Senator: Delays to Picking Space Command HQ Pose Risk to National Security

April 4, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

U.S. Space Command won’t reach its full operational capability for years if its headquarters moves to Alabama as planned, a U.S. senator contends—but the already-two-year-old command could get to FOC as soon as the end of 2022 if it stays at its temporary home in Colorado.

In fact, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) told Air Force Magazine the command could have already reached FOC by now if not for the uncertainty surrounding where it will call its permanent home.

Both the Defense Department inspector general and Government Accountability Office are investigating the Trump administration’s decision to base the U.S.’s newest unified combatant command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

Getting to FOC sooner matters because the military’s vulnerabilities in space affect “almost every aspect of our national security,” Hickenlooper said—even “our ability to deal with the Russian aggression you see in Ukraine.”

As for the five years he estimated the command could take to get to FOC in Alabama: “We don’t have that time, in my opinion,” Hickenlooper said. “We need all hands on deck right now.”

Hickenlooper addressed the basing decision on the sidelines of touring a small company: Advanced Space of Westminster, Colo., which has an agreement with the Air Force Research Laboratory to share data from a mission to chart cislunar orbits for NASA.

The Department of the Air Force twice searched for U.S. Space Command’s permanent home base after it became the military’s 11th unified combatant command in 2019. The administration scrapped one list of finalists before then-Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper adopted a different process in which local communities got to make pitches.

Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation have said former President Donald J. Trump gave the headquarters to Alabama “for political reasons,” and after his presidency ended, Trump took credit for the decision.

The command has awaited the outcome of the investigations from its temporary home at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs. Peterson was considered a favorite for the permanent basing decision because of its close connection to the Space Force and Air Force space activities historically.

“We can’t just kind of play politics and kick the can down the road like we’ve been doing,” Hickenlooper said. “We need to take things like Space Command, that have a mission that’s vitally important to this country, and make sure we do everything we can to get them full operational capability ASAP.”

Hickenlooper said he didn’t think the search process took into account the time to get to FOC.

Commander of U.S. Space Command Gen. James H. Dickinson said in congressional testimony March 4 that the basing decision is holding him back from getting to FOC “as quickly as possible.”

Though no matter the location, he estimated that the command is “a couple-three years away” from FOC “based on many things,” including “attracting the right expertise within the command, and making sure that I have trained those processes and procedures within the command to be able to do the entire mission set that I have been given.”

Meanwhile, the projected size of the command has shrunk, Hickenlooper said, suggesting it wouldn’t require any new construction at Peterson.

He and eight other members of Colorado’s congressional delegation addressed a letter to President Joe Biden on March 22, pointing out the national security implications of delaying FOC and urging the President to take into account the forthcoming findings of both investigations.

The letter cites the urgency of U.S. European Command’s “efforts to monitor and respond to the situation in Ukraine” as well as the threat posed by Russia’s launch of an anti-satellite weapon in November 2021 that resulted in a problematic cloud of debris in low Earth orbit.

“As Russia’s war on Ukraine evolves, it is vital for USSPACECOM to maintain operational continuity, and achieve FOC without delay,” the lawmakers wrote. “We remain concerned that moving the combatant command headquarters will slow the progress toward full capability—a delta we cannot afford at this fraught geopolitical moment in history.”

“If we made up our mind tomorrow that that’s what we wanted to do, we could have them at full operational capability by the end of the year,” Hickenlooper said, referring to keeping the command in Colorado.

Gen. Frank Gorenc (Ret.): We Must Have an F-35 Engine Competition to Accelerate Change

April 4, 2022

“When markets are competitive,” a new Department of Defense report says, “the Department reaps the benefits through improved cost, schedule, and performance for the products and services needed to support national defense.” The report also states that competition leads to a healthier industrial base, more innovation, and ultimately, better national security.

“We hear a clear call from the Air Force to ‘accelerate change.’ Competition is a great way to do it,” says Gen. Frank Gorenc (Ret.). “We have an opportunity in the near-term to introduce competition through a new engine for the world’s most advanced fighter, the F-35.”

Gen. Gorenc, who accumulated nearly 5,000 flight hours in his distinguished Air Force career, knows well the asymmetric advantage the U.S. holds in jet engine manufacturing. He wants to keep it that way.

There is widespread acknowledgement that the current engine won’t be able to accommodate the F-35’s future capabilities—hence Gorenc’s call for competition. The adaptive cycle engines currently being tested through the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) would offer game-changing capability for the F-35 and enable future capabilities for decades into the future. Engine manufacturers GE (who Gorenc consults for) and Pratt & Whitney are AETP’s two participants.

The Air Force’s stated goals for AETP engines include 25% better fuel efficiency, 10% more thrust, and double the thermal management capability over today’s engines. Those are eye-popping numbers to Gorenc. Having served in a number of high-ranking Air Force positions following his flying career, he recognizes the strategic options that kind of performance would open up for the Air Force.

