Civil Reserve Air Fleet Activated to Help with Kabul Evacuations

Aug. 20, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Aug. 22 activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to assist with the ongoing airlift out of Afghanistan. Tens of thousands have fled the country.

The Stage 1 CRAF activation includes 18 aircraft—three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, and Omni Air; two from Hawaiian Airlines; and four from United Airlines, which will fly from staging bases in the region but not from Kabul. It is the third activation in the history of the program, after Operations Desert Shield/Storm in 1990 and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

As of early Aug. 22, 25,100 personnel had flown out of Kabul on military and coalition flights since the evacuation began on Aug. 14. The evacuation airlift out of Kabul halted for several hours Aug. 20 as the staging facility at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, hit its capacity limit with several thousand still staged to leave Kabul. Flights had since resumed.

U.S. Air Force crews adjusted their operations to fly even more passengers and are now regularly carrying 400 people as opposed to a previous limit of just over 300 for humanitarian operations, said Brig. Gen. Daniel A. DeVoe, commander of Air Mobility Command’s 618th Air Operations Center, also known as the Tanker Airlift Control Center.

More locations are beginning to accept evacuees, as Al Udeid is at capacity, including Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where Airmen have been setting up cots in hangars and doing other preparations to get ready for the influx of evacuees. The first flights landed there late Aug. 20. Other nations in the Persian Gulf region are in discussions to host evacuees, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, where there are major USAF bases.

Qatar was the “first way station” for the evacuation, and as such it hit capacity quickly, Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said in an Aug. 20 briefing.

“We are grateful other countries … have already agreed to accept additional numbers, and we’re working out the details of that with them right now,” Kirby said. “From a military perspective, we are in need of additional capacity, and we’re grateful that other countries are going to be helping us out with that capacity.”

DeVoe said the TACC needs to “meter the flow between locations,” noting, “there are times where certain places could get what we call locked out, or reach capacity limits, to those particular locations, and as we do, we adjust the flow accordingly,” he said.

As of Aug. 20, about 5,800 U.S. troops are at the Kabul airport trying to deal with throngs of people outside the gates hoping to evacuate. Commanders on the ground are in regular contact with Taliban leaders to allow for safe passage, though there are extensive reports of people being beaten and threatened if they attempt to flee.

‘Energize Our System’

DeVoe said the TACC received the order around Aug. 11 that mobility would be in heavy demand and needed to quickly help evacuate U.S. citizens and allies from Afghanistan. He was told, “We need you to energize our system to make that happen.”

The control center surged aircraft to the region, and an element of USAF contingency response Airmen also quickly deployed to help run air operations at the airport, said Col. Kyle Benwitz, vice commander of the 621st Contingency Response Wing. These same Airmen had recently returned home from Afghanistan after closing down bases across the country.

In addition to surging airlift, the TACC increased refueling capacity both in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world to help keep aircraft flowing.

“We have, as this effort kicked off, increased the number of refueling aircraft in the theater, and in other places around the world, to support that global flow and movement of aircraft. They might not be in the Gulf, they might not even be in [U.S. Central Command’s] area of responsibility, but they’re still doing work as part of a global effort to support this evacuation.”

This also includes refuelers carrying some passengers, presumably from the staging locations such as Al Udeid, back to the U.S., or to other locations.

“It’s still putting passengers in seats and accelerating the velocity of moving those evacuees onto follow-on locations,” DeVoe said. “So we’re looking at doing that right now, with some of the tanker support we have.”

USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. took to Twitter on Aug. 19 to thank Airmen for their role in evacuating those from Afghanistan.

