Protest of HH-60W Upgrade Contract Could Limit, Delay New Systems for the Helicopter

Protest of HH-60W Upgrade Contract Could Limit, Delay New Systems for the Helicopter

Aug. 3, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force is assessing the impact of a judge’s ruling contesting the award of an almost $1 billion contract for HH-60W Jolly Green II upgrades to determine if the service can delay some upgrades or not do some of them at all. The new combat rescue helicopter is preparing for initial operational testing and evaluation.

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge recently supported a Sierra Nevada Corp. protest to the February sole-source contract award to Sikorsky for a suite of upgrades to the brand-new helicopter. The upgrades would include new systems such as countermeasures, anti-jam GPS, blue force trackers, and data links, among others.

Sierra Nevada Corp. claimed the Air Force violated competition rules when awarding the contract to Sikorsky, calling on the Air Force to accept multiple bids, Inside Defense reported.

Col. William Rogers, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s program executive officer for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and special operations forces, said during an Aug. 3 virtual media event that the Air Force’s legal and contracting teams are assessing the options going forward on the upgrades.

“We’re working through the impacts and what the ruling truly means in terms of if there are certain things we could do or won’t do in terms of capability upgrades,” Rogers said.

A joint Air Force and Sikorsky team in April wrapped up developmental testing, and the Air Force is now in an “in-between stage” of addressing some issues before initial operational test and evaluation begins in October. This includes making sure the system’s data is ready and ensuring crews will be in the right place. Additionally, the Air Force is doing some advanced testing on the helicopter’s radar warning receiver and getting the aircraft’s gun ready for testing after some “challenges” in earlier tests.

The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center was able to conduct some operational tests on the HH-60W during developmental testing, including capabilities such as air-to-air refueling. About 36 percent of the IOT&E test points have already been collected.

IOT&E is expected to start in October and run through March 2022.

Dickinson Calls for International Norms in Space, Citing ‘Provocative’ Actions by Adversaries

Dickinson Calls for International Norms in Space, Citing ‘Provocative’ Actions by Adversaries

Aug. 3, 2021 | By Abraham Mahshie

U.S. Space Command boss Gen. James H. Dickinson called for international norms of behavior in space to protect against “provocative, aggressive” actions by adversaries.

“The behavior of some of our adversaries in space may surprise you,” Dickinson said Aug. 3 during the Navy League of the United States’ annual Sea-Air-Space Exposition in National Harbor, Md. “If similar actions have been taken in other domains, they’d likely be considered provocative, aggressive, or maybe even irresponsible.”

With an area of responsibility that extends hundreds of thousands of miles into space, Dickinson narrowed his focus on a region in space where gravitational forces cancel each other. The so-called Lagrange points between the Earth and the moon are “strategically vital waystations” where spacecraft can remain indefinitely using a small amount of fuel, he said.

“A maritime analog to Lagrange points would be the strategic importance of several very small islands in the Pacific,” Dickinson said.

But unlike maritime treaties that bind nations to predictable behaviors at sea, the space domain does not have the same set of rules, and adversaries are violating safe standoff distances and behaviors, he said.

In recent years, China fired a land-based missile at a dead satellite, destroying it and leaving thousands of pieces to orbit the Earth. Russia, too, tested a space-based capability to align with the orbit of an American spy satellite, requiring the satellite to expend fuel to maneuver away. The Russian “nesting doll” Kosmos 2543 satellite had previously tested a capability to fire a projectile in space.

The implications are profound for the satellite communications, position-navigation-and-timing, and missile warning systems.

In July, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III signed a Tenets of Responsible Behavior in Space memo with guidelines limiting the generation of long-lived debris and maintaining safe separation and safe trajectory.

“As more actors come to space, the domain is changing, with an increased risk of collisions as well as of miscalculations or misunderstandings,” the memo read.

Dickinson called for additional guidelines consistent with a December United Nations resolution calling for international norms in space.

“My hope is that we are on a glide path to soon have some independent international agreement that would support that,” Dickinson said.

The SPACECOM commander also called for the U.S. to have a “position of strength” that could pressure adversaries to adhere to norms, much in the same way the Navy does in the Pacific.

“The protection of our space assets, I think we can agree in this room, is critical,” the commander said. “We don’t have centuries, or even decades, to get to the same level of agreement.”

