Air Forces Africa Gears up to Extend Its Reach

Air Forces Africa Gears up to Extend Its Reach

Jan. 24, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

AFRICAN AIR CHIEFS SYMPOSIUM, KIGALI, Rwanda—The tyranny of distance is the oft-spoken biggest challenge for African air forces in a continent more than three times the size of the United States. But Air Forces Africa hopes a conference with 30 partner nations will shrink the distance by building trust to work together in areas such as shared airlift.

U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa chief Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian flew over the verdant mountains of the richly vegetated East African lake region to touch down in the Rwandan capital of Kigali on Jan. 24 ahead of the 11th African Air Chiefs Symposium. The last two in-person events were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s event will take place under heavy COVID restrictions because in a continent plagued by terrorist threats and widely divergent capabilities, relationships matter.

“In the U.S., we get down to business. In Africa, you have to have a relationship with the person that you’re trying to do business with first,” Air Force Col. Beth Lane, a C-17 pilot who in July became the first female secretary general of the African Air Chiefs Association, told Air Force Magazine in the cool summer air of the 5,000-foot-elevation Southern Hemisphere capital. The African Air Chiefs Association is a 26-nation group that includes the United States.

Lane’s experience flying multiple long-haul flights to Africa, including with the Royal Air Force to Kenya and multiple trips to the U.S. base in Djibouti, on the strategically important eastern Horn of Africa, helped her to understand some of the unique challenges of Africa.

“Africa doesn’t have a lot of controlled airspace,” she said. “You have to give position reports to let their air traffic controllers know where you are. So, it’s a little more of the Wild West.”

A flight from Europe requires flying vast distances over the Sahara desert and arid Sahel region with far fewer population centers and airstrips capable of receiving large cargo planes.

C-130s are used frequently on the continent thanks to U.S. foreign military sales and excess defense articles (EDA) allocations to African partner nations.

“A lot of these countries only have one, maybe two,” she said of the platform. “And maybe the maintenance on them hasn’t been done properly, or they haven’t had the money to buy parts.”

With China spending billions of dollars through its Belt and Road Initiative across the continent to nurture favorable support for its political and economic objectives, the United States must find other ways to build partnerships with African countries.

“Where the U.S. can come in is helping to train the maintenance folks, to train the pilots and loadmasters, helping with the supply chain for parts,” Lane said.

“Our adversaries want weak allies and partners, and we want strong allies and partners,” she added. “Regardless of where they fall, we’re better operating together.”

U.S. national security interests on the African continent include fighting terrorism together by strengthening intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and creating mechanisms to share strategic airlift capabilities. A recent National Defense Authorization Act will allow EDA to regional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) or the East African community of nations.

Air Force humanitarian assistance also strengthens U.S. relationships by preventing crisis from spreading regionally or globally. In 2014, Liberia’s Ebola outbreak was largely contained thanks to rapid American airlift of medical supplies.

“You’re either delivering lethality or you’re delivering hope,” Lane said.

That means getting troops and ammunition to far-flung reaches of vast countries so they can counter violent extremist organizations. Extending the reach of government also helps nations provide services in areas where radical extremist groups are eager to compete with the government and recruit fighters.

Talking to Africa

Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. Andrew Olayanju Popoola, born and raised in Nigeria until age 12, quickly came to understand that the U.S. Air Force’s approach to Africa must be different.

Shortly before U.S. Africa Command stood up in 2008, he switched from a munitions maintenance officer to air battle management so he could have a chance to make officer and be part of Africa engagement. After a tour at the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force in Geilenkirchen, Germany, those dreams abruptly ended.

“In 2011, I was notified that I was going to be force shaped,” he said. “Fresh coming off of Germany on, you know, high notes and all, doing things. And then, here I am, ‘Sorry, you’re out.’”

Popoola last served at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma with his wife and three children. He then tried to open a restaurant serving west African food in Oklahoma City, but it didn’t take off despite his love for cooking.