To the outstanding Airmen who have worked tirelessly and selflessly over the last several days evacuating Afghans, Americans and the vulnerable, I want to personally thank you for your sacrifices and applaud your bravery. pic.twitter.com/zecstGfA1w
— General CQ Brown, Jr. (@GenCQBrownJr) August 19, 2021

The TACC’s plan for airlift operations is keenly focused on fuel for the aircraft that land in Kabul, so the aircraft aren’t depending on the airport’s refueling system to operate. USAF tankers are operating nearby if they need to fill up, if plans change, or if flights take longer than expected, DeVoe said. Other planes, such as from other militaries or private carriers, do rely on HKIA’s fuel at times, and the contingency response Airmen are able to help with that.

“Usually, we’re able to make plans so they don’t even have to hit the tanker,” DeVoe said. “If there’s things that cause delays, that weren’t expected, didn’t go as planned, longer flight times, then we’ll utilize an aerial refueling.”

Turkish troops were running much of the logistics at the airport, but U.S. forces took over when contingency response Airmen arrived, adding some more “rigor and structure” into the operations, Benwitz said. For example, some commercial or contracted aircraft would show up unannounced without the proper “prior permission required” authorization.

Contingency response Airmen at Kabul are handling the bulk of the on- and off-loading operations, along with controlling the aircraft. Benwitz said they are able to handle up to eight aircraft at a time to support a high operations tempo. In addition, some of these Airmen are working with Marines to help manifest passengers to increase throughput, and they are repairing generators, buildings, and lighting to keep the airport operating.

“That is an opportunity, again, to ensure the safe launch and recovery of all these missions that are going through the airfield,” Benwitz said. “We find a problem, we seek solutions, and we get the mission done quietly, as professionals, to ensure that we’re not the cause of any delay.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8:37 p.m. Aug. 22 to add information about the Civil Reserve Air Fleet activation.

Biden Promises to Evacuate All Americans and Afghans Who Helped Coalition Forces

Aug. 20, 2021 | By Abraham Mahshie

President Joe Biden extended his commitment Aug. 20 to evacuate all Americans in Afghanistan as well as Afghans who helped coalition forces, even if it could not be done by a self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline.

Military commanders in recent days had promised only “as many as possible” Afghans would be evacuated by the deadline and said the U.S. would not push out its perimeter or retrieve evacuees in distress.

Biden on Aug. 20 said he would order operations beyond the airport as necessary to rescue Americans.

“Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home,” Biden said. “I cannot promise what the final outcome will be or that it will be without risk of loss.”

The President also said military commanders were in “constant contact” with the Taliban and that he had no indication Americans were being prevented from safe passage to Hamid Karzai International Airport, even while reports on the ground indicate that Afghan translators were suffering brutal treatment and there were massive crowds at Taliban checkpoints.

Biden said some 6,000 American troops are on the ground protecting the airport for military and commercial flights and some 13,000 Afghans and their families, diplomats, and other Americans had been evacuated since Aug. 14. The President said more than 18,000 had been evacuated since July 29.

Biden called the evacuation mission “the largest and most dangerous in history” and said it was inevitable that a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan would lead to “what you’re seeing now.”

Prompted by a reporter during a question-and-answer period, Biden committed to evacuate Afghans who helped U.S. and coalition forces who qualify for special immigrant visas.

“Yes. We’re making the same commitment,” he said, while expressing confidence the tall order could be achieved by the Aug. 31 deadline.

Biden also said the U.S. military would leave after the mission was completed.

“When this is finished, we will complete our military withdrawal and finally bring an end to 20 years of American military action in Afghanistan,” Biden said.

As to whether American forces may stay beyond the end of the month, the President said: “We’re going to make that judgment as we go.”

Delays and Rescues

Biden said C-17 evacuation flights paused Aug. 20 for a reported six to seven hours when a refugee center in Qatar reached capacity, but flights have since resumed.

He also said 169 Americans had been retrieved from masses near the airport perimeter.

Earlier in the day, NATO foreign ministers released a joint statement calling for an end to violence and for safe passage to the airport. The ministers also declared that all assistance to the Afghan government would cease until human rights guarantees were in place.

The State Department has continued to fly in additional consular officials to third countries to help with the processing of the Afghans.

