Watchdog Finds Issues with Program Management of Nuclear Warheads

Dec. 17, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The National Nuclear Security Administration—responsible for developing and managing America’s nuclear warheads—needs better program management to ensure its new nuclear weapons remain on schedule, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

In particular, the GAO report authors said the NNSA needs to set priorities and steer resources to the most critical technologies.

Delays are creeping into new nuclear weapons programs because of an insufficient number of program overseers, late materials, and inconsistent policies and milestones from one program to another, auditors wrote.

The NNSA is developing the actual nuclear warheads that will be carried by new delivery systems like the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile and the Long-Range Stand-Off cruise missile. The delivery systems are being developed by the Air Force and the Pentagon.

Synchronizing the schedules for the new nuclear warheads with the new delivery systems is the challenge, and GAO authors wrote that there is generally good coordination between the Pentagon and the NNSA in getting that right.

Yet there are still some delays that can be chalked up to an inconsistent approach to developing these systems, the GAO report notes. On top of that, the NNSA only has a handful of program managers keeping an eye on dozens of companies, each with highly disparate functions under the vast nuclear weapon enterprise.

“GAO recommends that NNSA document, in a formal and comprehensive manner, the process its nuclear weapon acquisition programs must follow to identify which technologies are critical technologies,” the report states. The NNSA agreed with that recommendation.

The agency also lacks a formal process for its programs to identify “technologies critical to meeting a system’s operational requirements that are new or novel or are used in a new or novel way,” the GAO noted. Without one, it risks wasting money or time.

The GAO acknowledged that NNSA has established “numerous requirements that its programs must follow regarding, among other things, the establishment of cost and schedule baselines and the assessment of technology readiness,” but said these are inconsistent.

That’s important because “according to NNSA officials, it is difficult to estimate how long it will take to mature technologies to a manufacturing-ready state. As a result, NNSA’s programs have had difficulty reaching technology readiness milestones.”

That was borne out by a review of programs, during which GAO found that a majority had not reached the minimum required readiness levels for critical tech by the start of the development phase—despite the fact that NNSA guidelines stating that a program must reach certain Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) before moving to a new phase. GAO blamed a lack of documentation and enforcement of guidelines.

The GAO did note that in 2019, the NNSA established an office “to perform early stage research and development activities to advance technologies to a higher level of readiness before passing them on to nuclear weapon acquisition programs for further development.”

The GAO also looked at several warhead programs in particular and provided status reports.

W80-4

The W80-4 warhead life extension program—which will equip the LRSO missile—is now expected to be completed in September 2033, one year behind its schedule baseline. The GAO noted that the program cost of $13 billion hasn’t changed since it was last evaluated in March 2023, though it will be $400 million more than the previous baseline set in 2019.

Final design review for the warhead is planned for November 2025, and the first production unit should be completed in September 2027. Full-scale production starts in January 2030. The Air Force is buying just under 1,100 LRSO missiles. The GAO found “no significant challenges” with the LRSO schedule, but a vendor that makes the explosive material that detonates the warhead is planning to end production permanently, and the NNSA is working with various agencies “to address” this issue.

W88-Alt 370

The W88-Alt 370 program, which modifies the W88 warhead used on sea-launched ballistic missiles—but doesn’t extend their service lives—has been in production since 2022 and will be completed in September 2026. The $2.9 billion program is running $300 million over its expected cost “due to an issue with a procured part” in 2019. The GAO said $172 million more is likely needed for some “technology maturation.”

B61-12

The B61-12 life extension program, which is for a tactical nuclear weapon that will equip the F-35 and other platforms, is also scheduled to close out in 2026, a year later than planned, and at a cost of $8.4 billion versus the baseline $8 billion. Its cost increase was also chalked up to an issue with a procured part in 2019.

The Air Force developed a new tailkit for the weapon to make it more accurate, and it has new safety and security gear. “In October 2023, DOD announced plans to build an additional B61 variant, the B61-13, using the B61-12 production line,” GAO said, and NNSA “will produce fewer B61-12 bombs than originally planned to accommodate the B61-13 program.” Some money for the B61-12 will be used to “pay for the costs associated with the manufacture of nonnuclear components used for the B61-13 program.”

W87-1

The W87-1 Modification Program, which will replace the W78 warhead and be deployed on the LGM-35 Sentinel ICBM, includes a new-manufacture nuclear “pit” and “insensitive explosives” for triggering. Production engineering starts in September 2025; the final design review is slated for December 2027 and the first production unit is expected sometime between December 2030 and two years later. Full-scale production starts in 2033.

The NNSA estimates the program cost at between $15.2 and 16.3 billion, though NNSA told the GAO the cost could go up to $17.1 billion using “more conservative assumptions” with an 80 percent confidence level.