He joined the Air Force Reserve and researched ways to get deployed. Soon, he had orders to deploy to USAFE-AFAFRICA as part of the 603rd Air Operations Center at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

“So, I had this idea—t was really God’s idea. I shouldn’t say it was my idea. It ended up being CABA, the Cadre of African Bridge Advisors,” he said.

Popoola had unique skills and cultural knowledge, and soon he found out a lot of Airmen with a unique understanding from the African continent could help strengthen connections to the air force leaders in those countries.

“In a continent where it’s not about what you know, it’s who you know, everything is all about connections,” he said. “If you don’t understand the culture, you don’t speak the language—how am I going to crack the code?”

In four years, the program has grown to more than 200 members from 18 countries speaking 30 African languages. That type of personal connection matters when it comes to great power competition on the continent.

“There are no Nigerians in the Russian military. Nor are there are any Ghanians in the Chinese air force,” he said. “You need somebody who can speak air force. The technicalities, air power, they understand those tenets.”

Both Lane and Popoola highlighted Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s plan to attend the symposium’s opening ceremony Jan. 25 as a sign of the event’s importance and the United States’ position as a partner of choice on the continent.

“Africans always tell you, ‘You want to go far, you go together. You want to go fast, you go alone,’” Popoola said. “So, if you want to get things done, we work together.”

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Joseph Rulli, U.S. Air Forces in Europe Band saxophonist, rehearses with the Rwanda Defence Force Band in Kigali, Rwanda, Jan. 21, 2022. The bands are scheduled to play at the African Air Chiefs Symposium, Jan. 24-28, 2022. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Brooke Moeder.
DAF’s New Data and AI Officer Envisions Digital Fluency, Seamless Environments

DAF’s New Data and AI Officer Envisions Digital Fluency, Seamless Environments

Jan. 24, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

The one-star taking over data and artificial intelligence for the Department of the Air Force knows what to prioritize in his new Pentagon job in part thanks to his experience outside the military.

In the business world, “the ability to make decisions is the critical advantage—that’s what separates the winners from the losers,” said Brig. Gen. John M. Olson, who returned to Active duty after working in the aerospace industry and serving in the Reserve. 

In the context of war, some might call that decision-making capacity “the weaponization of data for decision advantage,” Olson said.

His most recent position was mobilization assistant to Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond. After two weeks in his new job as the department’s chief data and AI officer, Olson mentioned his priorities in a webinar Jan. 24 hosted by Oracle. He replaced Eileen M. Vidrine, who became senior strategic adviser for data to the federal chief information officer in the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Olson first plans on “driving toward operationalization of data” as a co-lead of the team working on the Advanced Battle Management System, which is the department’s envisioned share of the military’s joint all-domain command and control concept.

He thinks of JADC2 as “the warfighting capability to sense, make sense, and act across all levels in all phases of war, across all domains—air, sea, land, undersea, space—and with our partners, both our allies and our partners, to deliver information advantage at the speed of relevancy.” 

Getting JADC2 to work will call for “comprehensive capabilities to discover, understand, and exchange data across the force and the service—through multiple domains and across multiple security levels—and with multiple partners and users.”

“So talk about a big problem,” Olson said.

The Department of the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office contributes technically and acquisition-wise to the “large team effort” working on ABMS. For his part, Olson said he’ll focus on “forces and resources—so, people and funding.” 

In terms of people, he’d like to prioritize digital fluency, ensuring that they’re “productive and engaged” and providing them a “seamless working environment, a seamless collaborative environment, in a timely fashion—because frankly, I think we’ve got a lot of work to do there.”

Prioritizing people also involves companies and academia.

“We’re really looking to harness and partner with them, leverage fully the broad, diverse capabilities of industry,” Olson said. “That’s everything from the technology side all the way through the operations and the analytics and the capabilities—from the edge through the mesh cloud and beyond.”