Kelly: First Low-Cost Attritables will be in Stealth Red Air Role; No F-35 Cuts Planned

Kelly: First Low-Cost Attritables will be in Stealth Red Air Role; No F-35 Cuts Planned

Aug. 3, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force’s first application of low-cost attritable aircraft systems will likely be as stealthy adversaries for fifth-generation fighters, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mark D. Kelly said at an industry conference Aug. 3.

The initial “’toe in the water’ is in our adversary air replication,” Kelly said in the online Life Cycle Industry Days seminar put on by the Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center. “That is the area I’m most interested in.”

Kelly also discussed cyber vulnerabilities of fighters and said he’s unaware of any move to curtail the total number of F-35 fighters.

It’s very expensive to put up a stealthy adversary for F-22s and F-35s to go against in mock combat, Kelly said, given that the choice is mostly limited to other F-22s and F-35s.

“Right now, … we cannot generate enough adversary air to really … stress” the Air Force’s fifth-generation combat aviators, he explained, because the cost per flying hour is prohibitive. What would be a “low-cost” alternative? Anything that costs “a dollar less than what I’d be putting up” of a manned nature, he added.

But “there are some solutions and promising technologies out there where I could essentially put up a low-observable and jamming platform with a significant amount of endurance,” at “roughly 25 percent of what it would cost me for a manned” adversary, he said. “That, to me, is ‘low cost.’”

As for the percentage of the future force that LCAAS will comprise, Kelly said it’s too soon to tell. The adversary platform is “step one of step many,” he said. He chafed generally at the idea of a “low-cost” aircraft because “nothing is cheap,” and said the Air Force will think carefully about what that means, but said the term “attritable” defines the role of such airplanes. They will be used when the mission demands them or where the cost of putting “a human son or daughter” at risk is too high.

Kelly also said the Air Force will be in the remotely piloted aircraft business broadly “for the forseeable future,” noting that the MQ-9 and RQ-170 fleet of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike drones are “still operating … for obvious reasons.”

Low-cost Attritable Aircraft Systems, though, will be “a growth industry,” he added.

Asked about cyber vulnerabilities of fifth-gen aircraft, Kelly said he’s actually more worried about their support systems, “because as soon as I plug in a compromised support system, I could end up compromising the entire airplane.”

Kelly said he appreciates the F-35, which has performed well through “18 months of combat in the Middle East, with thousands and thousands of sorties,” and thousands of weapons expended, “but we need to migrate away” from systems that consume 80 percent of their cost in sustainability.

However, he isn’t aware of anyone in the Air Force promoting the idea of curtailing the planned number of F-35s to be purchased, which was set at 1,763 back in 2001.

“We have migrated from, in 30 years, … 4,000 fighters to 2,000 fighters, from [an average of] eight years old to 28 years old. We’ve gone from a force very focused on peer engagement to one optimized for counterinsurgency.” A 28-year-old fleet is “not optimized” for the peer fight, he said.

In that context, the F-35 helps reduce the average age of the fleet; it’s designed for a peer war; and “I need every airframe, and aviator, and piece of equipment, and maintainer, and sustainer that I can get.”

“I haven’t met the person who walks around with a banner saying, ‘I’m trying to reduce the numbers.’ I have a lot of folks … trying to balance the budget … and risk, but I haven’t met anyone in the Pentagon who says, ‘I’m here to reduce the number of F-35s,’” he said.

Police Officer, Attacker Killed at Pentagon Bus Stop

Police Officer, Attacker Killed at Pentagon Bus Stop

Aug. 3, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

A Pentagon Force Protection Agency officer reportedly died of stab wounds, and the attacker was shot and killed by responding officers, on Aug. 3 at a bus stop outside the Pentagon.

At 10:37 a.m., the Pentagon police officer was attacked at the metro bus platform outside the building’s main entrance. Gunfire was exchanged, causing several casualties, PFPA Chief Woodrow G. Kusse said during a briefing. The officer was then rushed to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., where the officer later died.

On Aug. 4, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency identified the officer killed as George Gonzalez, an Army veteran who also served in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Transportation Security Administration before joining the PFPA in 2018. He held the rank of Senior Officer.

The Associated Press cited “multiple law enforcement officials” who identified the suspected attacker as 27-year-old Austin William Lanz of Georgia, who had briefly enlisted in the Marine Corps but never served.

The Pentagon briefly locked down, but at 12:11 p.m., the PFPA tweeted that the lockdown had been lifted, with the metro station and Corridor 2, which leads to the metro station, still closed.