That’s why he’s “really encouraged” by the request for information the Air Force released in January for the F-35 Adaptive Engine Replacement (FAER) program, as well as the continued investment in AETP requested in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget. It signals serious interest in bringing an adaptive cycle engine to the F-35, according to Gorenc.

“Moving forward from that RFI to an RFP for an Engineering and Manufacturing Development program is the only way to introduce a competition for F-35 propulsion. An upgrade to the existing engine means no competition. The Air Force has invested $4 billion-plus in industry since 2007 to bring these adaptive engines online. You have two companies that received equal contracts to build and test adaptive cycle engines, they both have, and now we have an opportunity to reap all the benefits competition brings to the table for a high-volume program,” he adds.

In reference to a proposed upgrade of the existing engine, Gorenc argues, “Along with not creating competition, an upgrade to the existing engine simply can’t come close to the performance of an adaptive engine. Right now, an upgrade exists only as a proposal.”

Meanwhile, Gorenc says the tests of both companies’ engines indicate considerable progress in maturing the new architecture of these engines—real engines producing real results.

Looking specifically at GE’s progress since December 2020, he highlights testing of its XA100 adaptive cycle engine, which includes ground test campaigns on two separate engines from the company’s Evendale, Ohio, facility. That testing has demonstrated the Air Force’s performance goals, and GE has revealed that its engine will not only fit the Air Force’s F-35A, but also the carrier-based F-35C. GE’s engine began further testing at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex in late March. Pratt & Whitney’s XA101 adaptive cycle engine, meanwhile, fired up in September 2021 and reported “amazing” results.

General Electric’s XA100 adaptive cycle engine in its Evendale, Ohio, test cell. *Photo courtesy of GE*

“So, we have long-term solutions for F-35 propulsion in AETP engines that have already seen significant investment,” Gorenc says. “Congress, leaders in the Pentagon, and industry agree that something must be done about the engine. I want the engine that gives Air Force pilots an overwhelming advantage for decades, not just an incremental upgrade that we’ll have to revisit over and over again.”

The F-35 is expected to be around for another 40 years. With double the thermal management capability of today’s engine, AETP engines offer room for the F-35 of the future to expand its mission capability with next-gen systems. That’s not to mention the lifecycle fuel and CO2 savings the AETP engines would produce, with second order impacts on the Air Force’s tanker fleet.

With more than 2,400 of these advanced aircraft expected to roll off the line in total, introducing a more capable engine would follow the lead of several 4^th generation fighters that received a new engine, including the F-16, F-15, and F-14. “This is a normal evolution of a high-volume program like the F-35,” Gorenc says.

He concludes: “There are lots of people who are invested in the long-term success of the F-35 program. Those people should be invested in a competition for a new adaptive cycle engine. It’s the only path that keeps the F-35 relevant decades into the future. We owe our Warfighters the very best equipment—and the time is now.”

Gen. Frank Gorenc is a consultant with GE Aviation, which paid to publish this this article.

DOD’s Sexual Assault Prevention Improving—But Still Found Lacking—in Pair of New Reports

April 1, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III released the findings of a 20-base review of sexual assault prevention and response practices within days of a congressional report that found additional focus needed on prevention along with “continued congressional oversight.”

The Government Accountability Office published its latest recommendations March 24 in the report, “Sexual Assault in the Military: Continued Congressional Oversight and Additional DOD Focus on Prevention Could Aid DOD’s Efforts.”

Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s “2021 On-Site Installation Evaluation Report,” posted online March 31, represents a new way ahead for the department.

GAO’s Findings

The GAO acknowledged that “DOD has taken a number of steps to address sexual assault” but found areas where it was lacking, including that its activities focused largely on response rather than prevention.

DOD could improve prevention by working on its prevention strategy, improving how it measures the effectiveness of prevention efforts, and doing long-term strategic planning, the GAO found. It said DOD could better protect male service members and civilian employees who are victims, finding that “DOD was not tracking all reported work-related sexual assaults involving civilian employees.”

The watchdog measured how the department had complied with 249 sexual assault-related statutory requirements enacted by Congress from 2004 to 2019 as well as with 30 prior GAO recommendations, finding that “DOD has made progress in addressing some of the recommendations, but sustained leadership is needed to ensure that the remainder of these recommendations are addressed.” Of the 249 statutory requirements, 191 were still in force as of the enactment of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.

DOD’s Findings

In a March 30 memo by Austin that accompanied the Pentagon’s base-by-base report, he said he’d made “countering the scourge of sexual assault in the military a key priority” since taking office.

The assessments undertaken for the 2021 On-Site Evaluation Report built on the findings of the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military. The commission called for “broad policy compliance checks, the assessment and development of prevention capabilities at each installation, … and site visits to a representative sample of military installations,” according to the memo.

The Pentagon report of installations said the DOD had made “steady progress in addressing sexual assault in the military” for a decade but still found “persistent challenges across areas of violence and climate throughout the force.”

Part of the report’s purpose was to hammer out a process for doing on-site evaluations in the future, and it recommends institutionalizing the process. Austin’s memo further sets forth that the evaluations should take place every two years.