However, it’s not yet clear what the roughly $40 billion cost and schedule overruns on the overall Sentinel program will have on the warhead’s schedule yet. There is an ongoing review of the Mk21A rentry vehicle program, which will carry the warhead from the missile to the target. Air Force officials told the GAO that “they expect both Air Force programs to announce delays in the availability of hardware and flight testing dates that could result in delays of up to a year or longer for flight tests.”

W93

The W93 program is a new nuclear warhead most likely to be deployed first on new Navy sea-launched ballistic missiles, but intended for joint Air Force/Navy use in the long term. Development engineering starts in October 2026; production starts in the “mid-2030s.” In April 2024, the NNSA estimated the program will cost between $20.9 billion and $24.8 billion. The program will produce new nuclear pits.

The GAO report notes that “the program faces several challenges with manufacturing certain components. The program is also reliant on multiple NNSA production programs to reinstate capabilities to produce new plutonium pits, fabricate new secondaries, and improve lithium and high explosives sourcing and production.”

Space Force Launches New GPS Satellite with Lightning Speed

Dec. 17, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force successfully launched its seventh GPS III satellite into orbit Dec. 16—shaving more than a year and a half off the typical timeline for launching the highest priority national security spacecraft and switching rocket providers to do it.

All told, it took less than five months to pull the satellite from storage, integrate it with the launch vehicle, and go through readiness checks and processing, according to a joint release from the service’s Space Systems Command and Space Operations Command.

That stands in contrast to the two years it typically takes to prep for a launch as part of the National Security Space Launch program, reserved for the Pentagon and Intelligence Community’s most important missions.

Appropriately, the mission was dubbed RRT-1, for Rapid Response Trailblazer.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/wKTr9DUDIh
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 17, 2024

The launch, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., was atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Back in May 2022, Space Systems Command awarded the launch task order for the GPS III-7 mission to United Launch Alliance, but ULA does not currently have a system certified for NSSL missions—its new Vulcan Centaur rocket is waiting certification, and its Atlas V rocket had its last launch in July 2024.

As a result, new GPS III satellites that had been declared “ready for launch” were put into storage waiting for a ride to space. Last month, SSC commander Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant hinted that his team was “certainly looking at options to go faster,” specifically by “looking at some of the other GPS missions and the timing of those that have been manifested on SpaceX.”

The command awarded a task order for the next satellite in the series, GPS III-8, to ULA but had not announced plans for the last two editions, GPS III-9 and GPS III-10.

Garrant insisted at the time that the GPS constellation was healthy and the service did not need to rush new satellites into orbit. But on Dec. 17, Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Schiess—commander of Space Forces-Space, the service component to the combatant command—said he was eager to get the new birds up, hailing SSC for completing the process so quickly.

“We have been harping on getting more GPS III satellites on orbit to be able to give us more M-code,” Schiess said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, referring to the jam-resistant GPS signal for military use.

While other GPS satellites can transmit M-code, the GPS III spacecraft can take advantage of the full capability, including the ability to beam the signal at target areas.

Besides adding more capability to the constellation, the launch also marked another opportunity for the Space Force to speed up its processes for getting satellites into space, as part of an effort called Tactically Responsive Space.

Preparing for a scenario in which it might have to rapidly launch new satellites to replenish constellations after an attack, the Space Force set a record in September 2023 when it launched its “Victus Nox” mission, taking a satellite from the warehouse to orbit in five days. Still more “Victus” missions aimed at going even faster are planned.

But those missions involve smaller payloads and are not part of NSSL, which requires lower risk and higher assurance that the mission will succeed. Meeting that standard for GPS III-7 while slashing months off the timeline required a “twofold” effort from SSC and Space Operations Command, a service release stated, especially after GPS III-7 switched to SpaceX to take advantage of its NSSL-capable rocket.

That the launch still happened so fast despite the turbulence “is a testament to our flexibility and responsiveness,” Col. Jim Horne, senior materiel leader of launch execution for the Assured Access to Space office, said in a statement.

SpOC worked with satellite-maker Lockheed Martin to pull the satellite from storage and finish pre-launch processing in about three months. The launch also marked a milestone for the newly stood-up Mission Delta 31, responsible for position, navigation, and timing, according to commander Col. Andrew Menschner.

“This launch showed our ability to respond quickly to an operational need, such as an on-orbit vehicle failure of the GPS constellation, as well as demonstrating our willingness to challenge traditional timelines associated with launches in response to a realistic scenario,” Menschner said in a statement.

It remains to be seen whether GPS III-8 will stick with Vulcan Centaur as its launch vehicle. ULA hopes for certification soon but has a backlog of government missions. The eighth GPS launch had been set for early 2025.

Air Force Expands Waivers For Asthma, Allergies, Hearing Loss to Bring in More Recruits

Dec. 17, 2024 | By David Roza

In a bid to bring in more recruits, the Air Force recently expanded its waiver tolerances for asthma, food allergies, and hearing loss. The move should bring in between 600 and 1,000 more recruits per year, though they would have to stay out of career fields with stricter medical standards such as aviation and special warfare.