The major bus and metro station serves as an interchange for multiple transit agencies. Videos and photos emerging online show first responders providing aid to an individual near a Washington, D.C., metro bus.

Despite some initial reports that a suspect fled, Kusse said the scene was secure and there was no need for a search after the incident. Kusse said it is premature to say whether the incident was related to terrorism, noting the investigation is ongoing. He said an “exchange” of gunfire occurred but didn’t specify whether the attacker had a gun.

“We don’t know what the motivation was,” he said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III was at the White House for a scheduled meeting with President Joe Biden when the incident occurred, Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said. Staff at the White House informed Austin of the event, and he visited the Pentagon police operations center to “check in with them” when he returned to the building.

Austin “very clearly was concerned about the incident, about the potential for violence right here on the Pentagon Reservation, [and] certainly [he] was very concerned about any casualties that occurred,” Kirby said.

Austin ordered the flags at the Pentagon to be flown at half staff following the incident.

“This fallen officer died in the line of duty, helping protect the tens of thousands of people who work in—and who visit—the Pentagon on a daily basis,” Austin said in a statement. “He and his fellow officers are members of the Pentagon family and known to us all as professional, skilled, and brave. This tragic death today is a stark reminder of the dangers they face and the sacrifices they make. We are forever grateful for that service and the courage with which it is rendered.”

It is the first serious incident of violence at the Pentagon since 2010, when John Patrick Bedell shot and wounded two Pentagon police officers at a security checkpoint near the site of the Tuesday incident. The officers also returned fire in 2010, killing Bedell.

Kusse, during the briefing, said it was too soon to speculate whether the Pentagon would need more security at the metro and bus stations in the aftermath of the incident. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated at 6:01 p.m. with additional information from the Pentagon; and at 7:53 p.m. citing the alleged suspect‘s identity according to The Associated Press.

NF-16D VISTA Redesignated an ‘X’ Plane to Test Skyborg

NF-16D VISTA Redesignated an ‘X’ Plane to Test Skyborg

Aug. 2, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

There’s a new X-plane in the Air Force’s fleet.

The Air Force Test Pilot School in June redesignated the NF-16D Variable In-flight Simulator Aircraft as the X-62A, allowing the aircraft to be used for testing the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Skyborg program.

The aircraft, originally a Block 30 F-16, has been heavily modified and upgraded since its first flight in 1992 to give pilots a way to simulate different flying conditions as well as the characteristics of other aircraft, according to a USAF release.

“For more than two decades VISTA has been a vital asset for the USAF TPS [Test Pilot School] and the embodiment of our goal to be part of the cutting edge of flight test and aerospace technology,” said William Gray, VISTA and TPS chief test pilot, in the release. “It has given almost a thousand students and staff members the opportunity to practice testing aircraft with dangerously poor flying qualities, and to execute risk-reduction flight test programs for advanced technologies.”

The Air Force is now replacing the aircraft’s VISTA Simulation System with the System for Autonomous Control of Simulation, the release states.

“The redesignation reflects the research done on the aircraft over the past almost 30 years, as well as acknowledges the major upgrade program that is ongoing to support future USAF autonomy testing,” said Chris Cotting, USAF TPS director of research, in the release.

AFRL’s Skyborg is a suite of hardware and software aimed at developing the Air Force’s use of teaming manned and unmanned aircraft, also known as a “loyal wingman.” The system made its first flight on a Kratos UTAP-22 Mako air vehicle in April. In December 2020, the Air Force awarded Kratos, Boeing, and General Atomics contracts to continue with the effort.

Skyborg is one of four Air Force “Vanguard” programs—top research projects that USAF believes will be unique and useful. Others include the Golden Horde weapons swarm, Navigation Technology Satellite-3, and the “rocket cargo” space mobility effort.

The famed “X” designation is for aircraft that are designed for “testing configurations of a radical nature,” Edwards said in the release. The X-62 is now part of an exclusive club that has helped shape cutting-edge aeronautical research for decades, including the Bell X-1, which was the first airplane to break the sound barrier, and the hypersonic X-15. Other more recent examples include the X-37 space plane, the hypersonic X-51 Waverider, and the second-most-recent X-61 Gremlins.      

