action event June 24.

Kendall sat down with AFA’s president, retired Lt. Gen. Bruce “Orville” Wright, for an in-person discussion attended by a hundred air power professionals and enthusiasts at the Air and Space Forces Association’s headquarters in Arlington, Va. Kendall addressed topics ranging from threats posed by China and Russia to the ongoing congressional funding decisions that he said are necessary to keep pace with China’s heavy technological investments.

“I think it’s quite frankly unrealistic to think that we can have a force that will fight two major wars at the same time,” he said. He also said he did not believe any nation was capable of immediately ramping up from a peacetime force to engage in a prolonged, conventional war.

Kendall demurred when asked how many combat squadrons the Air Force should maintain, but he was clear in his commitment to take on the risk of a smaller Air Force flying fewer hours in order to make big investments in the short term.

“The critical thing is to get to the next-generation capabilities as quickly as we can,” he said. “Do we maintain current capability, keep the platforms that we have, or do we shrink down a little bit in order to get to the future? I think those are the trade-offs that we’re going to have to face.”

The Air Force currently has 55 operational combat squadrons, 32 in the Active duty and 23 in the Guard or Reserve, according to a Heritage Foundation study. And according to data provided to Air Force Magazine by the Air Force, fighter pilot hours declined 16 percent from 2020 to 2021, to an average of just 6.8 hours per month per pilot.

Kendall said it would be “hard” to get pilot hours back up, but he still called the force “healthy.”

“We’ve got to think carefully about the balance,” he said. “We’ve got to do it in a way which maintains a healthy force, while we’re doing this, as well as keeps pace with the technological competition.”

To continue to deter and defeat adversaries, Kendall called for leveraging “integrated deterrence,” or the flexing of allies’ and partners’ military and non-military capabilities, while the U.S. catches up to China’s decades of heavy military investment.

Kendall has been pounding the pavement on Capitol Hill, he said, taking a classified threat briefing to the committees of Congress in order to help convince members of the importance of modernization over fleet size.

“Our average aircraft is 30 years old, and we have some aircraft that are not tailored to the high-end fight at all,” he said. “The people who manage and operate those aircraft do a fantastic job—I’m real proud of them. But we’re going to have to get to the next generation.”

This article was updated at 11:43 a.m. on June 25, 2022, to clarify the number of flying hours flown by fighter pilots in 2020 and 2021.

Kendall Dispenses With Roper’s Quick NGAD Rhythm; System is Too Complex

June 24, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

The crewed, central platform of the Next Generation Air Dominance system won’t follow early timetables that called for new versions to be fielded about every five years because it’s simply too complex, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall revealed. And while the program has entered formal development, it is still in competition, he said.

Speaking at an AFA “Leaders in Action” event, Kendall noted that the NGAD started in 2014 and got under contract the following year, with the goal of producing “X-planes—demonstrators.” That phase of the program was carried out “in a reasonable timeframe for that kind of program,” he said.

But “the NGAD that we’re working on now … is going to take longer. It’s a more complicated operation to have a manned aircraft” that will be the follow-on to the F-22.

“It’s not a simple design,” he emphasized.

Former Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper envisioned an NGAD program on a rapid rhythm of yielding a new core platform every five years or so, with production runs of up to just 100 airplanes, giving the industry regular and frequent opportunities to propose and build cutting-edge aircraft. When one entered production, the next one would already be in development, under Roper’s vision.

But while Kendall said, “I have a lot of respect for Will Roper. I’ve worked with him a lot, [and] I think he has some really interesting ideas … I think you have to be careful about where you apply those ideas.”

It’s a “long, hard job to build” an aircraft like the F-35 that represents “a whole generation of better capability” than the aircraft it replaces, Kendall asserted.

That is a “different animal entirely” from quick-turnaround programs with “some base functionality” that are upgraded with modular improvements, Kendall said.

The latter approach will be taken with the uncrewed aircraft that will comprise the rest of the NGAD “family” of systems, which Kendall said would be a “formation” of up to five additional, autonomous aircraft in addition to the crewed central platform.

For the uncrewed combat aircraft, “the concept is to have a more modular design, much less expensive,” and certainly lacking “all the systems a manned aircraft needs to have to support the operator.” It will have “just those things it needs for whatever we’re asking it to do.”

There’s “a suite of sensors; there’s a suite of weapons; there’s connectivity between them; there’s connectivity to the weapons; there’s offboard support that will provide targeting and situational awareness information to that operator who’s trying to control this formation,” Kendall explained.

“That operator will need a lot of … automated help to do his job effectively, but I think it’s going to be a very powerful concept,” he insisted.

Kendall said that for “both kinds of platforms, I think we can do a much quicker refresh, technologically. And I think we should.”

But doing that quick-refresh is “much harder to do … for something that has the complexity … [and] requirements” of the F-22 or F-35, for example, Kendall said.

Recently, Kendall revealed that the NGAD has entered the engineering and manufacturing development phase. When asked if that means a single contractor has been chosen to build the NGAD airplane, Kendall said, “it’s a classified program” but “we still have competition.” That suggests that at least two contractors have been brought forward into development to further reduce risk. In some recent programs, two contractors were carried to the point of critical design review.

Expanding on the NGAD concept, Kendall said the crewed aircraft will be the “play caller, the quarterback,” while the others will perform tailored missions using modular sensors, with all the platforms, and their weapons, connected and functioning as a team.

“You have an interesting virtue with that kind of formation in that you’re willing to put at high risk some elements of the formation because you don’t have people in them,” Kendall said. “And that opens up a suite of tactics that, today, would be unthinkable.”

Kendall said he is convinced “this is going to happen. I have no doubt this is going to happen, and somebody’s going to get there first, and somebody’s not. I want [the Air Force] to be first.”

The uncrewed aircraft will rely on further development of the Skyborg unmanned aircraft piloting system as well as further advances in artificial intelligence and software, Kendall said, acknowledging that “software … is hard.”

Nevertheless, “I think we can get to a meaningful level of initial capability. And then we’ll build on that. And we’ll have a foundation on which to build.”

He said the development of the AI as applied to these new uncrewed airplanes will be “exciting to watch” as these systems mature in the next few years.

Kendall reiterated that the program is going ahead toward actual, deployable hardware as swiftly as possible.

“I’m not doing this as an experiment. I’m doing it as a real program. We’ve done an awful lot of experimentation, prototyping, and virtual planes and so on, over the last few years … I’m all about real capability. I’m all about putting meaningful capability in the hands of warfighters as quickly I can.”