The Air Force Recruiting Service’s Accessions Medical Waiver Division is always looking for ways to expand its waiver tolerances, division head Col. Ian Gregory told Air & Space Forces Magazine. But the effort went up a notch after the Air Force missed its recruiting goals last year for the first time since 1999. Asthma, food allergies, and hearing loss are three areas with a high number of waiver requests and relatively low operational risk and additional medical support.

“We chose these three diagnoses because we wanted to get the most bang for our buck,” he said.

Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs (SAF/MR) Alex Wagner signed off on the changes Aug. 29, which were implemented Nov. 1.

Asthma

Before Nov. 1, if an applicant tested positive for asthma on a breathing test, that applicant would be disqualified, Gregory said. Now, if the applicant’s airways are still in relatively good function and they rarely have to use a rescue inhaler, they can join up as long as they don’t serve in career fields that could worsen their condition, such as firefighting.

The medical standards for retention are different. In the past, if an Airman or Guardian developed or discovered asthma after joining up, a medical evaluation board (MEB) decided if they stayed in.

Most of the time they did, Gregory said, but they could not be stationed in places that could exacerbate their conditions or where medical care could be more difficult to access, which can vary even within the continental U.S. (CONUS).

“It’s not just CONUS versus non-CONUS, it’s about how far away are you from getting to emergency medical support,” Gregory explained. “If you’re deep inside a bunker and have to go through multiple security protocols to get to emergency services, that could be a challenge.”

Now Airmen with asthma will get an assignment limitation code right at the start of their career.

“This is why we needed SAF/MR’s guidance and approval, because this is a drastic change in the personnel system,” Gregory said.

An Airman trains in the Research Altitude Chamber 1 at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711 Human Performance Wing, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force photo by Keith Lewis)

Food Allergies

The Air Force has a history of disqualifying applicants with food allergies, no matter the severity. That’s because the guiding light for most Air Force waiver decisions is whether an applicant can serve one deployment in a tour of duty–typically four years–without causing excessive stress to themselves or the mission.

A deployment can involve difficult climates, changing diet, stress, lack of hygiene, and harsh working conditions, all of which may have unpredictable health effects, including on food allergies.

“We have to explain to people that just because they have a well-controlled condition in the civilian setting doesn’t mean that it’s appropriate for the military environment,” Gregory told Air & Space Forces Magazine in March.

Under the new tolerance, applicants at risk of severe reactions such as anaphylaxis still can’t join. But if their reactions are mild, such as nausea, skin rash, or itching, they might receive a waiver. They may even be allowed to join if they have to carry an epinephrine injector—often called by its brand name, EpiPen—to treat accidental exposure.

“These people are still at risk, but it’s felt that the risk is acceptable,” Gregory said. “Thus far, we haven’t had too many problems with people who develop food allergies while on active duty, and they do deploy and carry an EpiPen.”

The risk profile could change as more people with food allergies come in, but Gregory anticipates there won’t be a big operational impact.

Hearing Loss

AFRS has a four-tiered system for evaluating hearing loss: mild, moderate, severe, and extreme. Generally, AFRS allows recruits with mild hearing loss, Gregory said. Now it will accept moderate hearing loss, as long as it is in only one ear and the loss is not caused by a tumor or some other dangerous condition.

“If they just have noise-induced hearing loss on one side, and their other side is acceptable, we will provide a waiver and then make sure they don’t go into a career field where they are going to be more at risk of hearing loss,” the colonel explained.

That means staying away from the flightline, explosive ordnance disposal, or other loud jobs. The key issue is to not make it worse; hearing loss and ringing in the ears are some of the top conditions that service members claim for Veterans Affairs disability payment upon leaving the military, Gregory said.

“Congress has mandated that we do as much as possible to decrease the amount of hearing loss that people have,” he explained. “We need to make sure that we’re not driving up more hearing loss to increase the payouts of taxpayers’ dollars.”

Members of the Delayed Entry Program tour a C-130H Hercules at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Marietta, Ga., May 7, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Gage Daniel)

Numbers

The expanded waiver tolerance should be a boon for many prospective Airmen and Guardians. In March, several disqualified applicants told Air & Space Forces Magazine they were frustrated with what they saw as an opaque and confusing medical review system. Many wanted to serve in any capacity, even if it meant staying behind a desk.

And if more of them can serve, it would boost the Department of the Air Force’s recruiting efforts amid fierce competition for talent and at a time when a fifth of DAF applicants need a medical waiver to join up.

Based on fiscal 2022 data, AFRS estimated it can bring in about 600 more people a year under the new tolerances: about 330 with asthma, 170 with hearing loss, and 85 with food allergies. But fiscal 2023 and 2024 saw a dramatic increase in applicants with asthma, and if that keeps up then the new tolerances might bring in 800 to 1,000 more people.

Before recommending the new tolerances, the Accessions Medical Waiver Division looked at the records of past Airmen and Guardians with similar conditions to analyze factors such as:

How much medical care did they need and how much did it cost?

