AMC Frees Up KC-46 for More Refueling Operations

Aug. 6, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Air Mobility Command on Aug. 6 announced it is freeing up the KC-46 for more operations, allowing the tanker to refuel C-17s, B-52s, and other KC-46s in some circumstances.

It is the second “interim capability release” for the troubled tanker. AMC last month cleared it to refuel aircraft with its centerline drogue. In February, AMC said allowing KC-46s to pick up some of the tanker load in non-combat tasks can free up legacy KC-135s and KC-10s to fill more of those responsibilities.

AMC boss Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost, in announcing the plan in February, said, “under this new approach, if AMC is tasked to provide [aerial refueling] 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.”

As of July, KC-46s have flown more than 5,000 sorties, with 2,700 of those this year. The command reviewed the tanker’s operational criteria in recent months and determined it was ready for more taskings from U.S. Transportation Command, said Brig. Gen. Ryan R. Samuelson, AMC’s deputy director of strategy, plans, requirements, and programs and the KC-46 cross-functional team lead, in a release.

“Though a fully-mission capable aircraft is a few years away, releasing capability our KC-46 bases have demonstrated they can safely and effectively support and employ is a large part of how AMC is accelerating the KC-46 on the path to becoming fully operational and combat-ready,” Samuelson said.

There’s no timeline for the next announcement, according to AMC. The capability releases come as the command and other leaders determine the tanker can conduct more operations, based on the abilities of the crews and data from recent operations.

Since October 2020, KC-46s have conducted more than 4,700 refueling contacts with C-17s, B-52s, and other KC-46s, according to AMC.

The command, in announcing the ICR plan, said it aimed to pick up the refueling load in taskings for training, exercises, and some “coronet” deployments—carrying fighters or other aircraft on their deployments outside of the U.S. The KC-46s will not deploy for combat operations until fully operational.

There are still several Category 1 deficiencies on the tanker, defined as those that may affect pact the safety of flight. The most notable ones are with the tanker’s troubled Remote Vision System, which is being overhauled with a 2.0 version expected to become operational in 2023, and with the tanker’s “stiff” refueling boom, which is blocking it from refueling A-10s.

The Air Force in June announced two more Category 1 deficiencies, which are being fixed at Boeing’s expense. These center on instability with the aircraft’s Flight Management System software and its receptacle drain tubes. Boeing has a design fix in place and is “working through the process to get that finalized and then get it through the system,” said Paul Waugh, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s executive officer for mobility and training aircraft, during an Aug. 3 virtual event. “I think those two latest fixes … are well on track to be in resolve.”

RQ-4 Global Hawk Drone Crashes in North Dakota

Aug. 6, 2021 | By Greg Hadley

An RQ-4 Global Hawk crashed several miles away from Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., on Aug. 6, the Air Force announced.

The unmanned aircraft went down in a rural field near Gilby, N.D., and no injuries were reported. According to the Grand Forks Herald, a fire was extinguished at the scene.

The cause of the crash or the current status of the drone have not yet been released, but the 319th Reconnaissance Wing is on site for recovery operations and an investigation, which could take several weeks, Vice Commander Col. Jeremy Fields said in a statement.

The Global Hawk that crashed was a Block 40 variant, one of just 10 in the Air Force fleet, all of which are stationed at Grand Forks. The Block 40 variant achieved initial operational capability in August 2016 and can fly up to 60,000 feet. It is used for high-altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

RQ-4s have been at the center of some of the Air Force’s recent budget disputes with Congress—on several occasions, the legislature has blocked or placed limits on the service’s attempts to retire some of the ISR drones. In its most recent budget request, the service asked to retire 20 Global Hawks. Air Force leaders have said the drone cannot survive in contested environments and projected that its successor will be available by the end of the 2020s.

The Aug. 6 crash marks the third time in the past 18 months that an Air Force drone has gone down. Pilots deliberately crashed an MQ-9A Reaper in June 2020 after the aircraft suffered a major fuel leak while flying over Africa, and another MQ-9 crashed that same month in Syracuse, N.Y., when its pilot mixed up the controls.