As China’s Military Might Rises, the US Must Master Change to Prepare for Next War, Milley Says

As China’s Military Might Rises, the US Must Master Change to Prepare for Next War, Milley Says

Aug. 2, 2021 | By Abraham Mahshie

The U.S. must adapt to the “changing character of war” or face “devastating consequences,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley said Aug. 2.

“China will be a major agent of change to the current international order,” he told a full luncheon crowd at the Gaylord National Resort in Maryland.

“China is coming at us with increasing diplomatic capabilities, economic capabilities, and military capabilities to include a world-class navy surface capability, undersea capability, and naval air capability,” he said during the Navy League of the United States’ Sea-Air-Space Global Maritime Exposition.

Milley said at least 40 to 50 new technologies, including unmanned systems and artificial intelligence, are available to all countries in the world, so they must be mastered by the United States to prepare for war.

He cited Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday, who spoke earlier in the day, in estimating that one-third of U.S. Naval surface and subsurface systems would be unmanned by the 2030s. The percentage of pilotless aircraft would likely be higher.

“About 40 to 60 percent of future air forces, air wings, and squadrons will be robotic, pilotless,” the Chairman said. “They will be teamed up with manned aircraft, fourth- [and] fifth-generation.”

Milley said the technologies are not secret and are available right now.

Taking a historical view, he described 100-year cycles of peace interrupted by great-power wars and said the world was currently in the 76th year of the current international order, but “under intense, growing stress.”

Milley underscored that the U.S. military needs to “accelerate our change over the next 10 years” to keep up, but not in spending and equipment numbers.

The Pentagon is expected to get a flat defense budget this year, and despite an expected budget increase, the Navy will fall behind its goal of a Congressionally mandated 355 ships. The Navy now has 297 deployable ships, while China is believed to have 335 surface ships.

“It’s not about the sheer volume of weapons. It’s not about numbers. It’s not about the machines that you possess. It’s about having a different set of capabilities,” he said. “It isn’t about how much money we’re spending. It’s what we’re spending it on.”

Milley instead spoke about investments in capabilities such as precision munitions and artificial intelligence. Combined, the new technologies will be a determining factor in great-power competition.

“It’s likely to have a significant and perhaps a decisive edge at the beginning of the next war,” the chairman said. “Mastering this fundamental change in the character of war is going to be the most important thing we will do as a professional military in the next 10 years.”

ACC to Allow New Mothers to Use Breast Pumps in Secure Facilities

ACC to Allow New Mothers to Use Breast Pumps in Secure Facilities

Aug. 2, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Thanks to a grassroots effort, new mothers serving in Air Combat Command can now use Bluetooth-enabled breast pumps in secure facilities—the latest in a series of USAF steps to remove barriers to service.

Capt. Jennifer McNeill, an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., discussed the challenges involved with leaving her secure facility to find a lactation room and the potential impact her absence has on her team, during ACC’s second Sword Athena 2021 conference earlier this year.

McNeill submitted an administrative package to let her use a Bluetooth-enabled pump in a secure facility, which can be used discreetly under her uniform, allowing her to participate in pre-mission briefings and debriefs, even while pumping.

“These changes have allowed me the opportunity to maintain my status as a tactical asset while not feeling pressure to give up on breastfeeding,” McNeill said in the release.

Former ACC Command Surgeon Maj. Gen. Sharon R. Bannister signed a memo in June designating breast pumps as a medical device, the release states. After a technical analysis, ACC Director of Intelligence Brig. Gen. Steven M. Gorski and the Special Access Program office authorized ACC Airmen to use the device in secure facilities. As part of the new process, which is similar to the use of other personal electronic devices, Airmen must secure a user agreement with their facility manager before using the devices.

“Classifying breast pumps as medical devices that can be brought into any workplace shows women in the Air Force that their choice to have a family isn’t a burden to be shouldered, but a direction that is encouraged and endorsed by Air Force leadership,” McNeill said in the release. “It also makes a statement to all Airmen that the Air Force values family, inclusivity, and breaking down gender barriers to service not just on paper, but in practice.”

This was not the only change spurred by the event. ACC boss Gen. Mark A. Kelly also signed a memorandum approving command civilians to be compensated for nursing breaks during a child’s first year.

“These initiatives are perfect examples of what I asked Sword Athena to tackle, and it highlights ACC’s commitment to families,” Kelly said in the release. “The work isn’t done yet. We continue to remove barriers for our new mothers to stay tactical and on mission, and at the same time take care of their families.”