Out of the 20 installations evaluated, four belong to the Department of the Air Force: Dyess Air Force Base, Texas; Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; and Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. The on-site evaluations took place from November 2021 to January 2022 to verify how the bases assessed their own compliance with DOD rules; and to judge how well positioned each installation was to prevent assaults.

Bases were selected after a force-wide command climate survey done in the first six months of 2021 that asked about risk factors for sexual assault and protective factors. Risk factors included alcohol impairing memory, binge drinking, stress, passive leadership, toxic leadership, racially harassing behaviors, sexually harassing behaviors, and workplace hostility. Protective factors included cohesion, connectedness, engagement and commitment, fairness, inclusion, morale, safe storage for lethal means, work-life balance, leadership support, and transformational leadership.

Of the 20, some were selected because of their high risk factors on the climate survey and some for their high protective factors. Likewise, units at each base were named “units of interest” because of either high risk or high protective factors.

Evaluators then looked at four categories of “alignment and compliance”—victim assistance, reporting, program/policy, and training—at each base and identified both “strengths to leverage” and “areas for improvement.”

Dyess Air Force Base, Texas: According to the climate survey, Dyess placed among the less risky bases in the evaluation and one of the most protective—and it was one of only two given a “prevention quality confidence” rating of “high.” The 7th Operations Group there was deemed a “promising unit.” Areas for improvement included clarifying who is responsible for sexual assault prevention training and appointing an alternative sexual assault response coordinator.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska: The combined base of Airmen and Soldiers scored riskiest of the four DAF bases and least protective. Areas for improvement included instability in the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program because of temporary hires working as coordinators in a high-traffic location that could make victims uncomfortable.

Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas: Laughlin came in fourth out of 20 for protection while while also rating seventh-riskiest. Areas for improvement included budgeting, which had been cut; the fact that prevention activities were rarely performed; and that victims meet “with defense prior to trial, which may further traumatize the victim.”

Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Because so few bases belong to the USSF, Vandenberg was included so the service would have some representation. Its risk score was third-lowest of 20, and its protective score was third-highest. Areas for improvement: Sexual Assault Prevention and Response staff had little understanding of their role; needed another person on the staff; and had limited interaction with the base’s “Violence Prevention Integrator.”

Threat of Russian Chemical Weapons is ‘Wake-up Call’ on WMDs

April 1, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

Concerns over weapons of mass destruction have surged in recent weeks, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has turned increasingly brutal and officials warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons.

For the Defense Department’s counter-WMD leaders, it’s a pivotal moment—and potentially a “wake-up call” for the U.S. to realize the importance of the mission, they told a House Armed Services subcommittee on April 1.

“I think the crisis in Ukraine and the blatant threats, really, by Russia of the potential use of chemical and biological weapons is opening everyone’s eyes to how much of a problem this is,” John Plumb, assistant secretary of Defense for space policy, told the HASC Intelligence and Special Operations subpanel.

For years, officials said, concerns over weapons of mass destruction were focused on their potential use by violent extremist organizations, like ISIS or al-Qaeda, or so-called “rogue states” like North Korea or Iran.

Recently, however, that has changed, as DOD has started to grapple with their potential use by adversaries with far greater capabilities—meaning a shift in priorities.

“From looking at closing the gaps that we have across the WMD spectrum in the investments, the main thing that we are pivoting from is concerns that it would be a non-state actor who would be using this to then really looking at state-based threats and the depth of the science and technology that they have available to them,” Deborah G. Rosenblum, assistant secretary of Defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs, told lawmakers. “And we can get into greater detail in terms of the specificity, but that is a dramatic pivot from a threat perspective.”

Russian officials have denied accusations that they have used chemical weapons, but independent observers have reported their use in Syria and Chechnya, as well as in poisonings in the United Kingdom. Now, Russia has accused Ukraine and the U.S. of developing biological and chemical weapons, an argument that Western leaders fear will be used as a pretext for Russia deploying such weapons of their own.

“I can say to you, unequivocally, there are no offensive biological weapons in the Ukraine laboratories that the United States has been involved with,” Rosenblum said.

Still, deterring Russia from using any WMDs in Ukraine presents a “challenge” to the U.S., Plumb acknowledged.

“I think the fact that the White House has used the megaphone of the United States of America to call this out is an important deterrent,” Plumb said. “It’s not just the administration, it’s also working with the Congress too, to rally the entire NATO alliance to kind of align against this. … We have this communication conflict that we really need to work on. On a readiness side, there is some argument to be made that better readiness and better training … helps deter. It’s necessary but not sufficient. But the more ready we are to engage in a zone like that, then perhaps the higher the threshold is for its use.”