As Air Force Ramps Up JASSM, Work Begins on its Replacement

Aug. 5, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

“Preliminary” discussions and “early development work” about how to pursue the next long-range conventional stealth missile are underway, even as the Air Force ramps up production of the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM, said Brig. Gen. Heath A. Collins, head of the service’s armament directorate.

“We’re in initial conversations on what happens after JASSM,” Collins told reporters Aug. 4, calling the discussions “very preliminary” and giving no timetable as to when the Air Force would want a JASSM successor. It will be looked at “in the years to come,” he said. Lockheed Martin, which makes JASSM, recently built a new production facility in Troy, Ala., to increase capacity. It could open for work as soon as October. Collins said the new facility will “increase our production rate.”

In the meantime, the Air Force is “still in the midst of getting as many JASSMs as we can into our inventory, to meet our objective,” Collins said during a media roundtable during the online Air Force Life Cycle Industry Days.

The Air Force got 400 of the missiles in its enacted fiscal 2021 budget after buying 390 in 2020. The service requested 525 in its 2022 budget proposal.

The Air Force only has a “small ramp-up” planned for the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) variant of JASSM, Collins said. He declined to say why the service is only buying a small handful of LRASMs, saying only that requirements are determined by the Air Staff. Not as many Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles will be needed as Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles because “of the target set we’re going after.”

The JASSM-ER (extended range) is the preferred version, and the Air Force is “transitioning” to the B2 version of the missile while doing “initial … tech insertion” to create a “D” version of the missile, Collins reported, saying the directorate will “continue to evolve” the weapon. The D model provides “more flexibility.”

A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said the Air Force executed a modification to its 2018 JASSM contract Aug. 3, “giving the program the go-ahead for several missile enhancements and capability upgrades that will be cut-in in upcoming production lots.” These will be “formally recognized” with the designation AGM-158B-2, she said. Future variants are being planned, but LMCO left it to the Air Force to discuss their designations. Neither the Air Force nor Lockheed Martin could immediately comment on what new capabilities the updates provide.

Collins said the JASSM also is the preferred munition for Air Force Research Laboratory’s “palletized munition” program, in which an airlift aircraft could launch salvos of missiles, but he could not elaborate on it. “We are supporting [it] from a weapons expertise perspective,” he said.

“We have not started any conversations” with Air Force Global Strike Command about pursuing a conventional version of the in-development Raytheon Technologies AGM-181 Long-Range Stand Off missile, the nuclear successor to the AGM-86B with a range reportedly in excess of 1,800 miles, he said. AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy M. Ray said earlier this year that a conventional version of LRSO would be worth pursuing, just as a conventional version of the air-launched cruise missile was developed and used in conflicts since Operation Desert Storm in 1991. But he said he had not issued a requirement for such a weapon.

Collins could not give any new details about the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), revealed at the same conference two years ago, when then-program executive officer Maj. Gen. Anthony W. Genatempo, said it would be ready for tests from the F-22 in 2022. Collins said the Air Force is “pushing forward and executing” the program, but he is restricted from further comment due to its sensitivity. The missile is set to replace the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile sometime this decade and is purported to have a range to compete with China’s new long-range air-to-air missiles such as the PL-15.

Genatempo forecast production lots of JATMs in the hundreds of units and said AMRAAM production will start tailing off as the JATM ramps up. The Air Force’s 2022 budget request included a reduction in AMRAAM production from previous years.

The Air Force is finalizing its acquisition strategy on the Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) and will “move out on that later this year,” Collins said. Although the program started out as a variant of the Northrop Grumman AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile, Collins said the plan will be to open the program up to “a competitive contract.” The AGM-88G is the Navy’s successor to the High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM).

Although SiAW will be a stand-in weapon, Collins explained that the “extended range” means it can go farther than the initial Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile, but that he could not discuss ranges. “ER on AARGM means something different than ER on JASSM,” he offered.

Collins said the Air Force is aware of various papers published in recent years suggesting the Air Force could get more punch out of its direct-attack munitions by putting range-extending motors on them, noting the service is moving in that direction.

