All Quiet on the Northern Front, but Cyber ‘Preparation’ By Russia Underway

April 25, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

Russia hasn’t stepped up its mock bomber runs at the U.S./Canadian landmass during its invasion of Ukraine, but cyber penetrations are up, indicating some “preparation of … the battlefield” is underway, U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command commander Gen. Glen D. VanHerck reported.

He also discussed the “episodic” U.S. strategy in the Arctic and said it’s only a matter of time before North Korea builds enough intercontinental ballistic missiles that it could overwhelm current U.S. missile defenses.

“I have not witnessed anything towards the homeland that would be provocative,” said VanHerck April 25, referencing recent Russian military activity.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—indeed, for the last couple of years—Russian “bomber activity has been within … what I would consider historical norms.” He added that he’s seen nothing “that would give me any concerns” about changes in Russian operations in his theater.

The height of Russian bomber approaches to the North American landmass was “back in ‘20, I believe,” VanHerck continued. In 2021 and 2022, “What we’re seeing is … basically the average over the last decade or so; nothing too significant,” he said. He’s also seen no unusual “messaging” in the behavior of Russian forces on the periphery of the U.S.

However, “As you’ve seen in the public domain, it’s clear that Russian cyber activity in the [U.S.] homeland” can be construed as, “what I would [call], ‘preparation of the potential battlespace’,” VanHerck said. “But I’m not seeing anything that gives me pause right now from the air domain or the sea domain.” He did not elaborate on Russian intrusions or activity, except to reiterate that U.S. government and commercial information systems are under daily attack. Much of this is classified, he said.

Overall, he said, “I’m comfortable with our current posture based on indications and warning.”

VanHerck noted that he doesn’t control what aircraft the services and Canada use to perform the mission of intercepting bombers or unidentified aircraft that enter the North American Air Defense Identification Zone. Some Air Force leaders have suggested that using the F-22 for these missions out of Alaska burns up precious hours on that type, and that a less-costly alternative might be needed.

“It’s really a geography issue,” he said, and depends “on what platform is sitting alert” in proximity to the incursion. “I would point out that we utilize F-16s, and F-15s, and F-22s, and Canadian CF-18s to do our NORAD homeland defense mission,” Van Herck said. “It just happens to be that our platforms in Alaska that sit alert are the F-22s.”

His requirement to do homeland defense, as the NORTHCOM combatant commander, is for “long range, loiter time, an airplane that is a domain awareness sensor that could share data rapidly, and provide weapons to defend the homeland.”

VanHerck said he detects no “tensions” in the Arctic, except in the form of Russian rhetoric about its rights in the region and its development of a robust “capability to operate” there.

“You’ve got to be present to have tension, candidly,” he said. And I haven’t seen that. We haven’t been there, … having … confrontational challenges within the Arctic.”

VanHerck said the U.S. strategy for now is to have an “episodic” presence in the region, occasionally doing exercises and demonstrating “readiness and responsiveness” showing that U.S. forces are capable of operating in the region, but not necessarily present “24/7, 365.”

There’s the “possibility of friction” and “the possibility of conflict and crisis” as China styles itself as a “near Arctic” nation, and Russia makes claims in the region, and both seek “to change the international norms” and “rules-based order” that have prevailed in the Arctic since WWII, VanHerck said.

“But I don’t see specific tension, if you will, playing out in the military dimension right now” in the Arctic, he said.

Asked about the threat posed by North Korea’s missiles, VanHerck said his command has “the capability today to defend our homeland … against a limited threat.” North Korea is clearly trying to “develop capability” with ICBMs and “decoys, those kinds of things,” and will, “at some point, exceed the capacity of the current ground-based defense systems that we have” to defend against them.

That is why it’s so crucial to keep next-generation interceptor on time and on target, VanHerck added.

“It will give me additional capacity in the form of 20 additional interceptors, and also additional capability and reliability.” There’s a service life extension program underway for the current defensive system, he said, “which gives me additional capacity, as well.”