Yes, You Can Attend AFA’s Warfare Symposium–⁠DOD Misspoke

Yes, You Can Attend AFA’s Warfare Symposium–⁠DOD Misspoke

Jan. 24, 2022 | By Amy Hudson

The Defense Department now says military members can indeed attend conferences in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, correcting a statement made last week by Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby.

“Kirby misspoke when responding to questions about current travel restrictions,” according to a Pentagon statement released to the news media Jan. 24. “Unrestricted travel is allowed for service members or civilians between installations that have met the criteria of the Secretary of Defense memorandum on the conditions‐based approach to personnel movement and travel, dated March 15, 2021.”

If either installation does not meet the criteria, an exemption or waiver is required; approval authority for waivers varies by where you are assigned. Department Secretaries, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, director of Administration and Management, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, or combatant command commanders may all issue waivers for mission essential travel. Authority to approve waivers also “may be delegated in writing no lower than an appropriate military officer in the grade of O-6, or a civilian equivalent,” the corrected statement said.

The Air Force Association continues to plan a full, in-person 2022 AFA Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., March 2-4.

“To ensure a safe and successful event, proof of vaccination or negative test results are a prerequisite for symposium attendance,” AFA Executive Vice President Douglas L. Raaberg said. “While it is impossible to predict the future, we are encouraged by the most recent data and will continue coordinating closely with Air Force and Space Force leadership, supporting our mutual objectives for a safe and productive professional development gathering.”

AFA’s Warfare Symposium is a premier professional development event for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force. This year’s theme is, “Air and Space Power: Indispensible to Deter, Fight & Win.”

Confirmed speakers include Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass, Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Roger Towberman, and many major and combatant command leaders, as well as industry experts.

It’s not too late to register. Check out the full agenda here.

Here’s What You Need to Know About Budget Delays and Defense Programs

Here’s What You Need to Know About Budget Delays and Defense Programs

Jan. 24, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

The fiscal year 2022 budget will enter its fifth month under a continuing resolution in February, and the President’s fiscal year 2023 budget request is unlikely to meet a Feb. 7 deadline, hampering the start of new Defense Department programs and locking money in the wrong accounts.

It could be March 7, a week after the President’s State of the Union address, before lawmakers have a chance to look at the new budget and begin the deliberation process, a budget expert told Air Force Magazine. One reason may be the Pentagon was asked by the White House to revise its budget needs.

“It does start to get disruptive,” said Todd Harrison, director of defense budget analysis and director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

“You can’t start new programs. You can’t ramp up production of anything. You’ve got money stuck in the wrong accounts, in the wrong places,” he explained. “It really handicaps DOD’s ability to execute the budget in an effective and efficient manner.”

While the National Defense Authorization Act outlined the policy priorities and spending goals of the FY 2022 budget, a second act by the Congress to appropriate the money also is required. Until then, DOD is operating on a continuing resolution based on 2021 numbers that is set to expire Feb. 18.

Harrison points out that the lack of 2022 numbers is also likely slowing down the 2023 process.

“They would ideally want to know, what is the FY 22 level of the defense budget before they finalize their plans for the FY 23 budget,” he said.

“The strategic environment is continually shifting,” Harrison added, noting that defense priorities continue to evolve. “So, it’s going to make it harder and harder for the Air Force to defend its budget request the longer that request gets delayed.”

There are multifaceted reasons for the various budget delays, he posed, including a resurgent coronavirus, the failure of the President’s “Build Back Better” domestic program agenda, and Congress’s failure to pass a 2022 budget on time.

But there is another factor at play, a hidden back-and-forth between the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Pentagon.

“As you might imagine, we are hard at work on starting to build out the ‘23 budget” Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby told Air Force Magazine at a Jan. 10 briefing, noting he had no estimated release date to announce.

“Obviously, in a perfect world, you always want to get that laid out as early in the year as possible, to allow for the legislative process to continue so that you can get the funding on time,” he added. “We’re going to keep working at it.”