How many MEBs did they face?

Did they ever return early from a deployment?

But the systems for tracking that kind of data need improvement.

“We’re still in the process of developing a mechanism to track people who specifically come into the Air Force with a waiver of any type to see how they do down the road,” Gregory said.

Another challenge is the workload from all these waiver requests. In fiscal 2024, the department adjudicated 7,000 more waiver requests than 2023 and has had even more requests to start fiscal 2025 compared to this time last year.

Just about 40 people work in the waiver division, and not all of them process waivers. Gregory said his office finally reached 100 percent staffing last month, but if the number of waivers continues to climb, they may need more staff. Artificial intelligence could help summarize medical records to help staff make decisions faster.

“We’re exploring options for that right now,” he said.

More Small Drones: Air Force Bases in Ohio, Utah, Germany All Report Sightings

Dec. 17, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

Small drones were spotted flying near and over Air Force bases in Utah, Ohio, and Germany this month, Air & Space Forces Magazine confirmed—in addition to the arrest of a Chinese citizen who allegedly used a drone to snap photos of a Space Force base—as a rash of incursions around military installations expands.

At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, drones were first spotted Dec. 13-14, then again Dec. 16-17, a spokesperson for the 88th Air Base Wing said in multiple statements.

The small unmanned aerial systems varied in size, configuration, and numbers, but there were no impacts to base residents or assets, the spokesperson added.

According to numerous media reports, the airspace around Wright-Patterson was briefly closed Dec. 13 because of the drones.

“Our units continue to monitor the airspace and are working with local authorities to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities, and assets,” the 88th Air Base Wing spokesperson said.

At Hill Air Force Base in Utah, a spokesperson for the 75th Air Base Wing confirmed in a statement that “unmanned aerial systems were spotted in the vicinity of Hill AFB recently,” though they did not say if the drones actually crossed over into the airspace above the base.

“All appropriate measures are being taken to safeguard Hill AFB personnel, assets, and infrastructure,” the spokesperson added.

And at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, the drones were sighted around and over the base in “early December,” a spokesperson from the 86th Airlift Wing said in an email. Like at Wright-Patterson, they varied in size, configuration, and numbers, but there were no impacts to base residents or assets, the spokesperson added.

The drone incursions were first reported by German media late last week, citing German security officials.

“In concert with host nation authorities, we continue to monitor the airspace to ensure safety and security of the community,” the spokesperson said.

The incursions come just a few days after the Justice Department announced it had arrested and charged a Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident with flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and using it to take photographs of the base’s layout. Authorities say the man, Yinpiao Zhou, flew his drone over the base on Nov. 30 for almost an hour, at an altitude of almost one mile. He was arrested at San Francisco International Airport as he was about to board a plane for China.

Just a few weeks prior to that, U.S. Air Forces in Europe reported similar incidents over the course of several days around four bases in the United Kingdom: RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, and RAF Feltwell (all located close to each other); and RAF Fairford. Authorities are still investigating those incidents.

And earlier this year, officials confirmed that they spotted drones around Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.

In most cases except the Vandenberg one, officials used similar language in describing the incidents, noting that “the number of systems has fluctuated, and they have ranged in sizes and configurations,” while insisting there have been “no impacts to base residents, facilities, or assets.”

Again with the exception of Vandenberg, officials have not said if they know who is controlling the drones or if they have taken action to identify or destroy them. Options are often limited for combatting the incursions, given safety restrictions meant to protect the civilian population from collateral damage.

The recent spate of sightings around Air Force bases were largely drowned out in recent weeks by sweeping coverage of alleged drone sightings in the Northeast U.S., particularly over New Jersey. In a Dec. 17 joint statement, the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, and the FBI said they assessed that those sightings “include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.”

In contrast, Air Force officials specifically identified the incursions around their bases as small unmanned aerial systems. Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the sightings in the northeast and the ones over military installations are separate issues.

“We don’t see a connection at this point between any of those activities,” Ryder said during a briefing.

The seeming increase in incidents and public concern about them reflect shifting attitudes. Inexpensive, commercial drones are now widely available worldwide, raising questions about how they could be used to spy on or disrupt military activities during peacetime and at war.

The Air Force is now contemplating the future of how it defends its bases. As the service moves to “re-optimize” itself for great power competition with the likes of China, leaders say they can no longer consider large bases—even in the continental U.S.—as safe havens. They seek low-cost solutions for defending against drones and drone swarms that don’t involve firing high-end missiles.

At the same time, the Air Force has embraced the concept of agile combat employment, where small teams of Airmen deploy to remote or austere locations from a central hub to launch aircraft and then move quickly, making targeting harder for an adversary. In order for that to work, the Air Force wants more air base defense than the Army, which typically handles that mission, can currently provide. The two services are discussing the problem, and Air Force leaders say they are prepared to shoulder some of that mission.