Given the current threat and program upgrades, “all of that combined leads me to believe that, today, we’re in a good position. We just have to stay on course” with upgrades to the system, he said.

RQ-4 Pilot and Instructor Faulted in Crash that Destroyed $64 Million Drone

April 25, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

A drone pilot and an instructor at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., failed to realize an RQ-4 was 4,000 feet too high as it started its final approach and didn’t select the proper commands, leading the unmanned aerial system to overshoot the base and crash nearly seven miles away, according to a new accident investigation board report.

The Aug. 6, 2021 crash of the RQ-4 was also caused by an initial workstation lockup and a failure by another pilot with the mission control element to promptly sever its control link to the RQ-4, the report found.

The RQ-4, valued at $64 million when it was purchased in 2012, was destroyed when it crashed into a rural field. There were no injuries related to the crash.

In a 38-page report, the accident investigation board detailed a series of mishaps that led to the eventual crash and loss of the aircraft, which was flown by the 348th Reconnaissance Squadron of the 319th Reconnaissance Wing.

The drone took off Aug. 5, scheduled to participate first in a Red Flag exercise and then in a target location error mission. It had been in the air nearly 14 hours when the mission control element’s workstations locked up, causing the RQ-4 to proceed back to base on a preprogrammed, autonomous route.

The mission control element pilot, however, failed to follow established procedure and promptly sever communication and control between the ground control station and the airframe, which would have caused the drone to land autonomously, again using a preprogrammed route. Instead, the pilot didn’t sever the connection until after the drone had passed its final approach fix, triggering a go-around/missed approach route.

Shortly after that, a second pilot and an instructor took command of the drone via the launch and recovery element and instituted an altitude override command instead of commanding a new flight route. As a result, the RQ-4 continued on its go-around/missed approach route while flying 4,000 feet higher than it should have according to its preprogrammed route, and neither the instructor nor the pilot recognized this.

Unable to descend fast enough to account for that 4,000-foot discrepancy, the drone overshot the base and crashed.

The AIB report stated that the main cause of the crash was the second pilot’s incorrect selection of aircraft flight commands and the instructor’s “failure to provide sufficient inputs to the pilot.”

The report also faulted the first pilot for not following procedures, which caused a delayed descent and triggered the go-around/missed approach route, and the station lockup—the report did not definitively identify the cause of the lockup, but noted that the first pilot was recorded as having requested several detailed status reports in the span of one minute, and “the log time for the workstation lockup does coincide with the time for the status requests.”

The RQ-4 that was destroyed was a Block 40 variant, one of just 10 in the Air Force fleet, all of which are stationed at Grand Forks.

U.S. and Allies Overcome Barrier to Providing Sophisticated Weapons to Ukraine Ahead of Ramstein Meeting

April 25, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany—In the months leading up to Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian government officials pleaded for high-end weaponry to match Moscow’s firepower. Reticent allies and partners, including the United States, considered such weaponry to be escalatory, as Russia pounded Ukraine with more than 1,000 missiles and flew 10 times more sorties than Ukrainian jets.

The distinction limiting escalatory weapons appears to have melted away ahead of a Ukraine Security Consultative Group meeting to be hosted by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on April 26.

The U.S. and allies are already training Ukrainians to operate American howitzers, the latest Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles, and new long-range air defense systems in addition to providing advanced Russian-made air defense systems Ukrainians know how to use.

The distinction of which weapons were once considered escalatory and which were not limited the type of assistance the U.S. and allies were willing to give Ukraine. In March, a public kerfuffle between Poland and the U.S. ensued when Poland stated its willingness to transfer two dozen MiG-29s to Ukraine by turning them over to the U.S. at Ramstein. The U.S. publicly rebuffed the offer.

At the time, U.S. European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Air Force Gen. Tod D. Wolters said the fighter jets could be seen as “escalatory.”