On Jan. 13, Kirby indicated the DOD was in the “beginning stages of the budget season.” The spokesman said that Deputy Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks is leading the effort, and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III aims to advance his vision of “integrated deterrence,” a joint approach to deterring conflict, especially in the Indo-Pacific.

Harrison said the fact that DOD is still working on the budget at this late stage is likely a sign a first budget go-round was kicked back by the White House.

“He’s [Kirby] pretty clearly indicating that they are in the middle of reworking and rebuilding the FY 23 budget, and that is unusual at this point in the process,” Harrison said.

“The Pentagon should have put the final touches on its part of the budget in December, and sent that over to OMB for incorporation with the rest of the budget,” the analyst explained. “If they are, in fact, still reworking the FY 23 budget in the Pentagon, that suggests that they’ve gotten additional guidance from the White House on things to change.”

Harrison believes OSD will be driving changes at this point based on White House guidance, but it will likely tap the services to make adjustments with inflation topping 6 percent and a 20-year high 4.6 percent pay raise.

“That will have ripple effects throughout other parts of the budget,” he said, meaning real spending or purchases may have to be cut.

It is not yet known whether OMB will keep the budget at NDAA-approved levels, make cuts to compensate for cost increases, or a combination of the two.

No Budget without a Strategy

Perhaps one of the most important holdups to the budget release is that the 2022 National Defense Strategy has yet to be released. The White House is also pending a new Nuclear Posture Review and Missile Defense Review. The last Congressionally mandated NDS was published in 2018.

“The strategy should kind of provide the narrative, set the priorities, and then the budget should show how they’re going to implement that,” Harrison explained. “If we haven’t seen the strategy yet, then you know, that’s another reason to hold back on the budget.”

The holdup is more than likely due to domestic issues, Harrison projected: “The long pole in the tent right now is probably OMB reworking the non-defense side of the budget.”

President Joe Biden is unlikely to release the budget numbers before describing its overarching themes and goals, something Presidents have typically done in the State of the Union address. This year’s State of the Union is not until March 1, about a month later than usual.

“The last thing you want to do is release your budget, and then follow up with the strategy, because then it makes it look like the budget is driving your strategy,” Harrison said. “They want to show that the strategy is leading, and the budget is following.”

If the new NDS calls for changes like additional divestments of legacy platforms, the authorized funding could be changed. Harrison says strategies rarely make huge changes to the budget.

Ultimately, however, the President’s Budget is just a suggestion to Congress. But, the process does not start until OMB releases his budget.

“It’s a starting point for negotiations with Congress about what the priorities should be and how resources need to be allocated,” Harrison said.

With huge investment in research and development planned for 2022 in areas like hypersonics, Harrison still believes the budget delays will not negatively impact programs.

“The budget request is going to be late,” he said. “Does that directly translate into delays in some of our high priority technology investments? No, it doesn’t. We have a system that is robust and resilient, that can accommodate delays like this, while keeping the technology efforts still going on pace.”

Dyess B-1Bs Fly 30-Hour Mission in Exercise With Japanese F-16s

Dyess B-1Bs Fly 30-Hour Mission in Exercise With Japanese F-16s

Jan. 21, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

Editor’s note: This article was updated on Jan. 25 to correct the number of B-1Bs that participated in the exercise and the length of the mission.

Two B-1Bs from the 7th Bomb Wing flew over the Indo-Pacific alongside Japanese F-16s as part of a joint large force exercise.

The mission began and ended in the continental U.S. The Lancer bombers from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, flew 30 hours and landed Jan. 11. 

“A CONUS-to-CONUS mission is proof in the pudding that we can take off from home and make it anywhere around the world to deliver support whenever we’re called upon,” Capt. Carlie Gantar, a 9th Bomb Squadron weapons system officer who took part in the exercise, said in an Air Force press release.

The exercise also served as an opportunity for the B-1 crews to practice integrating with allied assets and a demonstration of U.S. commitment to partners in the region.