In order to be prepared should deterrence fail, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has directed that DOD integrate counter-WMD operations into “planning, resourcing, modernizing, and then more importantly, training and exercising, holistically,” said Vice Adm. Collin Patrick Green, deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

In 2018, SOCOM took over the lead role in organizing C-WMD efforts across the department. Now, four years later, Green sees the current crisis as a critical moment for the entire department and all of government to realize the urgency of the mission, just as they did after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I think this is a wake-up call with regard to C-WMD, much like [counterterrorism] was,” Green said. “So I think the coordinating authority and the work that we’ve done here with my colleagues to recognize this threat, to plan for it, to modernize, and then to train and exercise, frankly, it’s a holistic approach.”

Kurilla Takes Command of CENTCOM, Says It ‘Must Maintain the Requisite Resources’

April 1, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla took command of U.S. Central Command on April 1, formally succeeding Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. in a ceremony in Tampa, Fla.

Kurilla’s ascension to the head of CENTCOM comes at a potentially key moment for the combatant command. The Pentagon has increasingly emphasized competition with China as the nation’s “pacing challenge,” and the invasion of Ukraine has brought renewed focus to Europe and the “acute threat” Russia presents. After more than 20 years of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. has left, reducing its presence in the region.

Despite all this, Kurilla argued in the first few moments after taking command, the U.S. “must remain fiercely and actively engaged in the 21 countries of Central Command.”

“Our adversaries are watching closely for any sign that America’s commitment to the collective security of the region is wavering,” Kurilla warned. “Our adversaries are poised to capitalize on any opportunities that emerge. We must not grant them any.”

Kurilla also made the case for the Defense Department to continue investing in the region, pointing to both its strategic importance and future threats.

“We must ensure a favorable balance of power in the region. CENTCOM must maintain the requisite resources to find, fix, and finish threats to the homeland before those threats develop the capability to conduct external operations; to secure maritime straits and global trade routes; to ensure the free flow of commerce through the region,” Kurilla said.

Kurilla’s comments echoed those made by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, who spoke at the ceremony and addressed the service members serving in CENTCOM directly.

“This region is where we protect waterways so that global commerce can flow. It’s where we fight terrorists who threaten our citizens. And it’s where we work with our partners to confront instability from Iran and its proxies,” Lloyd said. “CENTCOM is central to our security. It’s central to our readiness. And it’s central to our mission.”

In the short term, Austin said, CENTCOM will continue to focus on intelligence sharing and regional air defense, a nod to the recent airstrikes by Iranian-backed militias on American allies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—in some cases, the strikes have even targeted bases with U.S. personnel.

In his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kurilla, who previously served as chief of staff of CENTCOM, stressed the importance of both human and artificial intelligence in countering Iran.

In the longer term, Austin said, “we’ll work together to tackle Iran’s use of missiles and its proliferation of unmanned aerial systems. And we’ll keep standing strong with our partners to hold Iran and its proxies accountable.”

The threat from Iran was consistently cited by Kurilla’s predecessor, McKenzie, as the primary concern for CENTCOM. But the course of his three-year tenure was marked by several other key moments—in particular, Austin highlighted Israel’s transition to the area of responsibility, the transition to an advise-and-assist role in Iraq, and the non-combatant evacuation out of Afghanistan that rescued more than 124,000 people but resulted in the deaths of 13 service members in a suicide bombing.

Austin, McKenzie, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark A. Milley all made reference to the Afghanistan airlift and the lives lost in their remarks.

“Since I assumed command in March of 2019, CENTCOM has suffered 43 killed and 468 wounded in action,” McKenzie said. “Every one of these lives altered or lost in the line of duty has profoundly affected me, and how could they not? Again, there’s a very steep price associated with the task that we set before ourselves here.”

Still, McKenzie called serving as the commander of CENTCOM the “greatest honor of my career,” and noted that the mission in Afghanistan achieved its core objective.

“It’s worth remembering that we went to Afghanistan to prevent another terrorist attack on our homeland. And we’ve done so. That there has not been another 9/11 in the 21 years since is no accident,” McKenzie said. “It’s a testament to the perseverance and devotion of the men and women of CENTCOM, as well as to the perseverance and devotion of our allies and partners that have served with us in that country.”

Milley, for his part, credited McKenize for guiding CENTCOM, “and by extension the nation, through some of our most tough times.”

“These last few years have been quite intense,” said Milley. “Frank and I have talked a lot—almost daily, and on many occasions, multiple times a day. Countless phone calls, meetings, VTCs, and endless discussions. Very emotional, very strategic, very heartfelt. I have personally an incredible amount of trust, confidence, and personal respect for Frank McKenzie.”

In 2005, as a lieutenant colonel, Kurilla was wounded in Iraq during a firefight, getting shot three times and suffering a shattered femur, Milley said.

“He recovered fast enough to pass the 75th Ranger Regiment assessment and continue jumping out of airplanes,” Milley added. “You can knock Erik Kurilla down, but you can’t keep him down.”

Most recently, Kurilla served as commander of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., which deployed thousands of Soldiers to Afghanistan as part of the evacuation process.

“If there ever was some way to feed into a machine the requirements for the perfect leader of CENTCOM—the character traits, the attributes, the experiences, the knowledge, and the personality that will be ideal—that machine would spit out Erik Kurilla,” Milley said.