“The Intelligence Community assesses the transfer of MiG-29s to Ukraine may be mistaken as escalatory and could result in Russian escalation with NATO, … producing a high-risk scenario,” Wolters said in a statement.

The United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace told Air Force Magazine that the escalatory distinction is no longer a factor.

“Let’s be really clear about escalatory. The only escalation is happening in Ukraine as a result of Russian activity,” Wallace said in an April 8 press gaggle at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania. Wallace was on hand for a NATO air policing change of command ceremony.

He said at the time that the training required for use of sophisticated weaponry was the principal limitation.

“Fundamentally, it’s not about powerful weapons. It’s about more sophisticated weapons. And of course, the challenges, though, with anything is more training,” he said.

“The Ukrainians clearly asked for Russian Soviet-era equipment because it just goes straight in,” Wallace said of some of the assistance requested from Ukrainian officials. “You just can’t give a new airplane type overnight.”

A day later, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Kyiv, promising armored vehicles and anti-ship missile systems, like the one that recently sank the Moskva battleship, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet.

Now, the U.S. Defense Department is training Ukrainians in the use of advanced weaponry. Fifty Ukrainian soldiers finished a six-day training on how to use 155 mm howitzers provided by the United States, and another howitzer course has already begun, according to media reports. Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said April 22 that the U.S. has already provided training and use of Switchblade UAVs and would similarly train the Ukrainians on the U.S. Air Force’s “Phoenix Ghost” drones.

Bolstering Defense Assistance

Austin’s planned meeting with more than 20 nations at Ramstein is about coordinating defense assistance for Ukraine’s future.

“Russia’s threat is going to stay here long term,” Wojciech Lorenz of the Polish Institute of International Affairs told Air Force Magazine in a meeting in Warsaw. “We have 30 NATO members, not three or five. Some states are definitely not doing enough. There is no other option actually, we just have to push and push.”

Poland has taken more risk than most NATO allies by hosting the logistics hub for defense assistance to Ukraine, which Austin visited on April 25. Lorenz said Poland believes blow-for-blow escalation with Russia is necessary if war with NATO is to be prevented.

“If you stop escalating … the signal for [Russia] is that this region is open for the negotiations,” he said. “They receive the signal that if they provoke war with NATO, that they will probably be able to divide NATO, and they will probably be able to negotiate the status of this region.”

Lorenz said Ukrainian security experts likewise have assessed that a “large part of Western support is just a fig leaf, just to demonstrate that they are doing something.”

“But actually, their determination is pretty weak,” he summed up.

Commercial Capabilities for Ukraine

In addition to the meeting with NATO allies, however, the U.S. also is reaching out to the defense industry for help.

A Defense Logistics Agency request for information published April 22 calls on the private sector to provide feedback about “weapons systems or commercial capabilities for Ukraine security assistance.”

In the RFI, the agency says the Biden administration is working “around the clock to fulfill Ukraine’s priority security assistance requests.” For that, it needs the private sector to help “accelerate production and build more capacity across the industrial base for weapons and equipment that can be rapidly exported, deployed with minimal training, and that are proven effective in the battlefield.”

The RFI specifically calls for air defense, anti-armor, anti-personnel, coastal defense, counter battery, unmanned aerial systems, and communications.

Initially unwilling to name specific systems being donated to Ukraine, the Pentagon in the past week has released itemized lists of equipment in the security packages being delivered to the country.

An April 21 fact sheet describing an $800 million package makes note of 72 155mm Howitzers, 72 tactical vehicles to tow the equipment, and over 121 Phoenix Ghost UAVs.

Another April 22 summary of the $3.4 billion in assistance committed to Ukraine since the war began listed more than 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems; more than 5,500 Javelin anti-armor systems; over 14,000 other anti-armor systems; 700-plus Switchblade UAVs; Puma UAVs; laser-guided rocket systems; and commercial satellite imagery services.

DOD insisted that the Ramstein meeting is not a NATO ministerial, but it will provide an in-between step before the June NATO summit in Madrid. Forty states were invited to attend the Ramstein meeting, with DOD reporting more than 20 RSVPs so far.