“Any chance that we get to work with the from the [Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, or JASDF] is an amazing opportunity,” Gantar said. “The experience the crew members receive, in every aircraft, and the training accomplished speaks to how well we can work together as a team, whether it’s a training sortie or the real deal.”

The mission to integrate with the JASDF comes a little more than a year after a similar exercise in January 2021, during which crews from the 345th Bomb Squadron flew B-1Bs to the Indo-Pacific, integrated with JASDF aircraft, and flew back, staying in the air for more than 30 hours. 

A few months later, B-1s from Dyess flew to Europe in March as part of a Bomber Task Force mission, landing in Norway, Sweden, and Poland. In October and November, four B-1Bs from Dyess took part in another Bomber Task Force deployment, flying to RAF Fairford, U.K.  

Top Aces Tests Adversary F-16’s New Aggressor Suite

Top Aces Tests Adversary F-16’s New Aggressor Suite

Jan. 21, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

Adversary/aggressor services company Top Aces has begun testing an F-16 equipped with a suite of gear aimed at giving fifth-generation Air Force fighters a more realistic sparring partner, the company announced. By the end of the year, the company expects to have 29 former Israeli F-16s in the U.S., most equipped with the new capabilities, for dogfight and other training.

The first flight of the F-16 equipped with the Advanced Aggressor Mission System, or AAMS, took place Jan. 19. The company said the suite has an open mission systems architecture to allow swapping in new capabilities as needed, including new sensors.

Combined with “the power and avionics of the F-16,” the AAMS suite “provides the most realistic and cost-effective training solution available to pilots flying fifth-generation fighters such as the F-22 or F-35,” Top Aces president Russ Quinn said in a press release.

Top Aces owns 29 ex-Israeli air force F-16s, of which eight are in the U.S. and four more will arrive in “the next few weeks,” with the remaining 17 to arrive later this year, a company spokesperson said. The company has government approval to bring all 29 to the U.S. and to equip “at least half of them” with the AAMS within this year, she said.  

The AAMS comprises an active, electronically-scanned array radar (AESA); a helmet-mounted cueing system; technical datalink; infrared search and track (IRST) system; “high fidelity weapon simulation, allowing accurate replication of adversary tactics”; an advanced electronic attack pod for passive radio-frequency detection capabilities; and “an array of tactical functions coordinating” these systems “to provide a spectrum of realistic adversary effects,” the company said.

Top Aces declined to identify the suppliers of the specific systems, such as the radar and helmet, because of proprietary concerns. Top Aces is one of a number of companies providing adversary/aggressor services to the U.S. Air Force and Navy and other nations.

“We are not currently able to disclose” who made the systems in the AAMS suite, the company said through a spokesperson, but “the AESA, helmet and datalink systems are all modern, fielded and proven systems fully compatible with US systems and have demonstrated significant technical capabilities ideal for the adversary role.” The company’s F-16s are cleared “to carry numerous fielded [electronic warfare] pods, including the ALQ-119, ALQ-131, ALQ-184 and ALQ-188.”

The spokesperson said the AAMS suite is already flying on several of its seven A-4 Skyhawks providing aggressor services to the German air force “and other European customers for advanced airborne training.” Another 14 will be equipped with the AAMS and are in or en route to the U.S.

The AAMS was installed in the Top Aces F-16 by M7 Aerospace of San Antonio, Texas, which is owned by Elbit Systems of America.

“The plug-and-play nature of our AAMS … allows for the addition of new and emerging sensors well into the future,” Quinn said. This “provides the flexibility to upgrade our F-16s and meet the needs of the Air Force for years to come.”

In late 2019, the Air Force awarded $6.4 billion worth of indefinite quantity/indefinite delivery adversary air (ADAIR) contracts, which run through 2024, to seven companies, including Top Aces. The companies are to provide “realistic and challenging adversary air threats and close air support threats,” the Pentagon said at the time. Eight bids were received. The Air Force considers the commercial ADAIR mission to still be an experiment to find out if it can free up frontline fighters for real-world missions that would otherwise be used for adversary training—and save money doing so.