Air Force Continues Modest Shift Toward Standoff Munitions in New Budget

April 1, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

Standoff munitions—primarily the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile series—continue to get priority in the munitions category of the Air Force’s 2023 spending request, according to service budget documents. Direct-attack munitions see a doubling of units, touted as a recovery of munitions spending, but the level requested is only a quarter of the units acquired in fiscal 2021.

The JASSM-ER (Extended Range) is the single largest line item in munitions spending, with a request of $785 million to buy 550 missiles, which USAF officials described as “maxing out” the production capacity of maker Lockheed Martin. That rate is up for a third year, after USAF bought 400 and 525 in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Lockheed is expanding its facilities in Troy, Ala., to build more.

The service is also buying 28 Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) variants of the JASSM for $119 million, after buying none in fiscal 2022. Air Force officials have said the JASSM and LRASM are needed to address the rising threat posed by great power competitors, as the weapons have the ability to stealthily penetrate hundreds of miles of contested airspace.

Mark Gunzinger, director of future aerospace concepts and capabilities assessments at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said the modest increase in JASSM production is “good news,” but the relatively small increase in units “illustrates the limited capacity of our industrial base, including its lack of surge capacity. JASSM-ER is the kind of weapon needed in a China fight, but we can’t buy enough of them to meet the requirements of a large-scale campaign” due to their high cost per round.

Gunzinger has argued that direct-attack munitions, fitted with some kind of rocket or air-breathing motor to extend their range, released from long-range bombers, is likely the most cost-effective way of addressing the thousands of targets that would have to be hit in a Pacific war scenario.

The request for 1,919 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMS) in the fiscal 2022 budget plummeted from 16,800 units the year before, but this year rises back up to 4,200 units. USAF budget director Maj. Gen. James D. Peccia III, briefing reporters on the 2023 request, said the JDAM number “is substantially higher than previous years … We’re catching back up, which is why that number is a little bit higher in ’23.”

The big drop in JDAMs last fiscal year was attributed to a decline in demand at the end of large-scale operations in Syria and Iraq.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told reporters in a pre-release budget brief that intelligence indicated Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine well in advance, noting that it “wasn’t a surprise” to senior leaders, and that the budget included some anticipation of possible operations in Europe and/or in the Indo-Pacific. The Air Force did not directly tie the JDAM procurement increase to either scenario, however.

Of note, replacement of munitions expended in wartime, previously funded under the “Overseas Contingency Operations,” or OCO account, are now part of the Air Force’s base budget.

The buy of Small Diameter Bomb I, which also dropped sharply from 2,462 in 2021 to 998 units in 2022, has fallen again, to 356 weapons in 2023. The Air Force has stated a preference for the GBU-53/B StormBreaker (previously known as SDB II), which nevertheless also declines from 985 units in 2022 to 761 bombs in the new request; a level comparable to that of two years ago.

The Air Force has not yet released its full budget programmatics information for 2023 and beyond, but the AGM-114 Hellfire missile, which largely equips MQ-9 Reaper drones, was not mentioned in the service’s budget highlights as it was in recent years. The Air Force is transferring 100 MQ-9s to another government agency in the 2023 plan, which, along with the curtailment of operations in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, is likely causing a steep decline in the need for Hellfire.

Collectively, the Air Force increased spending on conventional surface attack weapons by about $300 million in FY’23, from $1.130 billion to $1.436 billion, driven mainly by the addition of LRASM and the boost to JDAM production.

Gunzinger cautioned that the budget information released so far only describes what is happening with in-production munitions and doesn’t provide a picture of what USAF is developing. Even with strap-on motors, weapons like JDAM were not designed to be survivable, he said, and “munitions survivability is increasingly critical to strike success/lethality.”

The radar-guided AIM-120D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) sees a rebound in FY’23, up to 271 units, after falling to 168 last year. The new level is almost exactly what it was in FY’21, which was 268. The AMRAAM will be superseded in the next few years by the classified AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM). Plans discussed at a USAF industry conference in 2019 forecast AMRAAM production will phase out in 2026, in favor of JATM.

The request for the AIM-9X Sidewinder—a short range, infrared-guided weapon for dogfights—was about level from last year, with the Air Force requesting 255 rounds, versus 243 in FY ’22. That level was down from 2021, when USAF asked for 331 rounds. The shift to combat operations at longer ranges may explain some of the steady decline in Sidewinder acquisition.

20th Air Force Women Inspire, Lead Future of Nuclear Enterprise

March 31, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

A decade ago, female missileers could not “pull alert” at a certain stage of pregnancy or while nursing.

More often than not, the women who took responsibility for an ICBM launch control capsule chose instead to leave the Air Force.

Today, Air Force policies have changed while still achieving mission objectives.

Female Airmen leading the nuclear enterprise say the small changes are helping retain and recruit female missileers, while young female Airmen can see what’s possible in their Air Force career in the changing faces of leadership.