“We certainly want to hear from Ukraine and from other nations about what they’re doing in terms of immediate defense assistance, and how that might change as the fighting there changes,” Kirby said at an April 22 press conference. “I think [Austin] also wants to take a longer, larger view of the defense relationships that Ukraine will need to have going forward when the war is over.”

Austin in Kyiv Promises New Aid for Ukraine to Fight a ‘Weakened’ Russia

April 25, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Secretary of State Antony Blinken crossed the Polish land border into war-torn Ukraine April 24 just before Russian attacks on five railway stations in central and western Ukraine. In Kyiv, Austin and Blinken met firsthand with the Ukrainian president, defense and foreign ministers, promising sophisticated new weaponry and the training to use it.

“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” Austin reportedly said April 25, according to media reports from southeastern Poland after returning from Ukraine.

More than $713 million in new Foreign Military Financing announced by the State Department will include funding for advanced weapons and air defense systems. That comes in addition to $800 million in defense assistance announced by DOD April 21.

Austin told Ukrainian officials that the Department of Defense will expand military training for Ukrainian service members in the region on the new weapons systems. The U.S. will also deliver sophisticated new weapons, like the Air Force’s drone “Phoenix Ghost” revealed at the Pentagon April 22.

More than $322 million in FMF will provide new capabilities and training to Ukraine’s Armed Forces on advanced weapons and air defense systems. Hundreds of millions of dollars more will backfill the allies and partners in the region who have donated their own stocks, including Soviet-era weaponry, to Ukraine.

U.S. European Command, meanwhile, will continue coordinating the shipment of heavy weaponry, ammunition, and spare parts from other allied and partner nations, as it has been through various secret locations along the NATO border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed the secretive high-level meeting in a press conference April 23, blowing the cover of the first American delegation since the start of the war with Russia Feb. 24. However, the U.S. had planned for several contingencies, including having details of the trip leaked to the public, and the cabinet officials were able to continue on, reported the New York Times.

Austin and Blinken met with Zelenskyy, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, Chief of Defense Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and others before slipping back across the border into NATO territory and meeting with members of the press.

While in Kyiv, Blinken promised a return of American diplomats to Ukraine this week, and said President Joe Biden had nominated U.S. ambassador to Slovakia Bridget Brink to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, according to a statement from State Department spokesman Ned Price.

The U.S. has committed more than $3.7 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of the war. That assistance is now reaching a level of sophistication never before seen. In the months since October 2021, U.S. defense assistance has evolved rapidly from anti-tank Javelins to Stinger air defense systems, to a recent announcement that Ukrainians will be trained in the operation of Howitzer long-range artillery systems.

Ukrainians artillery soldiers have already completed the first round of training to use the howitzer systems, according to reports.

Beyond stunting and rolling back Russia’s advance in Ukraine, Austin said the aid is meant to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from retaining the firepower to instigate conflict again.

“It had already lost a lot of military capability and a lot of its troops, quite frankly, and we want to see them not have the capability to very quickly reproduce that capability,” the Secretary added in comments to media from a warehouse filled with assistance for Ukraine.

Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian railways in the center and west of the country could pose a new challenge and Ukraine’s ability to receive the defense assistance pouring in from the west. But the Russian attack appears to have been met by a similar Ukrainian attack on Russian supply lines with fires burning at the Russian oil depot at Bryansk, some 40 miles inside Russia.

Austin plans to meet with more than 20 nations at Ramstein Air Base, Germany for a Defense Consultative Meeting April 26 that will chart out enduring defense assistance for Ukraine.

“The first step in winning is believing that you can win,” Austin reportedly told reporters in Poland before flying to Ramstein. “We believe that they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support.”

Two-Star General Convicted of Sexual Assault After Historic Military Trial

April 24, 2022 | By Amy Hudson

The former two-star commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory was convicted of abusive sexual contact following a historic court-martial of an Air Force general officer. His sentence is expected to be handed down on Monday.

Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley was found guilty of forcibly kissing his sister-in-law in a car Aug. 12, 2018, in Albuquerque, N.M. He was charged with one count of sexual assault under Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, with three specifications. His trial, which began April 18, is the first full court-martial and conviction of an Air Force general officer in the service’s 75-year history.

Cooley waved his right to a jury trial, leaving his fate in the hands of Col. Christina M. Jimenez, the senior military judge in the case and chief circuit military judge with the Air Force Trial Judiciary.

Over the course of five days, 10 witnesses testified, including the victim, family members, friends, and an expert in digital forensics. “Hundreds of electronic communications, including emails, voice mails, and text messages,” also were presented. Cooley opted not to testify.

The victim, who agreed to let the media disclose her relationship to Cooley without naming her, described the assault as an “F5 tornado … ruining everything in its path,” according to an Air Force press release.

She told the court that Cooley asked for a ride after a barbeque, during which he had been drinking, and “told her he fantasized about having sex with her,” according to the USAF release. “She alleged he pressed her up against the driver’s side window, forcibly kissing and groped her through her clothes.”

Cooley, who received his commission in 1988 and pinned on his second star one month before the incident, pleaded not guilty, denying the allegations.

On April 23, Jimenez found him guilty of one specification, forcibly “kissing [the victim] on the lips and tongue with an intent to gratify his sexual desire,” according to an Air Force press release. He was found not guilty of the other two specifications, “including causing her to touch him over his clothing and his alleged touching of her breasts and genitals through her clothes,” according to the release.

Commander of Air Force Materiel Command Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr. removed Cooley from command of the Air Force Research Laboratory on Jan. 15, 2020, citing a loss of confidence in his ability to lead. He has served as a special assistant to AFMC commander since, focusing primarily on the the command’s Digital Campaign.

“As convening authority, I want to say thank you,” said Bunch in a statement after the trial. “Thank you to everyone who supported this process for their due diligence in the pursuit of justice, and for doing everything possible to protect both the victim’s rights and the rights of the accused to a fair trial.”

Cooley could now get as much as seven years in jail, potentially have to register as a sex offender, and face dismissal from the Air Force and withholding of pay, reported Air Force Times. His sentencing is expected April 25.

“This case clearly demonstrates the commitment of Air Force leaders to fully investigate the facts and hold Airmen of any rank accountable for their actions when they fail to uphold Air Force standards,” said Col. Eric Mejia, staff judge advocate for Air Force Materiel Command, in the release.

AFRL’s New Space Labs to Advance Hybrid Architecture, Space Domain Awareness

April 24, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

Researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s two new space-oriented research labs will address two of the Space Force’s top priorities: improving space domain awareness and building a hybrid space architecture less vulnerable to attack.

AFRL’s Space Vehicles Directorate opened the 72-acre Skywave Technology Laboratory near existing radio antennas out on a remote part of Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. The $3.5 million facility includes 3,500 square feet of lab and office space.

Members of the directorate’s field deployment team bounce radio waves and other electromagnetic radiation off the upper atmosphere to predict conditions in the near-Earth space environment and how the conditions might affect spacecraft.

Becoming more aware of the conditions could help further the Space Force’s priority of space domain awareness, said the leader of the directorate, Col. Eric Felt, in a statement announcing the new lab. Monitoring the environment could help to differentiate natural effects on a satellite from unfriendly ones.

Electronic warfare, or EW, may pose a greater risk to satellites than kinetic ground-launched weapons, such as in Russia’s 2021 anti-satellite test. In a virtual talk by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on April 20, CSIS fellow and deputy director of its Aerospace Security Project Kaitlyn Johnson predicted as much.

Johnson pointed out how “critical this weapons technology has become in current and future warfare. So I think we will continue to see that expanded and developed, not just attacking GPS but also … communications satellites—and attacking the ground stations, not just the satellites themselves.”