Yet despite Biden’s boasting “significant progress” in the evacuation mission, members of the President’s own party were quick to criticize him.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said the effort reeked of a lack of planning.

“I think the Biden administration did not adequately plan for this,” he told CNN before the speech. “The main reason they didn’t adequately plan for this is they were kind of kidding themselves about the ability of the Afghan government to stand after we left.”

An Afghan military of some 300,000 ground forces capitulated and allowed Taliban forces to enter the capital largely without resistance Aug. 15. Rather than attack the incoming fighters, at least 46 aircraft also fled to neighboring countries.

Biden criticized the failure of Afghan leadership, citing a lack of will of the American-trained forces to fight.

“Let’s assume the Afghan national force had continued to fight and they were surrounding Kabul. It would be a very different story, very different story,” he said. “The overwhelming consensus was that … the Afghan forces, they were not going to leave. They were not going to just abandon, and they would put down their arms and take off. So, that’s what’s happened.”

Biden said counterterrorism would be the focus when it comes to Afghanistan moving forward, and he reiterated that the United States will maintain an “over-the-horizon” capacity to attack “large groups of terrorists.”

KC-46s Conduct First Operational Missions as Need for KC-10s, KC-135s Ramps Up Downrange

Aug. 20, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

With KC-135s and KC-10s surging forward to help with the ongoing airlift out of Afghanistan, KC-46s are picking up some slack back home with the new tanker’s first operational taskings under Air Mobility Command’s plan to have the Pegasus start flying limited operations.

KC-46s have flown three missions tasked by AMC’s Tanker and Airlift Control Center. During the first on Aug. 11, a KC-46 from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., refueled F/A-18s using the tanker’s centerline drogue system. The Super Hornets were from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112 at Fort Worth, Texas, according to an AMC release.

“The timing is perfect,” said Brig. Gen. Daniel A. DeVoe, commander of the 618th Air Operations Center, also known as the TACC, at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

AMC boss Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost in February announced the interim capability release plan, which allows KC-46s to provide limited refueling operations. KC-10s and KC-135s can fly more real-world operational missions, plus those heavily tasked aircrews get more downtime.

“We will now commit the KC-46 to execute missions similar to the ones they’ve been conducting over the past few years in the Operational Test and Evaluation plan, but can now include operational taskings from U.S. Transportation Command,” Van Ovost told reporters at the time. “For example, today the KC-46 may provide aerial refueling for F-16s participating in a U.S.-based training exercise. Under this new approach, if AMC is tasked to provide AR support for an operational coronet mission to move F-18s overseas or an operational B-52 mission, the KC-46 is on the table, which frees up KC-135s and KC-10s to execute other combatant command deployments that the KC-46A is presently unable to support with its existing deficiencies.”

In early July, AMC announced KC-46s could be tasked to refuel receivers using its centerline drogue system. This allowed the KC-46 to provide fuel to F/A-18s, as was seen in the Aug. 11 mission. In early August, AMC then allowed the KC-46 to be tasked to refuel some aircraft with its boom, including other KC-46s, B-52s, and notably, C-17s. Globemaster IIIs have been heavily tasked as part of the Kabul airlift mission.

DeVoe said the TACC has “postured the KC-46” to be able to serve as part of the airbridge for aircraft leaving the continental United States or returning home off the East Coast.

“We haven’t taken it any further than that,” DeVoe said. “But again, in the global puzzle, that can be an important piece.”

“It is not heavily involved, and it is not combat at all,” he said of the tanker’s role as part of the overall airlift.

When the plan was first announced, AMC said KC-46s would not be sent to geographic combatant commands until it is cleared as fully operational. That is still years away as the tanker works through significant issues with its remote vision system and boom. AMC will not give a commander an airframe that is limited, said Brig. Gen. Ryan R. Samuelson, the KC-46 cross-functional team lead.