Perhaps nowhere is that more true than 20th Air Force, where missileers go deep into the belly of nuclear missile silos for the most important job in strategic deterrence, maintaining and operating the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“We’ve got two wing commanders out of four in 20th Air Force that are female,” 91st Operations Group commander Col. Kristen A. Nemish told Air Force Magazine. “That is not something that I had the ability to see when I was a young lieutenant.”

Factors included low numbers of female Airmen, especially in the nuclear enterprise. But old Air Force policies also hurt retention and prevented women from rising in the ranks.

“There are policies that are now allowing us to attract and retain families,” added Nemish in a phone interview from Minot Air Force Base, N.D.

In addition to the two female wing commanders, two of four operational security commanders are women, a circumstance unheard of a generation ago. Female leaders say the changes and the coming decade of nuclear modernization are building excitement among the new generation of female Airmen.

“That’s a great step forward,” said Nemish. “I think that those steps forward have been allowed to happen because we have people now at the higher levels that do have diverse backgrounds.”

Women Will Lead the Once-in-a-Generation Nuclear Upgrade

With the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise slated for billions in modernization in coming years, the 20th Air Force is finding that its corps of female leaders will be front and center to guide the nation’s land-based leg of the triad, the new Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD).

“It was kind of unheard of back in the day for somebody to be pregnant while they were on missile crew,” said Col. Anita A. Feugate Opperman, 341st Missile Wing Commander and one of two female wing commanders who oversee ICBM operations.

A missileer for 27-and-a-half years, she remembers a different time for women in the career field.

“When I was a young lieutenant, I was probably one of three or four in my squadron of 60 to 70 missileers,” Feugate Opperman said by videoconference from Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.

Now, women represent 22 percent of all missileers.

“We have women at all stages of their career, having babies, feeling like they can continue on with their family, whatever the situation is, and still say in the Air Force,” the wing commander said.

Col. Anita Feugate Opperman, 341st Missile Wing commander, gives opening remarks during the Women’s History Month Symposium March 10, 2022, at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. Airmen and representatives from several Air Force Global Strike Command bases attended the symposium to share their leadership experiences and workplace challenges while remaining authentic. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Tristan Truesdell

Small lifestyle and quality-of-life adjustments to Air Force policies are leading to higher retention rates for women in the nuclear enterprise and more women in leadership roles.

As more women stay in the Air Force and rise to lead the nuclear enterprise, the cycle of retention continues.

“Seeing women at higher levels that have been able to balance work and family is encouraging for the young Airmen as well as some of the changes that we’ve just made,” she said. “Whether it’s maternity leave or being able to pull alerts longer into your pregnancy—and more acceptance that you realize it won’t hurt your career—[that] has allowed us to retain and recruit more women.”

Young mothers are even accommodated now while pulling alerts. TRICARE covers the cost of breast pumps for nursing mothers in the field, while the command has made adjustments to designate private places to pump. Some problems still remain, as only certain pumps are approved for use in launch control centers.

Col. Catherine Barrington, commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., has also witnessed the mentality change within the ICBM enterprise.

“The value is that women are at the table, working the issues and involved in all aspects of ICBM nuclear leadership,” she said. “While that wasn’t the case years ago, we now see an improvement for everyone, and we are a stronger force because of inclusivity.”

Barrington recalls seeing one of the first female missileers, 429th Missile Squadron commander Lt. Col. Linda Aldrich, when she was a second lieutenant heading out on her first alert.

“I was walking down the hallway to the briefing room when I saw her. I immediately said to myself, ‘Oh, I could be a squadron commander just like her,'” she recalled. “Seeing a female commander let me know that it was a possibility for me.”

Fourteen years later, when Barrington took command of the 319th Missile Squadron, retired Col. Aldrich was in attendance.

Like many female Airmen, Barrington is married to another Air Force officer. In past years, missileer marriages usually resulted in the woman eventually separating from the Air Force.

Current Air Force policy prioritizes keeping dual military couples together. That wasn’t always the case, making it tough for Barrington and her husband to get assignments that allowed them to be together.

“Our leaders kept both of our careers moving forward and found ways for us to be stationed together well before this became the norm in the Air Force,” she said. “Because nuclear leaders cared for individuals, this potential hurdle was not a significant issue for us.”

Col. Catherine Barrington, 90th Missile Wing commander, speaks to Airmen assigned to the 90th Logistics Readiness Squadron in an LRS warehouse at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, July 6, 2021. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Charles Munoz

‘A Competition for Talent’

Commander of the 20th Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Lutton said if the Air Force doesn’t make adjustments to recruit and retain talent, the nuclear enterprise will lose that human capital to the other services and the private sector.

“It’ll be a competition for talent,” he said.

“We’ve got to be really keen on competing against those other services, in support of service to our nation,” he said in a video conference call from F.E. Warren. “When we look at that outreach, how do we double down on recruiting that talent, specifically, our young ladies or young women, to let them know what is possible?”

Lutton takes great pride in the fact that the 20th Air Force has female Airmen leading two wings, multiple missile operations squadrons, and two of the four helicopter squadrons.

“Those ladies are the best people,” he said.