In its 2022 report “Global Counterspace Capabilities,” the Secure World Foundation said Russia “places a high priority on integrating electronic warfare (EW) into military operations and has been investing heavily in modernizing” it.

“Russia has a multitude of systems that can jam GPS receivers within a local area, potentially interfering with the guidance systems of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), guided missiles, and precision guided munitions,” according to the report. However, Russia hasn’t yet been known to interfere with GPS satellites directly through EW.

China, too, “places a heavy emphasis on electronic warfare” and “likely has significant EW counterspace capabilities against [the Global Navigation Satellite System] and satellite communications,” according to the report.

Hybrid Architecture

AFRL’s new simulation-focused RAPID lab for small satellites furthers Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall’s No. 1 “imperative” of building a more resilient, hybrid space architecture.

In the interest of providing “better, faster, and smarter space technology,” the Rapid Architecture Prototyping and Integration Development lab benefits both the Space Force’s Space Warfighting Analysis Center and its Space Systems Command. The lab will “offer a collaboration venue for government, industry, and academia experts to gather for the advancement of space technology development,” according to a statement by AFRL announcing the new lab.

Also located at Kirtland, the $7.3 million RAPID lab measures 14,000 square feet. About 12 people will work in the lab day to day, but it can accommodate 40 to 50 more in “collaborative simulation workspaces” for given projects.

“Through modeling and simulation, we’ll be able to rapidly test out programs without the time-consuming and more expensive process of building a satellite,” said Col. Jon Luminati, who leads the Integrated Experiments and Evaluation Division of the Space Vehicles Directorate.

The Space Warfighting Analysis Center, or SWAC, is working through force designs for the future resilient architecture. David Voss, director of SWAC’s Spectrum Warfare Center of Excellence, described the work in an interview as figuring out, “how do we make things interconnected and interoperable across the breadth of the role space could potentially play” across DOD.

Space Systems Command, meanwhile, is tasked with developing a constellation of missile-tracking satellites in medium Earth orbit, or MEO. These would, in part, add a “layer” of resiliency in case of disruptions to the legacy satellites in higher geosynchronous orbits or to the Space Development Agency’s planned lower constellation in low Earth orbit.

“Over the past two decades, we have explored the tremendous and ever-increasing military utility of small satellites,” said Felt, “and through the modeling and simulation and collaboration that will occur in RAPID we will take small satellites technology to another level.”

New ICBM, Family Housing Get Big Boosts in Air Force’s 2023 Military Construction Budget

April 22, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

Although the overall military construction request decreased from fiscal 2022 to 2023, spending on infrastructure for the Air Force’s new intercontinental ballistic missile more than quadrupled.

In 2022, the department requested $2.38 billion for projects across its Active-duty, Guard, and Reserve components. This year, it’s asking for $2.26 billion total, a decline of nearly five percent.

Of that, $444 million is devoted to projects related to the LGM-35A Sentinel, or as it was called until recently, the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent. Specifically, the service wants to spend $89 million for a maintenance facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., $179 million for software and technology centers at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and $176 million for a command center, a missile handling complex, and approximately 2,550 acres of land at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Neb.

All told, the Sentinel-related projects represent nearly 20 percent of the entire 2023 MILCON budget, or one out of every five dollars. It’s also a dramatic expansion in construction for the program from a year ago—for 2022, the Air Force asked for $98 million for GBSD-related projects.

Military construction has become a more pressing concern for the Air Force in recent years—in 2021, officials estimated there was a $30 billion backlog of repairs, as previous budgets prioritized other needs and let facilities atrophy.

Most of the MILCON budget in 2023, though, is devoted to new missions that support the beddown or deployment of new systems—$1.57 billion out of the $2.26 billion, nearly 70 percent.

Included in that total are several projects for the B-21 Raider program. The Air Force is asking for authorizations of $328 million and appropriations of $218 million for Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., related to the B-21. Ellsworth is slated to be the initial B-21 operating base and the formal training unit, or “schoolhouse” for the bomber.