Skunk Works Looks to Bridge Tanker, KC-Z, and Lighter-Than-Air

Aug. 20, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

The next phase of the Air Force’s long-term tanker recapitalization program may have some Lockheed Martin Skunk Works flavor, and the advanced development unit is looking ahead to the stealthy KC-Z competition and a potential lighter-than-air transport, Skunk Works Vice President and General Manager Jeff A. Babione said.

Speaking with reporters earlier this month ahead of the opening of a new production facility at Lockheed’s Palmdale, Calif., location at Air Force Plant 42, Babione said Lockheed Martin responded to USAF’s “bridge tanker” sources-sought notice in June with what he called the “LMXT” variant of the Airbus KC-30 tanker. He could not immediately say what the new “LMXT” branding stands for, but while Lockheed Martin’s aero unit is leading the hunt for USAF tanker work, Skunk Works is adding things to the proposal to make it more attractive.

Babione said Skunk Works will be “enhancing” the LMXT offering with additional survivability and countermeasures and “various other communications systems that have to be augmented,” as well as other improvements.

“I think we have a very compelling platform that we are putting forward,” Babione said. Skunk Works “is part of the team putting that proposal together when it comes to what kind of advanced technologies you want to put on the platform.”

The Air Force is seeking information from contractors who could offer a solution in the second part of its tanker recap program. Previously known as “KC-Y,” this phase will seek to buy between 140 and 160 non-developmental aircraft, with the first examples operational in 2029. The program could get formally underway as early as next year.

Boeing won the “KC-X” program with the KC-46, but the company’s checkered performance on the project has led to calls for a full-up competition for the second round. Boeing has lost more than $5 billion to date on the fixed-price program, and the huge foreign market for the tanker it anticipated has yet to materialize.

Airbus, offering the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport, has won most tanker contests since the KC-46 began competing, but most of the buys are for small lots. The Airbus aircraft actually won the KC-X contest at first, but the award was overturned after a protest from Boeing. The A330 is a larger aircraft than the KC-46. Lockheed Martin and Airbus signed an agreement to partner on future Air Force tanker competitions in late 2018.

The sources-sought notice said the non-developmental aircraft, also meeting “subsequent emerging requirements,” would have to be available within this decade.

Skunk Works is also looking to the follow-on KC-Z competition, which the Air Force has yet to define. The service generally has said KC-Z will need to be stealthy enough to operate in or near defended airspace; but it has not said whether it’s interested in a small stealth tanker like Boeing’s MQ-25 for the Navy, or something larger.

The KC-Z is an “exciting area we’ve been spending some level of [independent research and development] on over the past five years, on what does that look like,” Babione said.

“Think about how you would hide large quantities of fuel. Certainly there’s going to be a need to carry fuel in a contested environment. So what does that look like?” He noted that Lockheed Martin has put forward a number of “blended wing design” aircraft that look like a flying wing with a flying T-tail, which may suggest the company’s approach. Flying wings tend to have reduced radar cross section, and “those are the kind of technologies that we see as necessary for the KC-Z,” Babione said.

The advanced development unit is also still investing in its P791 airship concept, Babione said. Airships have the potential of “revolutionizing how we move large volumes,” particularly because airships don’t need a large infrastructure of runways. They could be particularly useful for opening up remote areas—such as African nations, Babione suggested—with routine commercial and passenger deliveries, in the absence of large airport facilities. That advantage alone could be “huge,” he said.

Airships could be “the catalyst to infuse commerce into certain parts of the globe … that need some kind of foundation to build an economy,” he said. “It’s a very interesting fit, and it’s ‘green’.”

The challenge is “breaking into that industry,” he said, adding that Skunk Works is “talking to several companies about what’s the best way to transition that technology.”

“We understand the math and science of it, it’s how do you make a business case?” he said. The pandemic has led some who would normally be willing to take a risk to be more risk-averse, and there will likely be some opposition to flying cargo airships over cities.

That risk aversion might increase if the aircraft were unmanned, he said.