“That’ll tie into your Ground Based Strategic Deterrent. That’ll tie into the B-21. That’ll tie into all these areas in air and space and cyber,” he said, noting that Barrington’s 90th Missile Wing will be the first to receive GBSD.

“She is a vanguard,” he underscored. “She is on the cutting edge of delivering our nation’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent.”

If Congress approves the Defense Department’s budget plan to keep GBSD on schedule, then the three missile wings overseeing the nation’s Minuteman III ICBMs will begin a complex transition of onboarding a new system and operating an old system simultaneously.

The 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren will come first, when construction begins as early as 2023. The 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom will follow in 2026, and the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., will be the last to break ground in 2029.

Barrington said the excitement generated by the once-in-a-generation change in the nuclear enterprise is having an effect on young female Airmen.

“What I love about fielding GBSD is that we get to be pioneers with this brand-new weapon system,” she said.

“Our young officers will be able to spend a good portion of their careers leading fielding efforts and solving complex issues that arise during the process,” she added. “It is a tremendous opportunity, and I want today’s female missileers to know that this is an exciting leadership opportunity to shape a weapon system that will be in service through 2075.”

KC-46 Cleared for More Refueling; Likelihood of Bridge Tanker Competition Falls

March 31, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

As the Air Force continues to look for a “bridge tanker” to follow the KC-46, top officials say they’re defining the requirements for the next aerial refueler—while the KC-46 itself continues to progress in the kinds of aircraft it can refuel.

The Department of the Air Force’s 2023 budget request asks for $198 million for research and testing for the KC-46, including funding for the bridge tanker program. Thus far, Lockheed Martin has put forth its LMXT airframe—which stands for Lockheed Martin “Next” Tanker—as a contender, while Boeing has reportedly said it will re-enter the KC-46.

In looking at what the service wants, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall gave reporters a hint into how his team is leaning during a March 25 briefing.

“As we look for requirements, look further out, the requirements start to look like a modified KC-46 more than they do a completely new design,” Kendall said. “So we’re working our way through finalizing those requirements. Again, we’ll be doing due diligence market research analysis.

“… I want to be very transparent about this. I think that there’s still a possibility for competition out there. But as we’ve looked at our requirements, the likelihood of a competition has come down.”

On March 31, U.S. Transportation Command head Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost didn’t go quite as far in speaking before a subpanel of the House Armed Services Committee. But she did say TRANSCOM is working to help draft the requirements for the bridge tanker as the military looks to move beyond the aging KC-135, which has been part of the Air Force for more than 60 years.

“We’ve been working with the Air Force on a recapitalization plan that will ensure that we can continue to recapitalize, because we recognize that a 70-year-old aircraft is very hard to maintain and the reliability on the road would not be good,” Van Ovost said. “So we are working with the Air Force on the requirements for the follow-on tanker, if you will, and … as you see in the budget, they have placed some money to try to take a look at that future refueler.”

Van Ovost also updated members on the status of the KC-46, which has faced serious issues with its Remote Vision System and other deficiencies, but has been gradually cleared to refuel more and more kinds of aircraft with “interim capability releases.”

In December, Air Mobility Command said the tanker could refuel nearly 70 percent of all aircraft in the fleet. Now, Van Ovost announced, AMC has cleared the KC-46 to fuel F-22s and F-35s, meaning it can now refuel roughly 85 percent of the fleet.

“In addition, they are doing exercises around the world to exercise our logistics chain and ensure that they can mobilize in the small packages and generate tanker capability while they’re forward. So I am heartened by the exercising that they’re doing,” Van Ovost said. “They’re also providing some capacity to TRANSCOM on a day-to-day basis to do refueling. I think this is the fastest way to [get to] fully operationally capable, by having the crews get out there and do reps and sets on that aircraft.”

Van Ovost also praised the KC-46 for possessing “some key capabilities that I would like to see going into the future. It’s part of the network—it’s connected. And it can do more. It’s multi-modal. It can do drogue and probe stick boom refueling.”

Later in the hearing, Van Ovost identified that ability to connect to the larger network as one of her top priorities for the future refueling fleet.

However, several lawmakers expressed frustration with the KC-46, pointing to delays that have forced the KC-135 to keep flying. In particular, Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.) called it “embarrassing” for the Air Force to still rely on the KC-135 and pressed Van Ovost on the potential use of the Airbus A330—a variant of which Lockheed Martin plans to use for LMXT and which would be manufactured in Alabama.

Van Ovost noted that there are no A330s in USAF’s inventory but that other countries fly the plane and U.S. aircraft refuel from it.

Regardless of any bridge tanker, however, the KC-135 could continue to fly into the 2030s and beyond, and the Air Force “must” work to modernize the tanker so it can continue to fulfill TRANSCOM’s needs, Van Ovost said.

“There are numerous modifications that Air Mobility Command is trying to place into the KC-135. This is a little bit of a matter of scale with the number of airplanes that they would have to modify, but they are trying to not only make the airplane more relevant and survivable, but frankly, there are areas where parts obsolescence are a problem and they’ve got after just replacing stuff that they can’t fix anymore,” Van Ovost said. “So it is a large modernization program, but they’re working it very hard.”