“All capabilities we are bringing meet or exceed those specified in the IDIQ requirements for Category C (Advanced) capabilities,” the company said.

Top Aces operates what it claims to be the “largest fleet of commercially operated fighter aircraft in the world,” numbering among its assets the A-4, the Dassault Alpha Jet, and the Bombardier Learjet 35; and it is “the first company … to acquire the supersonic F-16.”

More Eyes on GEO: Space Force Adds Two Space Surveillance Satellites

More Eyes on GEO: Space Force Adds Two Space Surveillance Satellites

Jan. 21, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

Two satellites launched by the Space Force set forth to geosynchronous Earth orbit Jan. 21 to join a constellation of four others surveilling the high satellite belt. 

The Space Force mission USSF-8 launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., with the Northrop Grumman-built satellites, which are part of the Space Force’s Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program.

The first two GSSAP satellites launched in 2014 and, orbiting at about 35,970 kilometers (22,300 miles) in altitude, went into operation the next year, followed by two more that went into operation in 2017. According to information from the former Air Force Space Command, which became part of the Space Force, the satellites could perform rendezvous and proximity operations, meaning they could maneuver near other objects for a closer look.

“These next two satellites will add to that capability and enable us to understand more completely things that occur in the geosynchronous orbit,” said Space Force Lt. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, who commands the service’s Space Operations Command, in the statement. “It’s a key piece in the puzzle for space domain awareness.”

Collecting data for the National Space Defense Center and “other national users” will “enhance our ability to navigate freely and safely within the GEO belt” while helping to better understand the “ever evolving state of affairs” there, the statement said. 

The information helps in tracking other satellites.

The commander of U.S. Space Command, Army Gen. James H. Dickinson, differentiated space domain awareness from space situational awareness in an interview with reporters in August 2021. 

Space situational awareness is more simply “reporting on where something is in space—characterizing it that way,” Dickinson explained. Space domain awareness “is a little bit more complicated,” requiring observers to try to understand and assign motive, “the ‘why’—the intent—behind having something in space and where it is.”

DOD ‘Teeing Up Options’ to Reassure NATO Allies if Russia Invades Ukraine

DOD ‘Teeing Up Options’ to Reassure NATO Allies if Russia Invades Ukraine

Jan. 21, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

As the U.S. continues to pursue a diplomatic resolution with Russia over its troop buildup on the Ukraine border, the Defense Department is looking into what capabilities it will need to reassure NATO allies if Russia does launch an invasion, its top spokesperson said Jan. 21.

In a Pentagon press briefing, John F. Kirby described the efforts to dissuade Russia from an invasion of Ukraine as a “whole of government” and “international community” effort. Within that effort, DOD has a particular job.

“We’re going to make sure that we have options ready to reassure our allies, particularly on NATO’s eastern flank, if there’s another incursion,” Kirby said. “And if they need that reassurance, if they need their capabilities to be bolstered, we’re going to do that. And we’re going to make sure that we’re ready to do that.”

Over the past several months, more than 100,000 Russian troops have flowed to the western part of the country, massing all along the Ukrainian border, along with a sizable fleet of ships in the Black Sea.

President Joe Biden said in early December he does not plan to send U.S. troops to Ukraine to defend against or deter a Russian invasion. At the same time, he warned that an invasion would cause the U.S. to “reinforce our presence in NATO countries to reassure particularly those on the eastern front.” 

NATO allies in the region, for their part, have said they want an increased NATO and U.S. presence to deter Russia. But Kirby indicated Jan. 21 that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has not received any “specific asks” from allies.

Should those requests come, though, DOD will be ready, Kirby said.

“Some of those capabilities can come right from inside the European Command area of responsibility, or even from the States,” said Kirby. “Our job is to tee up options. Our job is to make sure that we’re ready in case our allies need us, and so the Secretary continues to look at all those options before him.”