“The business case is still valid, but the big question is regulatory. … Can you do it unmanned? There’s a huge advantage to operating one of these things autonomously. That would significantly reduce the cost of operating them.”

He noted that the problem with Boeing’s 737 MAX “has changed the certification process. It’s a challenge—not necessarily one that can’t be overcome—but it’s a challenge.”

USAFE Fighter Wings Conduct Rare Air-to-Air Live Fire Training

Aug. 20, 2021 | By Greg Hadley

F-16s and F-15s from the Air Force’s 31st and 48th Fighter Wings linked up in northwestern Wales in mid-July, conducting a rare air-to-air live fire training exercise in the U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa (USAFE) area of responsibility.

For the 31st Fighter Wing, based out of Aviano Air Base, Italy, it was the first time in 14 years the wing’s F-16Cs were able to conduct such training in Europe.

As part of the exercise, the fighters launched missiles at flares towed by a Mirach 100 drone.

“It’s a rare opportunity to have something fly off of your airplane that you can actively watch as it guides on its target then spears a flare in a cloud of fire,” said Capt. Johannes Weinberg of the 555th Fighter Squadron in an Air Force release.

It was Weinberg’s first time actually employing an air-to-air missile, and he described the situation as “enlightening and exciting.”

“It was the most adrenaline that has pumped through my blood since first flying the F-16,” he said. “Employing air-to-air missiles is something we practice on almost every training sortie, and it is now something I feel more confident in, if I had to employ one in combat.”

The 31st Fighter Wing fired a total of four AIM-9LM Sidewinder missiles at the Aberporth Range Complex from July 9 to 15.

Also as part of the exercise, F-16s from the 31st FW and F-15EXs and F-15Cs from the 48th Fighter Wing integrated and executed low-level flight training within the U.K. low-altitude environment.

Moving forward the 31st Fighter Wing is planning on participating in future live fire air-to-air exercises, the release said.

USAFE leadership has been aiming to increase training opportunities in the area for months now—back in March 2020, USAFE boss Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian told Air Force Magazine the command was meeting regularly with NATO leaders and others to plan for new range infrastructure and training opportunities as the F-35 began to deploy across the theater.

By the end of 2020, the Air Force inked a five-year, $27 million deal with defense contractor QinetiQ to allow the U.S. to use British Ministry of Defense ranges that are currently being operated by QinetiQ. One of those ranges QinetiQ operates is the Aberporth Range Complex where the 31st and 48th Fighter Wings recently trained.

Kabul Evacuation Flight Sets C-17 Record With 823 On Board

Aug. 20, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Aug. 15 C-17 evacuation flight from Kabul set a new record—by far—for the number of passengers carried on a Globemaster III flight at 823 people, a dramatic rise from the initially reported number on the flight.

The crew of the C-17, call sign REACH871 from the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, decided for themselves to take off from Hamid Karzai International Airport with the plane packed full of Afghan evacuees because of a “dynamic security environment” as the situation at the airport deteriorated.

A photograph of the flight, first posted on the unofficial “Air Force amn/nco/snco” Facebook page, has gone viral around the world showcasing the USAF airlift mission out of Afghanistan. Air Mobility Command, in a statement Aug. 20, said the initial count of 643 included only adults sitting in bus seats after the C-17 landed at Al Udeid. It did not include the 183 children sitting on adult laps.

Audio of a radio or other voice call between the C-17 and a control center posted online included a controller asking the aircraft, “How many people do you think are on your jet? Eight hundred people on your jet? Holy cow. OK. Hey, well, good job getting off the ground.”

The crew, all from the 6th Airlift Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., and deployed to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, consisted of aircraft commander Lt. Col. Eric Kut, Capt. Cory Jackson, 1st. Lt. Mark Lawson, loadmaster Tech. Sgt. Justin Triola, loadmaster Airman 1st Class Nicolas Baron, Staff Sgt. Derek Laurent, and Senior Airman Richard Johnson. Triola conducted the final count of the passengers, and Baron’s jacket is seen in a viral photo of a sleeping child on board the C-17.