Pentagon Editor Chris Gordon contributed to this report.

New Engine for B-52J Passes Design Review on Time, but Upgrade Program Still Lags

Dec. 16, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The B-52’s new engine, the Rolls Royce F130, has cleared its critical design review, meaning it can enter final development, test, and production on time, the company announced Dec. 13. However, the overall B-52J upgrade, which is integrated by Boeing, continues to run about three years behind.

The review of the F130 “is the culmination of over two years of detailed design work and close collaboration between teams at Rolls-Royce, the Air Force, and Boeing,” according to a Rolls press release.

A Rolls Royce spokesperson said the CDR was conducted over the last few weeks and was for the engine only.

“We are delivering at exactly the pace defined by the Air Force, and conducting the engine CDR on-time is just the latest example of the good work our team is doing,” the spokesperson added.

The overall B-52J upgrade—which includes new radars, new engine pylons, internal wiring, a digital backbone, communications, navigation, other improvements, and overall integration—is years behind schedule, and the Government Accountability Office now projects that initial operational capability, originally expected in 2030, will now come in 2033. A critical design review for the overall effort is expected in August 2025, the GAO said in a June report.

The GAO said the delays stemmed from the Air Force “underestimating the level of funding” necessary to complete detailed design of the re-engining project. There were also delays in sequencing of needed materials and other aspects of the program.

The F130 is based on Rolls’ commercial BR725 powerplant but requires some modification to be compatible with the B-52 and its twin-engine pods. The B-52 will continue to have eight engines in four pods after the overall aircraft upgrade. An earlier version of the F130 engine powers the C-37 and E-11 BACN (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node).

Rolls was picked by the Air Force to provide the engine for the Commercial Engine Replacement Program back in 2021.

On the B-52, the F130 will replace the Pratt & Whitney TF-33, which was original equipment for the B-52H, built in 1962. The engine upgrade will not only provide more power and range for the B-52, but its up-to-date technology will effectively end engine overhauls and drastically reduce maintenance, as will the bomber’s new radars, adapted from equipment on Boeing’s F-15 and F/A-18 fighters. After the upgrade, the B-52J is expected to serve into the 2050s.

“This year we have made strong progress on our F130 testing program,” a Rolls official said, “from completing Rapid Twin Pod Testing to support the B-52’s unique nacelle configuration, to finishing the first phase of sea-level testing for the F130 First Engine to Test (FETT) in Indianapolis.”

Twin-pod tests were also conducted at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

“Testing at Stennis most notably marked the first time F130 engines were tested in the dual-engine configuration,” the official said. “The testing focused on crosswind aerodynamic flow as well as confirming the successful operation of the engine’s digital controls system. We finished testing at Stennis this summer and collected unprecedented amounts of data to help further de-risk the integration of the F130 engine onto the B-52.”

The next step in preparing the engine for production will be altitude testing at USAF’s Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tullahoma, Tenn.—set to begin in February 2025.

Rolls will produce the F130 in a purpose-built facility in Indianapolis. It is the company’s largest facility in the U.S., and after pre-production testing, all follow-on testing will be conducted there. Rolls will build more than 600 engines for the B-52 program.

US Conducts Fresh Anti-ISIS Airstrikes in Syria in New ‘Permissible’ Airspace

Dec. 16, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. military conducted a new round of airstrikes against militants from the Islamic State group in central Syria on Dec. 16, as the Pentagon is attempting to stop ISIS from gaining ground following the sudden collapse of the regime of Bashar Al Assad.

The U.S. conducted “precision airstrikes” against Islamic State camps and operatives in central Syria, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced. The command said 12 militants were killed, and it does not believe there were civilian casualties. CENTCOM added that a battle damage assessment is ongoing. Four locations in the Badiya desert were struck, the Pentagon said.

The U.S. military has been conducting a more vigorous air campaign against Islamic State militants in recent months, even before the Assad regime’s fall on Dec. 8.

“CENTCOM, working with allies and partners in the region, will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria,” CENTCOM commander Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla said in a statement.

Hours after the Assad regime fell Dec. 8, CENTCOM conducted a punishing series of airstrikes on five sites in central Syria, where the group is now concentrated, involving around 75 targets and approximately 140 precision munitions dropped from U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers, F-15 Strike Eagle fighters, and A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, in airspace that was formerly held by the regime and Russia, which supported Assad.

The airstrikes on Dec. 16 again went after the group in areas that were previously off-limits to U.S. aircraft, the command said in a news release.

“These recent strikes are in former regime and Russian-controlled areas, ensuring pressure is maintained on ISIS,” CENTCOM stated.

There is a lack of Russian and regime air defense systems and military flight operations in the area, which has enabled the recent airstrikes against ISIS, U.S. officials said.