While the U.S. is not planning to deploy combat troops to Ukraine, it is set to provide military aid to the Ukrainians. The Associated Press reported that the State Department is providing some $200 million in defensive military equipment. 

What exactly or how much equipment is still unclear—Kirby deferred to the State Department when asked, and the State Department referred Air Force Magazine to a department fact sheet that describes the military aid the U.S. has provided Ukraine over the past several years, including “High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, secure communications, satellite imagery and analysis support, counter-battery radars, night vision devices and thermal scopes, sniper rifles, and equipment to support military medical treatment and combat evacuation procedures.”

At the same time, the U.S. has granted approval to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to send American-made weapons to Ukraine, according to a joint release from the nations’ defense ministries. Specifically, Estonia is sending Javelin anti-armor missiles, while Latvia and Lithuania are sending Stinger anti-aircraft missiles

Meanwhile, the U.S. is set to take part in a NATO military exercise, Neptune Strike 22, starting Jan. 24 and running through Feb. 4, Kirby announced. The Truman Carrier Strike Group, highlighted by the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, will be placed under NATO operational control for the exercise, “to test … really a wide range of maritime capabilities that we want to make sure we continue to improve,” Kirby said.

The exercise has been planned since 2020, Kirby added, and planners took into account the current situations in Ukraine and in the Mediterranean before deciding to proceed with it. 

“The exercise itself is not designed against the kinds of scenarios that might happen with respect to Ukraine,” Kirby said.

DOD’s Research and Engineering Priorities Focus on Contested Areas

DOD’s Research and Engineering Priorities Focus on Contested Areas

Jan. 20, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

The Pentagon’s head of research and engineering is prioritizing technologies that can penetrate and operate inside highly contested enemy territory. Top among the tech priorities are artificial intelligence and autonomy.

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, also said the time is now to create the technology and standards for “6G and 7G,” which will advance beyond today’s state of the art for cyber connectivity.

Shyu told the Potomac Officer’s Club on Jan. 19 that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III charged her with finding ways to operate within contested regions and to penetrate “highly defended areas.”

“To do that I believe that we need a trusted AI and trusted autonomy, [and] to be able to operate without GPS,” she said, adding that she wants companies to be able to develop the means to operate “a whole wave” of unmanned systems in contested battle space. Hand in hand with that will be disparate platforms “able to network, and command and control and talk to each other.”

Shyu made the remarks as the final draft of a document stating her tech priorities was being reviewed; she forecast its release the week of Jan. 17 and told the audience they could “hold your breath” for it.

Shyu told defense reporters Jan. 13 that the priorities include AI, integrated networks, hypersonics, and microelectronics. Other of her tech priorities include modular open systems, she said, with an automatic ability to connect with other systems. She will seek commercial, off-the-shelf systems wherever possible both for cost and speed, “rather than designing exquisite systems. … We have to pivot much faster.” She will also move to adapt commercial space technology to military applications.

Shyu has received pressure from Capitol Hill, she said, to address the fact that “70 percent of our chips come from Asia,” which “poses a supply chain risk.” The lawmakers want her to “onshore” those manufacturing capabilities. She previously said she would work with the Department of Commerce and chip foundry companies on this initiative.

To help with intelligence, Shyu said she’s also looking into sensing capabilities connected to artificial intelligence and “integrating sensing systems in cyber.”

Another initiative will be making defense systems easier to use in order to reduce training time and improve operator proficiency. Making machine interfaces more intuitive will be another technology push, she said.

Hypersonics

Accelerating hypersonics is on the list of tech priorities.

“We started this activity back in the ‘90s,” Shyu said, but “had a lot of starts and stops.” That focus has been renewed, but “I would say we’re running a little behind” competitors in other countries. “I do know that we’re paying a lot of attention trying to accelerate the activities within the hypersonics world.”

Shyu said Austin has a particular interest in hypersonics, but Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Jan. 19 that the Air Force shouldn’t over-emphasize the technology compared with more cost-effective munitions.