“They were definitely anxious to get out of the area, and we were happy to accommodate them, and they were definitely excited once we were airborne,” Triola told CNN, adding that “everybody was thrilled to actually leave.”

The flight broke the previous C-17 record, set in November 2012 when 670 residents of Tacloban, Philippines, boarded an evacuation flight to Manila following Super Typhoon Haiyan. That flight was flown by a C-17 aircrew from the 535th Airlift Squadron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

The C-17 typically flies with a maximum of about 300 people when outfitted for large passenger loads using pallets with seats.

25% of Afghan Air Force Fled, Remainder in Disarray, Sources Say

Aug. 19, 2021 | By Abraham Mahshie

The Afghan Air Force was once considered the Kabul government’s lethal advantage over the Taliban. Now, aircraft and personnel that have not left the country may fall into Taliban hands, but sources say maintenance problems and insufficient aircrews likely will diminish their value.

The Afghan Air Force once stood at approximately 200 fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, including A-29 Super Tucanos, AC-208 light attack aircraft, Cessna 208s, PC-12 Pilatus surveillance aircraft, C-130 Hercules transport planes, and a fleet of helicopters that included UH-60 Black Hawks and Russian-made Mi-8 and Mi-17 Hips.

The Defense Department long struggled to make the Afghan Air Force self-sufficient, with its pilots sometimes deserting during training in the United States and contractor maintenance required to achieve readiness. By June, readiness dropped from over 90 percent in March/April for the AC-208 and 77 percent for the UH-60s to about 30 percent across the force, according to the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

“I would say it’s a ragtag force that’s left,” said 25-year Air Force veteran John Venable of the Heritage Foundation.

“If they have exceptional pilots, then the number of platforms they have is fleeting, and the technical faculties of those aircraft are not leading edge,” he added.

An Uzbek government official confirmed to Air Force Magazine that 46 aircraft, including 22 fixed wing and 24 helicopters, and 585 Afghan airmen and soldiers had fled to Uzbekistan by air after the fall of Kabul.

“Maybe it will be confiscated, maybe it will be given back to the Afghan government—the Taliban—it’s still unclear,” the Uzbek government official told Air Force Magazine, referring to the aircraft.

Reuters, quoting the Tajik foreign affairs ministry, reported that several military airplanes and over 100 Afghan soldiers also fled to Tajikistan, another Central Asian neighbor. Calls to the Embassy of Tajikistan in Washington, D.C., were not returned.

What is clear is that some 25 percent of the Afghan Air Force fled when the fall of Kabul became imminent.

For the aircraft left behind, lack of spare parts, contract support, and maintenance means few flyable platforms, said Venable.

“For the Blackhawks, and the A-29s specifically, that left those platforms almost unflyable,” he said.

“It doesn’t mean they can’t fly. That doesn’t mean that one or two of them can’t get airborne, like we’ve witnessed with those that have defected, but the number and types that are left that are actually employable is another thing,” Venable explained.

By his count, about 24 less-sophisticated Cessna 208s are still in the country, some of which may be flyable.

Venable counted 53 Black Hawks in the Afghan Air Force before the fall of Kabul, 12-14 of which he suggested were flyable. In its last report, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said as of June 30, the Afghan Air Force has 33 usable Black Hawks in the country. Reporting suggests seven fled to Uzbekistan.

Source: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report.

It is still unclear whether the United States can legally claim ownership of the property now impounded in neighboring countries.

The State Department did not respond to an Air Force Magazine inquiry about the legal ownership status of military equipment sold or donated to the former Afghan government. The Defense Department also did not immediately respond to inquiries by Air Force Magazine.

The Question of Pilots

While the Taliban now controls a number of attack, surveillance, and transport aircraft, it still requires pilots to fly them.