The Navy’s USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its embarked F/A-18 fighters arrived in the Middle East on Dec. 14, joining Air Force B-52s, F-15Es, F-16s, and A-10s in the region. The B-52s and a squadron of F-15Es will depart the region in the coming weeks following the arrival of Truman’s airpower, Air & Space Forces Magazine has learned. A spokesperson for CENTCOM declined to say which platforms conducted the Dec. 16 airstrikes.

On Dec. 14, the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) consisting of the flagship USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75); Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1 with nine embarked aviation squadrons; Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 28; the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, USS Gettysburg… pic.twitter.com/mtfsiBvCyh
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 15, 2024

A U.S.-led coalition and their local allies dismantled the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2019 as part of the ongoing Operation Inherent Resolve. The U.S. still has about 900 troops in eastern Syria who have been working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that are battling the remnants of ISIS as it has sought to make a comeback.

U.S. officials have said the Assad regime and Russia conducted largely token operations against the Islamic State group in central Syria while in power. But with Assad gone from the country and Russia’s future military footprint in the country uncertain under a rebel-controlled government, that has allowed expanded U.S. air operations in certain areas.

“Broadly speaking, one of the big factors that has changed in Syria is the airspace in the sense that previously, you had Syrian regime and Russian air defenses which would preclude, in many cases, our ability to or desirability to go into those areas,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said. “It’s a much more permissible environment in that regard.”

Russia has begun withdrawing a large amount of military equipment and troops from Syria, U.S. officials said.

In northeastern Syria, the U.S. also wants to prevent the SDF-controlled Al Hol camp, which holds displaced people, and nearby detention centers, which hold thousands of Islamic State prisoners, from being overrun and fueling a resurgence of the group.

“Al Hol presents a significant security concern in the sense that were ISIS able to affect some type of breakout of any detention facility, that would be a significant setback and something that would be very concerning,” Ryder told reporters.

B-52s in Europe Head Home, Bombers in Middle East to Follow

Dec. 16, 2024 | By Greg Hadley and Chris Gordon

The BUFFs are starting to come home.

After more than a month of operations that saw 10 B-52s—nearly 15 percent of the entire fleet—operating across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, four have returned to the U.S., with the rest slated to follow in the coming weeks.

U.S. Air Forces in Europe announced Dec. 13 that four B-52s from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., have left RAF Fairford, U.K., where they deployed for a Bomber Task Force rotation in early November.

While based out of Fairford for the deployment, the Barksdale B-52s maintained a steady operations tempo that included:

A rare live-fire weapons drop in Lithuania during which they coordinated with Lithuanian, Czech, Swedish, and Norwegian joint terminal attack controllers

A simulated weapons drop training mission over Finland, integrating with Swedish and Finnish fighters along the way

A multidomain find, fix, track and target military exercise with Norway and the U.K. in the Arctic, along with fourth- and fifth-gen aircraft

A joint exercise with Morocco

A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortresses assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing lands at Royal Air Force Base Fairford, England, Nov. 8, 2024, in preparation for Bomber Task Force 25-1. A combat-ready force, with both extensive capabilities and wide-ranging capacity, is essential for effective deterrence and a swift, decisive response to any situation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mary Bowers)

“Working alongside our Allies and partners highlights the strength of collaboration. Every mission was a testament to the power of teamwork, shared expertise, and a unified commitment to security,” Capt. Aaron Gurley, bomber task force mission planner for USAFE, said in a release. “Together, we built solutions that no single nation could achieve alone, proving that our collective strength truly defines the success of every operation.”

There are still six B-52s deployed in the Middle East from Minot Air Force Base, N.D. They are now slated to return home in the coming weeks following the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman to U.S. Central Command on Dec. 14, Air & Space Forces Magazine has learned.

Additionally, a squadron of F-15E Strike Eagle fighters—one of two squadrons of Strike Eagles in the region—is scheduled to depart the Middle East now that the Truman and its embarked Carrier Air Wing 1, which includes multiple squadrons of F/A-18 Super Hornets, is in the area. The Pentagon temporarily deployed the additional U.S. Air Force airpower to make up for the departure of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier last month.

A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress conducts a combat air patrol in support of Operation Inherent Resolve over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility Nov. 23, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder declined to say if the extra Air Force squadrons would depart after Truman’s arrival in the Middle East.

“We won’t announce departure activity or deployment activity in advance for multiple reasons,” Ryder said.

The B-52s in the Middle East have had an eventful deployment as well. One flew to Bahrain for display in the Bahrain International Airshow, its first-ever appearance at that event, and another bomber in the region integrated with British Royal Air Force fighters on Nov. 18.

Then, on Dec. 8, it flew alongside F-15Es and A-10s to conduct dozens of airstrikes against Islamic State leaders, fighters, and camps in central Syria—capitalizing on the sudden demise of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

The Pentagon announced more airstrikes against the group on Dec. 16, though they did not say what platforms conducted the strikes.

The 10 B-52 bombers deployed at one time marked one of the biggest movements of Stratofortresses in recent history. The Air Force has 76 B-52s in its inventory, so 10 deployed equals 13.2 percent of the fleet.