Other major projects included in the ’23 military construction budget include $191 million for the Air Force’s planned divert airfield on Tinian, one of the Northern Mariana Islands. The airfield, projected to be completed by 2025, will serve as an alternative to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam—the 2023 budget requests funds for a parking apron, fuel tanks, and further airfield development.

There is also $141 million for Kadena Air Base, Japan, to build a hangar for Helicopter Rescue Squadron Operations and a Helicopter Maintenance Unit, as well as a “corrosion control facility for painting large bodied aircraft.”

Within the U.S., there is $125 million for Barksdale Air Force Base, La., to build “a Weapons Generation Facility to reconstitute nuclear capability,” as well as $100 million to extend a runway at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska.

While funding for military construction is down slightly in the latest budget request, the money for military family housing increases, from a $441 million request in 2022 to $588 million in 2023.

Much of that increase is devoted to construction improvements, to fund “the combination of required maintenance and repair together with improvements to bring the unit to contemporary standards.” In 2022, the Air Force asked for $105 million for such improvements. In 2023, that figure is more than double, at $230 million.

Most of that $230 million is slated to go to privatized housing through the Military Housing Privatization Initiative.

Long-Term Ukraine Aid to Be Discussed at Ramstein Meeting

April 22, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

“Stakeholders” from up to 40 nations will meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on April 26, to discuss how to deliver extended and more lethal aid to Ukraine, the Pentagon said.

The meeting is “not a NATO ministerial” but instead a gathering of those interested in providing aid to Ukraine in its resistance to Russia’s invasion, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby told reporters April 22. More than 20 nations have accepted the invitation, he said.

The European Union, Finland, Georgia, and Sweden have been among the entities invited to participate in recent NATO meetings discussing the war in Ukraine.

“One of the things that [Austin] wants” from the meeting is “the beginnings of a discussion with like-minded nations about long-term defense relationships that Ukraine will need going forward,” Kirby said.

“We obviously want to talk about what’s going on now. We certainly want to hear from … other nations about what they’re doing, in terms of immediate defense assistance, and how that might change,” Kirby said.

As the fighting in Ukraine enters “a new phase, … I think he also wants to take a longer, larger view of the defense relationships that Ukraine will need to have going forward, when the war is over.” This is an evolving issue and “that’s why we want to have the meeting,” Kirby said.

“Having more than 20 [nations] already agree” to attend “on relatively short notice, I think, is a powerful statement of the convening power of the United States and the importance that not only we but these other nations place on Ukraine’s defense needs going forward,” Kirby asserted.

There will be no NATO decisions resulting from the meeting about future U.S. force posture in Europe, Kirby said, because it is “not a NATO meeting.”

Austin does not have “a preset list of things” he wants participants to pledge, Kirby said.

“He wants to hear from allies and partners and … from the Ukrainians themselves about what … they’re doing and what they will need going forward. That’s why we’re calling it a ‘consultative group.’ So we can actually consult … but … we’re not going into this with a pre-cooked set of endings here.”

If specific decisions are not made, DOD hopes participants come up with “a framework for getting at specific decisions going forward,” Kirby said. He said that Austin will address the press at the conclusion of the meeting to explain “what we heard and what was learned.”

The meeting follows pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. and other countries send heavier weapons and air defenses to aid in battling Russia. It also follows the White House pledging another $800 million in aid to Ukraine that includes artillery, artillery rounds, vehicles, and kamikaze drones that can destroy tanks. The U.S. has so far provided more than $3.3 billion in military aid to Ukraine.

Kirby said the congressional authorization amounts for lethal aid to Ukraine are drawing down but are not yet nearing exhaustion. He said the Pentagon will be discussing new amounts with Congress shortly.

Asked if the Pentagon believes the war will end soon, Kirby said, “I don’t think anybody can predict how long this is going to go on.”