“We have a program [called]… GPAW, the Global Precision Attack Weapon, which is in its early phases, looking at concepts of what the future direct attack weapon looks like,” he said. “And in that study space, there are certainly a number of options [that include] … putting a motor on existing weapons.” The armaments directorate is also looking at the Army/Navy/Marine Corps Joint Air-to-Ground Missile-Fighter, which is a project to replace the Hellfire and Maverick missiles.

Collins said he’s heard the term “fifth-generation weapons for fifth-generation aircraft” but could not bound the term, saying he thinks of hypersonic missiles as the next generation of weapons. Practically all other munitions in USAF’s inventory are being fitted to, or designed to fit in, the F-35, he said, so they all could, technically, be considered “fifth-generation weapons.”

Pratt & Whitney Outlines Vision for Renewing the B-52

Aug. 5, 2021

The Air Force has set an ambitious goal for the B-52 Stratofortress: Update the aircraft for the modern battlefield so the legendary bomber can continue flying combat missions at least 100 years after its first flight. Central to the Air Force’s plan are new engines, which should slash maintenance and fuel costs while delivering significantly improved mission performance and reliability.

“There’s never been a better time to upgrade the B-52 with a modern commercial engine that will provide huge benefits to both the warfighter and the taxpayer,” said former B-52 pilot, retired Lt. Gen. Michael R. Moeller, who is now Vice President for military engines and integrated customer solutions at Pratt & Whitney.

Emerging weapons systems and technologies, evolving mission requirements, and budgetary necessity make the case for engines that deliver better fuel burn, more electrical power generation, and lower life-cycle costs while reducing environmental impacts such as carbon and noise emissions.

Today’s B-52 is a lot like the one Air Force Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Gebara, the director of strategic plans at the Air Force Global Strike Command, piloted early in his career. But once new engines are on board it will be “a very different B-52 than what I flew as a lieutenant.”

With nearly 70 years of experience in the B-52 world, Pratt & Whitney could yet again have the best solution for powering this aircraft. It’s offering the award-winning PW800, which Moeller said is the right fit, offering best in class fuel burn, maintainability, and will be the most sustainable option on the table. Additionally, the size and weight savings of the PW800 avoids the significant integration risks of larger, heavier engines.

A B-52 powered by eight PW800s would meet the Air Force’s goal to extend the jet’s range by up to 40 percent and increase time on station—or loiter time—in the bargain Moeller said.

The Air Force’s request for proposals (RFP) for the engine replacement program, issued in May 2020, stated a requirement for 608 new engines, which would equip all 76 of the B-52 bombers still in its inventory. The service wants a modern, reliable commercial engine in the growth phase of its life cycle and intends to mount them—as in the past—in pairs, with four engines on each wing. To hold down development costs, Air Force leaders ruled out changing the engine configuration or making any significant change in size. The intent is that these engines will essentially be one-for-one replacements with minimal integration work, and no impact to the aircraft structure.

“The replacement engine must have good physical and performance fit,” said Moeller. “It should provide affordability with low integration risk. It should have life-cycle cost benefits, significant savings in fuel-burn, and operate without scheduled overhauls over the life of the program. Overall, maintenance should be significantly less than the current engine. And the PW800 demonstrated all these capabilities through data-based digital engineering during the Air Force’s integration study.”

One unstated benefit of the PW800 is that it’s in the “sweet spot of its life cycle,” Moeller said. The Air Force will want an engine that is sustained by commercial market volume today and decades into the future. The Service doesn’t want an engine that is nearing its commercial sunset and is unsustainable in the future because the commercial market disappeared. The “sweet spot” is that period when a product is in its growth phase with an active commercial market for decades to come. This ensures spare parts availability with a pool of experienced maintainers working with a global sustainment support structure for the life of the program.

Chris Johnson, Vice President of Fighter and Mobility Programs, said, in addition to being in that “sweet spot,” the PW800 is perfectly matched to the mission. “The PW800 is a combination of the right thrust, the right physical size, and very low weight to provide all the required aircraft performance with exceptionally low fuel consumption,” he said.

Pratt & Whitney’s PW800 engine is a proven commercial product, promising 30 percent less fuel burn and saving some 5,400 pounds of weight per aircraft. **Pratt & Whitney**

The PW800 will stay on wing for decades longer than the RFP requires, Johnson said, and will meet or exceed every capability requirement. While the engine is almost the same dimensional size as the legacy TF33, the combined weight savings over eight engines is 5,000 pounds. That means less wing stress, improved fuel efficiency, and increased capacity for under-wing payloads.