But of those 76, there are several constantly being cycled through depot maintenance, and several more are dedicated to testing weapons and upgrades like the bombers’ new engines and radar. On top of that, the fleet had a mission-capable rate of 54 percent in 2023, which measures the percentage of time an aircraft is able to perform at least one of its core missions.

Taken together, and the 10 B-52s deployed could have represented upwards of a quarter of the combat-ready fleet.

Space Force Plans Billions in Spending on Launch Infrastructure

Dec. 16, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

ORLANDO, Fla.—From wastewater treatment to maintenance services to a common operating picture software platform, the Space Force is working on hundreds of projects worth several billion dollars to upgrade its launch facilities.

In a keynote address here at the Spacepower Conference, director of the Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral and the program executive officer for assured access to space Brig. Gen. Kristin L. Panzenhagen noted that these efforts may not seem “super sexy” compared to programs for new rockets, satellites, and advanced technologies.

But with the number of launches projected to keep increasing in the years ahead and the nation’s main spaceports showing their age, the improvements are critical for the Space Force’s ability to project warfighting power into the domain, Panzenhagen said, citing the message from Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman earlier in the week.

The main thrust of the improvements started this year with what the service is calling its “spaceport of the future” program. Funded by Congress to the tune of $1.3 billion from fiscal 2024 to 2028, the Space Force is essentially one year into the effort and progressing well, Panzenhagen said.

“We’ve got 192 projects across the two coasts that are defined,” Panzenhagen said. “We’re one year in, and we are still on track. So for those of you that have worked infrastructure projects before, you know that is pretty amazing.”

The projects run the gamut, including:

Burying power lines at Cape Canaveral, which sees a steady stream of lightning strikes and hurricanes

Expanding roads to accommodate larger rockets being transported in greater quantities, which should also help reduce traffic on bases

Wastewater treatment facilities to handle the large amount of water used for deluge operations to protect the launch pad

Electrical and HVAC generators and systems that corrode faster in the humid, salty conditions along the coasts

Developing more land and relocating administrative facilities and warehouses so that they won’t be inside the “clear area” that people need to leave while rockets are fueled

“Maybe not as sexy as satellites on orbit, but extremely important for spaceport operations,” Panzenhagen said, quipping later that “I’ve learned way more about wastewater in the last year and a half than I thought I ever would.”

U.S. Space Force Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, Space Launch Delta 45 commander, and Assured Access to Space program executive officer, speaks during an all-call at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Oct. 31, 2023. **U.S. Space Force photo by Senior Airman Tiarra Sibley**

Indeed, the number of projects included in the program is only growing—back in May, Space Systems Command boss Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant said “Spaceport of the Future” would include approximately 130 projects, and today it stands at 192.

Increasing Capacity

Garrant said at the time that the “Spaceport of the Future” improvements were less about increasing the capacity of the ranges to handle more launches and more about fixing existing issues.

But there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that capacity will have to increase somehow. Panzenhagen noted that as of mid-December, Space Force ranges had hosted 136 launches in 2024, with a few more scheduled before 2025. That covers around 60 percent of all launches globally.

At that rate, the Space Force is reaching a “bottleneck” in its ability to buy spacecraft processing services, Panzenhagen said. Spacecraft processing involves testing subsystems, mating the payload to the rocket, and other pre-launch steps. Congress added $80 million in the fiscal 2024 budget for processing services on the Western Range at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., but another add for the Eastern Range would be helpful, the general said.

That’s because even more launches are expected in 2025 and the years after that, as providers mature their rockets and increase the commercial opportunities in space, said United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno.

Blue Origin has its New Glenn rocket on the pad right now at Cape Canaveral, hoping to get its first flight in before the end of the year. ULA is awaiting certification for its new Vulcan Centaur rocket to start performing National Security Space Launches. And several startups such as ABL Space Systems and Stoke Space are simultaneously developing rockets while redeveloping historic launch complexes at Cape Canaveral.

“It is way more volume than it’s ever been before, and … far and away, the majority of these launches are private businesses for commercial uses that will only grow,” Bruno said during a fireside chat at the conference.

Bruno, who said his company has poured more than $1 billion of its own money into infrastructure projects, said commercial firms need to do their part to mitigate the growing strain on Space Force facilities.

“We’ve got to make smart decisions,” Bruno said. “And what I mean by smart is, ultimately, customers pay for all that infrastructure sooner or later.”

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation-100 Starliner spacecraft prepares to roll out to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, May 4, 2024. **U.S. Space Force photo by Airman 1st Class Collin Wesson**

The service is already looking to industry for help through its Space Force Range Contract, a massive program worth up to $4 billion over 10 years that will provide support for engineering, operations, and maintenance and be a “key enabler” of the spaceport of the future initiative, according to solicitation documents.