In July, Reuters reported that the Taliban had been on a campaign to assassinate Afghan Air Force pilots to diminish the air strategic advantage. At least six had been killed, according to the report.

Venable assessed that Afghanistan had about 120 Black Hawk crews before the fall of Kabul. It is not known how many crews fled across the border or are in hiding.

In recently surfaced videos posted to Twitter, former Afghan Air Force pilots were forced by the Taliban to fly Hips. More Afghan pilots and crews may be forced to man a Taliban air force, especially if those who fled are repatriated, Venable warned.

“Some of those [Black Hawk crews] will be forced to fly based on the well-being of themselves and their families,” he said. “My humble opinion is that many of the most capable pilots either left or were assassinated in the days leading up to fall of Afghanistan.”

The Uzbek government has sought to enhance its defense partnership with the United States in recent years, conducting joint training and participating in professional military education. However, to maintain good bilateral relations with its neighbor, it may be pressured to bow to Taliban requests to repatriate Afghan citizens and aircraft now in its country.

“The most important thing is for us to get those folks who flew in support of us and Afghan operations … out of the region as rapidly as we can,” said Venable. “That way the Uzbeki government does not have to be faced with that moral dilemma, if and when it comes.”

The defense analyst suggested key American partners and allies such as Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Oman accept the personnel and, if possible, the aircraft.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III spoke to his German counterpart by phone Aug. 17 and met with his Qatari counterpart at the Pentagon on Aug. 19. Afghanistan was discussed, but specific details of their conversations were not revealed. Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is seeking refuge in the UAE after fleeing Afghanistan shortly before the Taliban takeover.

In an Aug. 18 Pentagon briefing, Austin said DOD was not yet pursuing the aircraft.

“We’re focused on the airfield and getting people out safely,” he said of the Kabul evacuation mission underway. “So, we’re going to take that issue up at a later date, and we’re going to continue to try to gain greater fidelity on the issue as well.”

Skunk Works Will Hand Off ARRW Production to Missiles and Fire Control

Aug. 19, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

While the first examples of the hypersonic missile AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) will be built at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, rate production will happen elsewhere, Skunk Works Vice President and General Manager Jeff A. Babione said.

Babione told reporters Aug. 10 the initial examples of the ARRW’s hypersonic glide body will be built at Building 601 at Skunk Works’ Palmdale, Calif., facility at Air Force Plant 42. The company has the capacity to build “8-12” units of ARRW per year at the plant, but Babione didn’t indicate how many years of low-rate production are anticipated.

Once the missile is given the green light for large-scale production, Babione said manufacturing will likely shift to Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control facility, which is better for large-scale work.

“We can stand up manufacturing” of hypersonics programs generally at Palmdale “in a relatively short space of time,” he said.

But after that initial pulse of production, “I see a very similar future to the JASSM [AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile] model, where we would develop an early prototype like TBG [Tactical Boost Glide], HAWC [Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept], and then we would find the best place to produce it,” he said.

The Missiles and Fire Control unit is about to open a high-rate JASSM production facility in Troy, Ala. The unit also builds the Army Tactical Missile System booster that accelerates the ARRW glide body to hypersonic speed before releasing it.

Skunk Works is applying digital thread methods to the development of ARRW, Babione said, making rapid iterations of the design possible.

“I see hypersonics as a game changer,” similar to the low-observable technology F-117 stealth attack jet, he said. “It will really change the way we fight in the future, being able to hold targets at risk at great distances, being able to reach out in very short timeframes, with exceptional maneuverability. That will create significant challenges for our adversaries.” He added, “Clearly, we know our adversaries are advancing in these areas, which is why it’s a national priority to be able to develop and field an operable hypersonic systems.”

The company is employing a “best of the best” philosophy, using expertise from different divisions to bring ARRW to service. The space division has “that extra [knowledge] in high-speed aerodynamics [and] heat transfer,” while Skunk Works has “that best-in-class aerodynamics,” and Missiles and Fire Control has “state-of-the-art” expertise with the booster.