No other option delivers so much weight savings, Johnson said. “The nearest competitor is over 3,000 pounds heavier than the PW800 [for all eight engines],” Johnson said. The other competitors are as much as 6,000 pounds heavier.

As a modern, commercial engine, “the PW800 is fundamentally designed for long life,” said Paraag Borwankar, associate director for PW800 customer programs at Pratt & Whitney. “This design philosophy means the engine won’t require its first overhaul until well beyond the expected life of the B-52 program.”

The PW800 features large access panels to facilitate inspections and a modular design that supports quick access to swap out line-replaceable units (LRU), ensuring rapid intervention capability for Air Force maintenance crews and high mission-readiness rates.

For those rare cases where more extensive maintenance is necessary, Pratt & Whitney has invested $30 million in its Bridgeport, W.Va., maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility, which is dedicated to working on PW800 engines.

“The thing about this program is that the PW800 just works. It really does,” said Johnson. Not that this was easy or without effort, he added. “We’re integrating an electronically controlled entity into what used to be a hydraulically controlled aircraft,” Johnson explained. It’s complex, but a workable challenge. “The system engineering works. It’s all been pretty seamless.”

The Air Force will rely on the B-52 for decades longer as the stand-off element of a multi-level bomber strategy. In hotly contested airspace, the B-2 Spirit and stealthy F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft will penetrate air defenses and attack as “stand-in” forces, while B-52s and B-1s, without their radar-evading properties, will be used as “stand-off” forces, firing weapons from a safe distance and benefitting from the increased range and loiter times the PW800 will deliver. B-52s can also serve as nuclear-capable bombers and for close air support of ground combat troops, as was frequently the case in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“We understand the critical role the B-52 plays in defending our country and protecting freedom around the world,” Moeller said. “We’re committed to providing a propulsion solution that keeps the B-52 operationally viable for decades to come. And we look forward to the opportunity to continue this partnership with the USAF to power the B-52 with the PW800.”

Air Force Superintendents to Get New Titles

Aug. 5, 2021 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force is changing how it refers to the top enlisted Airmen in detachments, squadrons, and groups.

Starting Oct. 1, Superintendents will instead be referred to as Senior Enlisted Leaders, or SELs, according to a memo from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Joanne S. Bass.

The memo, dated Aug. 4, which was posted to the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page and independently confirmed by Air Force Magazine, states that the change “better synchronizes us with Joint Force doctrine, practices, and culture.” The Navy and Army both use the title.

“Today’s modern threats call for a new level of teaming and partnerships to defend the security of our nation,” the memo added. “To support this mission imperative, it is important that our duty titles reflect the key leadership roles many of our senior noncommissioned officers serve in.”

Superintendent as a title has usually been given in the Air Force to a chief master sergeant or a senior master sergeant who serves as the top enlisted leader in a division or unit. There are more than 770 group superintendents in the service.

There will be no change in pay as a result of the title change, and no enlisted evaluations closed out prior to Oct. 1 will need to be modified, the memo added.

“We intentionally chose to avoid waiting to make this decision,” Brown and Bass wrote in the memo. “As a service, we will keep accelerating positive change, when and where it’s needed, to align us towards our Air Force goals and priorities.”

USAF Chief Master Sergeant Dies at Ali Al Salem

Aug. 5, 2021 | By Greg Hadley

The superintendent of the 96th Force Support Squadron died in a non-combat-related incident at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, the Pentagon announced Aug. 5.

Chief Master Sgt. Tresse Z. King, 54, of Raeford, N.C., died Aug. 3 while deployed as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. The incident is under investigation.

King previously served as superintendent for the 374th Force Support Squadron out of Yokota Air Base, Japan.

According to a University of Colorado press release, King was promoted to Chief Master Sergeant in 2016, during halftime of a college basketball game in which her son, George King, was playing. She served in the Air Force for nearly 30 years.