Panzenhagen said her team is following the path set out by many other Space Force acquisition programs in going with an “Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity” contract, giving it more flexibility and the ability to allocate “task orders” to match what it is doing with “spaceport of the future.”

“Historically, the range infrastructure is large, it’s aging, kind of unwieldy, and it’s very unresponsive to development cycles, which really doesn’t let you harness new technology as they come in. So this SFRC acquisition strategy is a new model that allows us to transform to more efficient and high-capacity operation,” Panzenhagen said.

Contracts will likely be awarded “next quarter,” early in 2025, she added.

Digital Changes

In addition to supporting the “spaceport of the future” program, the Space Force Range Contract will also “play a critical role” in helping upgrade the digital side of the service’s launch facilities, according to solicitation documents.

The “digital spaceport of the future” initiative was launched in January by SpaceWERX, the Space Force’s innovation arm, with a focus on Small Business Innovation Research contracts. It was desperately needed, Panzenhagen said, because “a lot of things on the ranges … are not digital yet.”

The service has already started handing out contracts for the effort and is aiming at a major software application next.

“We currently don’t have a common operating picture at the spaceports. There’s no one place where your launch leadership can go to see the status of your infrastructure, your security posture, the status of the rockets, what’s happening with your logistics, your launch and operation schedules,” Panzenhagen said. “So we’re in the process right now of gathering all of those requirements. Then we’re going to define the architecture and start bringing in the applications, which, again, we need that digitization to be able to do that. So this won’t be completely solved in 2025, but it will be a much better understood problem in 2025.”

Back in October, startup Parry Labs announced it had received one of those SpaceWERX contracts to work on a modular, open-systems architecture for “a common operating environment for spaceports,” creating the baseline system on which applications can be built.

USAF Leaders See ‘Human-Machine Teams’—Not Robots—as Future of Airpower

Dec. 15, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.—The Air Force has a word of caution for those advocating for autonomous aircraft to supplant crewed fighters: It’s better to have a human in the loop.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin says the rise of autonomous systems is clear, but an Air Force made up of drones with minds of their own choosing targets is not in the best interests of the nation.

“My own belief is that the future is really in [creating] the most effective human-machine teaming,” Allvin said at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Dec. 7. “Warfare is always a human endeavor,” Allvin added. “The money to be made here in the future in innovation is developing capabilities that maximize the best-performing human and machine on the battle space.”

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of SpaceX and Tesla and advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, has said for years that the age of manned combat aircraft is over, even stunning a ballroom crowded with air combat practitioners at AFA’s 2020 Air Warfare Symposium. More recently, Musk made waves on X, the social media platform he owns, by suggesting the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet be scrapped in favor of autonomous platforms.

Musk is set to co-chair a presidential commission that will advise Trump on ways to slash federal spending. He and other Silicon Valley technology titans are vying for influence in the new administration.

Allvin’s remarks, made in response to a question about Musk’s comments, came at a gathering of defense industry executives, members of Congress, and the media. He suggested that an all-autonomous force would make warfare “too easy,” while he and others counter that the advances in remote-control warfare are significant but not yet reliable and adaptable enough to be counted on.

The subject of autonomous systems was also front and center earlier in that week when a small group of reporters descended on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for a peek at what the Air Force sees as the future of war.

“There may be some day we can completely rely on robotized warfare,” Brig. Gen. Douglas P. Wickert, the commander of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards, said on Dec. 5. But such a concept could be years, decades, or even “centuries away.” Predictions that self-driving cars would be ready by now have proved overblown, and Tesla and others have struggled to get the technology far enough along to be commercially viable.

The dynamic environment of air combat is much more complex. Speed, aerial dynamics, opposition forces, and weapons ramp up the technical challenges. The Air Force is eager to adopt Collaborative Combat Aircraft, uncrewed jets that can be directed, if not completely controlled, by pilots operating F-35s or other combat jets.

The Air Force deferred a decision on its crewed Next Generation Air Dominance penetrating combat aircraft, leaving that call to the incoming Trump administration. That decision will have major cost implications far beyond this one program. For now, CCA are to be controlled by platforms such as the F-35.

“We’re all about advancing the system,” Lt. Col. Philip Jackson, a senior Air Force test pilot at Edwards who commands the 461st Flight Test Squadron of F-35s, said, referring to future combat aircraft. “The more autonomy I can give you in the aircraft, it doesn’t change your job. It just might change your location, but you’re still going to be somewhere in the chain. Just like the same reason we have pilots flying airliners. I need a human to be responsible, ultimately, when life and death is on the line, right?”

There is a refrain among high-tech enthusiasts that “AI is coming for you,” noted Jackson, who echoed Allvin’s theme about man-machine teaming. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, eventually.’ There are so many hurdles to get through.”

“What I’m excited about, honestly: take this aircraft and put a fleet of CCA that are capable of flying with it, executing missions off of it,” Jackson continued from under the shade of one of the F-35s he flies. “That’s a pretty amazing capability as well.”