Babione declined to comment on recent ARRW test failures, saying only the Air Force can release that information. However, he noted that hypersonics are highly challenging.

“When you’re going … Mach 5, in excess of a mile a second … those environments generate tremendous heat and vibration, and virtually everything you do is significantly more difficult than on a normal aircraft,” he noted.

There is greater opportunity for game-changing technology with the HAWC program, which is an air-breathing system, he said. The HAWC can be smaller and more lightweight than ARRW and thus can be carried on many kinds of platforms. It will be “relatively affordable,” he said.

But the digital thread technology is “platform agnostic” and can be applied across all hypersonic programs, he said. It allows Skunk Works to “quickly iterate” new design changes to meet changing “customer requirements.”

The customer “wants us to … discover, learn, test again … and I think we’re demonstrating that agility in the work we’re doing, from a hypersonics standpoint,” Babione asserted.

C-17s Ready to Ramp Up if Evacuees Can Make It to the Kabul Airport

Aug. 19, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Pentagon is expecting to increase the pace of C-17 airlifts out of Kabul as the influx of troops has slowed to a trickle and the Globemaster IIIs are going in configured for larger loads of evacuating U.S. citizens and Afghans.

However, the pace of evacuations is severely limited because of the unsafe conditions in the Taliban-controlled city and the extreme difficulty some Afghans are facing getting to the airport.

“We’re ready to increase throughput and have scheduled aircraft departures accordingly. We intend to maximize each plane’s capacity, we’re prioritizing people above all else, and we’re focused on doing this as safely as possible with absolute urgency,” said Maj. Gen. William D. “Hank” Taylor, the Joint Staff’s deputy director for regional operations, in an Aug. 19 briefing.

As of early Aug. 19, 13 more C-17s had arrived at Hamid Karzai International Airport within the previous 24 hours. Within that time, 12 aircraft left with passengers. Since Aug. 14, 7,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul. There are now about 5,200 troops on the ground at the airport, including personnel who are setting up a field hospital.

The Pentagon said air operations can now ramp to maximum capacity of about one C-17 out per hour, evacuating a total of 5,000 to 9,000 people a day. Planning took into account the C-17 outfitted for the most seats, with about 300 on each jet, though one sortie early in the evacuation was more than double that capacity.

“We’re trying to make maximum use of the ramp space, of the aircraft, of the queue, and we’re going to adjust that every day,” Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said. “The demand … will drive how many sorties we fly.”

At the current pace, the C-17s are leaving Kabul with about half of the 300 it can carry when properly configured.

The airlift capacity is not an issue of flying people out. The ramp-up hinges mainly on people getting to the airport, along with other factors such as weather. While the airfield itself is secure, the situation outside the airport remains chaotic with large crowds and reports of Taliban roaming and even beating those trying to flee.

Commanders on the ground speak with the Taliban at least twice per day to try to get more people through to the airport.

The State Department has also sent more consular officers to assist with the processing of those who can get through the gates. Department spokesman Ned Price said Aug. 19 that about 6,000 are waiting to leave at the airport.

The military is also flying constant overwatch missions over Kabul to protect U.S. forces in case a dangerous situation arises. While the Pentagon has announced the deployments of B-52s and a carrier strike group to the region, Aug. 19 was the first time the department specifically discussed air missions over the city.

Navy F/A-18s have been flying overwatch “at altitude” over Kabul, though they are not flying low passes over the city or airport, Kirby said. The aircraft are there so commanders have options “at their disposal,” he said. On Aug. 18, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said other aircraft, including F-16s, AC-130s, and MQ-9s, are also available.

“As always, we have the right to defend ourselves, our people, and our operations,” Kirby said.

As of Aug. 19, fuel is no concern at the airport even though it is surrounded by the Taliban. USAF refueling tankers have been constantly flying in the area. “We also have the ability on our own, the logistics ability, to fuel our aircraft as needed,” Kirby said.