King is the second Airman to die in a non-combat incident in the Middle East in recent months—Lt. Col. James C. Willis, a RED HORSE commander in the New Mexico Air National Guard, died June 26 at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. Last September, a pair of Airmen died at Ali Al Salem Air Base in separate accidents involving ATVs in the span of three days.

All told, five Airmen have now died as part of Operation Inherent Resolve since the start of 2020.

Air Force Invests $60 Million More in Startup Building Mach 5 Jet

Aug. 5, 2021 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force has made another investment in hypersonic aircraft, teaming up with venture capital firms to give a $60 million contract to startup Hermeus, which is looking to develop a jet that can travel at five times the speed of sound.

The deal, awarded July 30 and announced Aug. 5, is not the first time the Air Force has invested in Hermeus—a year ago, the service and the startup announced a contract worth $1.5 million to look into modifying the company’s still-in-development aircraft for the future Presidential and Executive Airlift fleet, most notably Air Force One.

Now, USAF is making a broader investment in Hermeus and looking into other potential uses for reusable hypersonic aircraft.

The contract sets five objectives for Hermeus to meet within the next three years, including scaling and flight testing a reusable hypersonic propulsion system, building and testing three of the company’s Quarterhorse concept aircraft, and providing wargaming inputs for the Air Force to use in strategic analysis tools.

After three years, the Air Force will assess the company’s progress, maturation of the technology, and how well it aligns with the service’s priorities.

The deal is funded in part by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate as well as the Air Force Research Laboratory. Hermeus has not said when it hopes to produce its first commercial jets.

“One of our goals in supporting companies like Hermeus is to expand the defense industrial base for both aircraft manufacture and hypersonic propulsion development,” said Brig. Gen. Jason E. Lindsey, the program executive officer for Presidential and Executive Airlift, in a press release. “Ultimately we want to have options within the commercial aircraft marketplace for platforms that can be modified for enduring Air Force missions, such as senior leader transport, as well as mobility, ISR, and possibly other mission sets.”

Hermeus has already successfully tested a subscale version of its propulsion system and has said it hopes to develop a 20-passenger jet capable of reaching Mach 5, or more than 3,800 miles per hour.

By comparison, the VC-25A, which operates under the call sign “Air Force One” when the President is aboard, tops out at around 630 miles per hour. Exosonic, another supersonic aircraft company the Air Force has invested in for senior leader transport, only predicts speeds of Mach 1.7. While Concorde, the commercial aircraft which launched in 1976 and flew until 2003, reached speeds just over Mach 2.

Hermeus says its Mach 5 jet could make the trip from New York to Paris in just 90 minutes, compared to the seven-and-a-half hours commercial airliners typically take.

The Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate is looking to invest in commercial high-speed passenger travel as part of its “Vector Initiative.” The industry has seen a surge in interest as of late, with United Airlines announcing plans to offer supersonic flights beginning in 2029.

Beyond use as a hypersonic Air Force One, though, Hermeus’ technology could prove useful to the Air Force in other realms.

In a recent policy paper for AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Executive Director Douglas A. Birkey specifically cited the commercial development of supersonic aircraft as potentially important for the future of command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C2ISR) aircraft, especially as the Air Force looks to deploy its Advanced Battle Management System.

“The advantages are straightforward and speak to many of the Air Force’s concerns regarding the long-term viability of its legacy C2ISR fleet,” Birkey wrote. “From an operational perspective, supersonic cruise at extended range, a capability all of the proposed jets in this class purport to achieve by virtue of their civil mission goals, would allow a C2ISR aircraft of this class to deploy with utmost speed and rapidly cover vast operational ranges.”

In addition, supersonic aircraft would face reduced risk from enemy threats and could free up limited space at strategic installations by virtue of their range and speed, Birkey wrote.

New Hypersonic Missile Production Timetable Hinges on Failure Review

Aug. 4, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

Getting the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile into production before the end of fiscal 2022 depends on quick resolution of last week’s failure of the missile to make its first flight, the Air Force’s program executive officer for weapons said Aug. 4.

A failure review began immediately after the July 28 attempted test off the coast of California in which the rocket motor did not fire after separation from a B-52 test aircraft, said USAF weapons Program Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Heath A. Collins during the online Life Cycle Industry Days seminar.