Shyu said that despite delays in hypersonic programs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting supply chain issues, “we’re still putting the pedal to the metal and not easing up on the goals.” The Army and Navy are “on track this year to do a full stack flyout” of the booster and glide body, and “will be fielding it this year,” Shyu said. “I’m very happy with what the Army and Navy [are] doing.” She did not comment on the Air Force’s Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missile program.

Lasers, Quantum, Materials

After “30 years” of effort, Shyu said the U.S. is “finally at the cusp of developing laser technology” for offensive military applications, saying that both the Army and Navy are fielding laser systems.

“We’re also developing high-power microwave systems, as well,” she said.

Shyu suggested that quantum computing is on her list. While about 100 U.S. companies are pursuing quantum computing, China is nearing its goal of having 2,000 “quantum computer researchers. So, they’re close … and we must not take our eyes off that.” Her office is also interested in quantum sensing and quantum communications.

Noting that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency last year demonstrated the ability to “develop a helicopter landing pad within 48 hours in Guam,” Shyu said this will be a key enabler for areas “like contested logistics.”

In materials, Shyu said she’s interested in advanced alloys and structures that can handle the intense heat of hypersonic flight yet are stronger but lighter in weight than the materials available today. This, too, will reduce the strain on the logistics enterprise, she said. She is also interested in materials that can “potentially change [their] properties.”

5G and Beyond

Shyu said it’s time for “Next-G … beyond 5G.” She said she doesn’t want the U.S. to “take our eye off the ball and play catch-up,” then have to adapt to another country’s standard. The U.S. should create that new standard, she said.

“So, I’m interested in making sure we’re developing technologies on 6G and 7G.”

She noted that the Defense Department is doing an experiment with 5G at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, “making sure we can field 5G and not interfere with the military communications … and radar systems.”

Labs and Testing Infrastructure

Shyu said she’s been tasked by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks to assess the health of the department’s and individual services’ laboratory and test infrastructure. “We’ll be giving a presentation … at the end of this month” on shortfalls and what “we need to invest in,” Shyu said.

In later questions and answers, Shyu said the shortfall in lab infrastructure amounts to about $5 billion and that she’s looking for ways to take advantage of private, industry, or university capabilities in order to put money toward the “most critical” gaps in test infrastructure.   

Rationalizing Innovation Hubs

Shyu said it’s become “very, very difficult to figure out what we’ve gotten for our money” through an array of small-business and reach-out organizations tasked with soliciting innovations from small businesses. She’s been tasked to rationalize “over 20 different innovative organizations,” such as AFWERX, SOFWERX, and the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.

“We’re trying to get a better understanding of what their roles and responsibilities and missions are” with the goal of knowing “what has been procured, … the budget, … the processes they’re going through to select contractors,” and the capabilities of the products and services being developed. Another objective is to create links on government websites that will direct companies how best to connect with the organizations that can make use of their innovations.

She also needs “a mechanism for me to track” where these innovation projects are and whether the businesses are transitioning to Tier 2, 3, or 4 suppliers.

“If we don’t have a contracting mechanism with them by then, it’s very hard to pull” an idea into becoming a program of record, she said.

Joint Experiments

Another “push” area within the tech priorities is the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve aimed at joint experimentation, Shyu said.

“We are initiating two different ‘sprints’ per year that will start in FY ’23,” with the intent of moving prototypes “into rapid experimentation to fulfill a joint operational gap,” she said. These have been chosen in coordination with the Joint Staff and will draw on “200 white papers” from across the services, of which some 30 have been selected as having the most merit “and can close the capability gaps.”

These initiatives address four “scenarios,” she said, without giving more details, because they are classified. She said her office is working with regional combatant commanders “responsible for a particular scenario.” Shyu said Gen. John E. Hyten, recently retired vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and head of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, was “very excited” about this activity because “it was the first time fulfilling a COCOM’s capability shortfall at the joint level rather than a service-specific shortfall,” she noted.