USAF to Form New F-22 Training Unit; JATM Will Help Raptors Keep Their Edge

March 31, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force will form a training unit from its newer Block 30/35 F-22 Raptors, reducing the jets available for combat operations, according to Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom, deputy chief of staff for plans and programs.

At the same time, new weapons developments, such as the new AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, can help the Air Force maintain a competitive edge against peer threats.

A reduction in the F-22 fleet in the fiscal 2023 budget request, however, from 186 airplanes to 153—combined with the creation of the training unit—would sharply reduce the number of F-22s available for battle, according to an analysis by the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

One reason the Air Force is reducing the size of the F-22 fleet, Nahom said, is that new F-22 pilots, trained on the older Block 20 airframes, are taking too long to transition to the upgraded Block 30/35 models at their operational units.

“The difference between them is getting greater and greater over time,” Nahom said in an interview with Air Force Magazine, “because we keep putting more capability on the operational Raptors.” The older jets aren’t getting those upgrades “because they don’t have the capacity” to absorb the modifications, and the Air Force has decided it wouldn’t make financial sense to upgrade the older jets, despite the small size of the Raptor fleet.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told reporters in a pre-release budget briefing that USAF thinks it’s more efficient to take the older F-22s out of service now and use the money saved by not flying and fixing them to develop the Next Generation Air Dominance system.

“Because of the nature of the hardware and the software” in the Block 20 airplanes, Nahom said, students have to “relearn a lot of things in the operational units.” What the service wants is a swift transition—“a quick topoff”—when students come from a system schoolhouse to their first operational unit.

“It’s not that way with the Raptor right now,” he said.

“So, what we’re going to do is … we’re going to take some of those Block 30/35s and turn them into a training unit, and it will be able to be able to train [students] at a higher level. And so you’ll have a much more full-up round when the young pilot shows up at his or her operational unit.”

Nahom did not say how many Block 30/35s will be put into a training unit, but it will likely be less than the 60 now set aside for that purpose. Nahom also did not say where the unit will be headquartered. The F-22 schoolhouse at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., moved to nearby Eglin Air Force Base when Hurricane Michael largely destroyed Tyndall in 2018. However, the Air Force said in budget briefings this week that its Raptor fleet will be redistributed among other F-22 bases.

With a fleet of 153 F-22s, the usable number of F-22s plummets to a very small figure.

Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute, said that with 186 F-22s, after taking away 60 for training and with a mission capable rate of about 50 percent for the remainder, what is is left is a usable force of just 62 Raptors. F-22s have have, however, turned in mission capable rates of about 80 percent during combat operations in the past. At that rate, 98 could be available for battle.

In that case, Deptula said, the available aircraft would be split “one-third in the fight; one-third preparing to launch or en route; and one-third recovering, refueling, and re-arming.”

Using the new inventory of 153 airplanes as the baseline, he added, reduces that to “a maximum of 27 F-22s in the fight at any one time—using the entire F-22 inventory.”

New Weapon

Nahom said the Air Force is “really looking forward” to fielding the AIM-260 JATM, which he called “ a wonderful weapon.”

“I think when you mix that with our other platforms … that is going to help us keep our advantage” in the air-to-air fight.

The JATM was first revealed in the summer of 2019, when then-Brig. Gen. Anthony W. Genatempo, program executive officer for weapons, described the missile at an “industry days” conference hosted by the Air Force Life Cycle Management center.

Genatempo said at the time that flight testing would begin in fiscal 2021 and initial operating capability would follow in fiscal 2022. The missile, being built by Lockheed Martin, is longer-ranged than the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), to compete with the Chinese PL-15. The PL-15’s long reach allows pilots of stealthy Chinese J-20s to see, target, and shoot at adversaries before AMRAAM-armed jets can shoot back.

The Air Force is putting $344 million into F-22 upgrades in its fiscal 2023 budget request, described mainly as “sensor upgrades.”

“We can’t stop” improving the F-22, Nahom said. “Because our adversaries aren’t stopping. And that’s why you see our investments in things like NGAD … But we’re very excited about the upgrades we’re making to the F 22.” Other improvements include a helmet-mounted weapon cuing system.

The highly classified JATM is believed to marry a multi-mode seeker with a long-burn rocket system capable of fitting within the weapons bay of the F-22. It will also equip the Navy’s F/A-18E/F and eventually the F-35.

In justifying a military construction project at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in 2019, the Air Force said a special storage area for the JATM was needed at the base due to its “extremely sensitive” nature and the need for a “Special Access Program Facility” at the base with heavy security to house it.

USAF said the JATM “is the number-one air-delivered weapon priority for both the Air Force and the Navy, and out-prioritizes other weapon system improvements and modernization efforts on any fielded aircraft.” Genatempo said in 2019 that JATM would supersede production of AMRAAM circa 2026.