“We’re just coming up on Day 7” since the failure, Collins said, adding that he did not have an update on why the missile failed.

The review will determine if the failure will affect the desired “early 2020s” initial operating capability. With a “quick and rapid resolution,” the transition to production can still likely happen by this time next year, but that requires at least two all-up successful tests of the weapon, he said. If the investigation is “prolonged, … or drives anything excessive from a redesign perspective, which we don’t know at this point, … it may impact our ability to meet the next test window,” Collins said.

For now, “We are still postured … to transition to award and production by the end of fiscal year 2022.” Lockheed Martin is the contractor for ARRW, and the company recently submitted its production proposals for the missile. The Air Force asked for $161 million in its fiscal 2022 budget submission to build 12 ARRW missiles.

Collins said Lockheed Martin’s $225 million loss on a classified program, reported in its second-quarter results last week, was not related to ARRW. Meanwhile Kenneth Possenriede, Lockheed Martin’s chief financial officer, unexpectedly resigned his post this week without giving a reason. Stock analysts speculated that it had to do with the write-down.

ARRW has experienced several test failures already. Collins said an April failure’s cause is understood, that a fix was made, and that the problem did not occur again in last week’s test. “The corrective action was sufficient and working,” Collins said. An Air Force press release noted that although the missile’s motor didn’t fire, the test demonstrated a successful release from the launch aircraft. It unfolded its fins and established navigational links. The test missile was not recovered.

Asked how many tries Lockheed Martin gets before the program is reconsidered, Collins said ARRW is the only boost-glide hypersonic missile the Air Force has on contract and that the program is constantly being “evaluated” for success.

“We also knew at the beginning this was a rapid-prototyping, … risky program,” Collins said. If not for congressional authorities to use streamlined program management and skip traditional methods, “we would not be where we are today.” Collins said the “mid-tier acquisition” approach was the right one for ARRW because it is appropriate for rapid prototyping and “new technology.” He said the Air Force will work through the root-cause investigation and get back to flight testing as soon as possible.

If ARRW proves unworkable, Collins said, “We certainly could go back to HCSW,” the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon the Air Force curtailed in February 2020. The HCSW had been through its critical design review at the time the Air Force stopped the project, which had some common elements with Army and Navy hypersonic programs.

But, “You’d have to trade that with the amount of cost and schedule” it would take to get HCSW back up and producing hardware, he said.

Collins, who is also director of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Armaments Directorate, said the directorate is “tracking” language from House appropriators that would cut $44 million from the program line that funds ARRW and the unrelated Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile—an air-breathing, as opposed to a boost-glide system—and said that if the change becomes law, “that would impact” a contract award because lowering the quantity purchased would raise cost per unit. The language raised concerns that the Air Force would enter production before the missile’s bugs have all been worked out. The directorate is working to increase transparency in the hypersonic programs, he said, and will split up ARRW and HACM funding lines in the future.

Frank Kendall Ceremonially Sworn in as Air Force Secretary

Aug. 4, 2021 | By Greg Hadley

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall has been on the job for a week, but on Aug. 4, he made his ceremonial entrance to the office, getting sworn in by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III at the Pentagon.

Kendall was administratively sworn into the position July 28, two days after the Senate voted to confirm his nomination, ending a drawn-out process that included three legislative holds from senators. His arrival gives the Department of the Air Force its first permanent leader since January, replacing former acting Secretary John P. Roth.

In a letter addressed to Airmen and Guardians released shortly after he arrived on the job, Kendall revealed his mantra as “One Team, One Fight.”

Kendall wrote that his “overriding priority” as Secretary is to deter and, if necessary, win a conflict with a peer competitor, specifically China or Russia.

“I know first-hand what it means to face a capable, well-resourced peer competitor,” wrote Kendall, an Army veteran. “For over a decade, I have been sounding alarms about the threat to U.S. interests and U.S. military superiority posed by military modernization programs of China especially, but also of Russia.”

Kendall also emphasized joint force responsibilities and cooperation as part of his “One Team” mantra.

“All team members deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and to serve in an environment in which they can grow and thrive,” Kendall wrote. “We must all do everything we can to help our fellow teammates be successful—our Nation’s defense requires it.”