Because Russia is now “concentrating their efforts in a smaller geographic area” of the Donbas where there has been fighting for eight years and where Russia has been “occupying [territory] illegally, … we would expect that the fighting could be prolonged.”

The conflict could go on for weeks or “potentially … longer than that,” Kirby said, but “nobody wants to see that. The truth is, and I’m sure you’re tired of me saying this, … if Mr. Putin pulled his forces out and stopped this illegal invasion, and sat down in good faith with Mr. Zelensky,” the conflict “could be over now.”

“Clearly he has no intention of doing that. I understand that, but it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t still be said,” Kirby added.

Kirby also reiterated that the Phoenix Ghost unmanned, tank-killing aircraft the Pentagon said it would provide to Ukraine “was already under development by the U.S. Air Force” and was not developed for this conflict.

The system’s capabilities “happened to be very appropriate to the kind of fighting that we anticipate is going to go on in the Donbas region,” Kirby said. However, “it wasn’t pulled forward for the fight” in Ukraine.

The U.S. will provide 121 of the units, but Kirby could not give details. The Ukrainian military will need some training on the system “because it’s not in their inventory,” but Kirby said that could happen quickly, “and we’re going to accelerate delivery.” The training will be similar to that provided for the Switchblade tank-killing UAV, he said.

Air Force Releases ‘The Blueprint’ to Help Guide Airmen’s Careers

April 22, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

Basic information on the Air Force’s history and structure, details on core values and skills, links to information on professional development and other resources, all gathered into one place—that’s the idea behind “The Blueprint,” released by the Air Force on April 21 to help guide its enlisted force development.

A 32-page “living” document that will be updated regularly with new information and links, “The Blueprint” is intended to be a resource and reference for enlisted Airmen throughout their careers, presenting essential information on everything from Air Force Specialty Codes to different programs Airmen can tap into when leaving the service.

The development of “The Blueprint” was one of the objectives laid out in the Air Force’s new Enlisted Force Development Action Plan released this January. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass has pitched “The Blueprint” as necessary for a modern Air Force transitioning away from career development that expects Airmen to either get promoted or get out.

“When I grew up, we had more of a pyramid, if you will. And if you do all of these things in your career, ultimately, here’s how you become a senior noncommissioned officer or whatever,” Bass told Air Force Magazine in a January interview. “And I just don’t see things in that light anymore. We see them as a blueprint, and there’s many paths, many ways within an Airman’s career.”

To that end, three pages of “The Blueprint” detail different development opportunities for junior enlisted Airmen, noncommissioned officers, and senior NCOs. These include the Community College of the Air Force, Airman Leadership School, Special Duty, sister service enlisted professional military education, and even just a permanent change of station. At each point, the document also highlights the transition opportunities and resources available for those leaving the service.

“The Blueprint” also gathers links to the Air Force’s various resources for managing personal and professional development, from myFSS and myEval to programs for military families and spouses.

In addition to resources, the Blueprint also gathers the fundamental information Airmen will need in their careers, from the core competencies and Airman Leadership Qualities to explanations of how the broader structure of the Defense Department and Air Staff work.

“What I envision in my mind is a kind of a cradle-to-grave blueprint on an Airman’s career, from the time they start their career all the way through the end and, kind of, even off into after they separate and/or retire. … It’s just a roadmap for them to be involved in their own deliberate development of a career and also shares with them what they can expect,” Bass told Air Force Magazine.

“The Blueprint” is one of several foundational documents for the Air Force that are set to either be released or updated in the coming months. As outlined in the Enlisted Force Development Action Plan, the service also plans to update its “Blue Book,” which defines and breaks down the Air Force core values, and the “Brown Book,” which lays out the Enlisted Force Structure and establishes the standards, roles, and responsibilities for enlisted Airmen.

In the summer of 2022, the service will also release its first ever “Purple Book,” detailing “how do we develop the joint leaders that we need, that are able to talk joint, train joint, and to some degree, understand and integrate more and have the synergies that we need with our brothers and sisters from the other services,” Bass said.