The efforts are the latest in a series of changes aimed at making it easier for women to stay in service after they have children. Others changes include adjusting height requirements for pilot applicants, developing maternity flight suits, and allowing missileers, remotely piloted aircraft pilots, and some other pilots to continue to work during their pregnancy. 

Senate Confirms New Bosses at AMC, AFGSC

Senate Confirms New Bosses at AMC, AFGSC

July 30, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Senate on July 29 confirmed new bosses for Air Force Global Strike Command and Air Mobility Command along with five other general officer roles in the Air and Space Forces.

Lt. Gen. Anthony J. Cotton will receive his fourth star and replace Gen. Timothy M. Ray as the head of Air Force Global Strike Command. Cotton, a missileer by training, currently serves as Ray’s deputy. He’s commanded the 20th Air Force, the 45th Space Wing, and the 341st Missile Wing. He also served as commander and president of Air University from 2018 to 2019. Ray, who has led the command since August 2018, was ceremoniously retired earlier this month after 36 years in uniform.

Lt. Gen. Mike Minihan also will receive his fourth star to lead Air Mobility Command. He replaces Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost, who has been nominated to lead U.S. Transportation Command. Minihan is a command pilot with more than 3,400 flying hours in the C-130, KC-10, and C-32.

Other confirmations, include:

  • Lt. Gen. Kevin B. Schneider to serve as the Air Force’s director of staff. Schneider is currently the commander of U.S. Forces Japan and Fifth Air Force.
  • Maj. Gen. Tom D. Miller to receive his third star and to lead the Air Force Sustainment Center in Air Force Materiel Command. Miller is currently the director of logistics, engineering, and force protection at Air Combat Command.
  • Maj. Gen. James A. Jacobson to receive his third star and to serve as the deputy commander of Pacific Air Forces. Jacobson is currently the director, training and readiness, in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff at Headquarters Air Force.
  • Maj. Gen. Mark E. Weatherington to receive his third star and to replace Cotton as deputy commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. Weatherington is currently the commander of 8th Air Force.
  • Space Force Maj. Gen. Michael A. Guetlein will receive his third star and become the first commander of Space Systems Command when it stands up next month. The current Space and Missile Systems Center will become SSC. Guetlein is now the deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office.
Maintenance Error Brought Down Eglin F-22, ACC Declines to Conduct Public Investigation Into Mishap

Maintenance Error Brought Down Eglin F-22, ACC Declines to Conduct Public Investigation Into Mishap

July 30, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

A maintenance error, committed after an F-22 was washed, affected its control inputs and caused the Raptor to crash May 15, 2020, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The pilot safely ejected, but the aircraft was totaled, with an estimated loss of $201 million, according to Air Combat Command.

ACC released limited information on the crash despite the significant loss to the Air Force’s fifth-generation fighter fleet, because unlike most major mishaps, the command did not conduct a publicly releasable investigation.

In a statement, the command said that “due to operational concerns,” ACC directed a Safety Investigation Board and a Commander Directed Investigation into the crash and did not complete an Accident Investigation Board report. The AIBs typically detail the circumstances concerning a crash as well as the AIB president’s determination of the cause.

The other two types of investigations are not released, so the limited information in a press release is the extent to which ACC is telling the public about what happened to the F-22. The Northwest Florida Daily News was the first to report on the cause of the crash.

Air Force Instruction 51-307 governs the Air Force’s aerospace and ground accident investigations. It requires the publicly releasable AIB for on-duty Class A mishaps—defined as incidents that cause a loss of life or more than $2.5 million in damage. But there’s an exception.

“This requirement may be waived by competent authority,” an ACC spokesperson said in a statement to Air Force Magazine. “In the case of the May 15 incident, the convening authority, ACC’s deputy commander, was the waiver authority for this provision. With the concurrence of Air Force Judge Advocate, who was the AFI approval authority, ACC’s deputy commander waived the requirement for an AIB.”

ACC said the Safety Investigation Board and the Commander Directed Investigation were “conducted to determine the cause of the accident and to prevent future mishaps.”

The full description of the crash is: “Upon takeoff, the pilot noticed a Flight Control System advisory and elected to continue with takeoff. Shortly after the aircraft became airborne, the pilot began having trouble controlling the aircraft and declared an emergency. While a recovery plan was being coordinated, the pilot continued to have issues with the aircraft and ejected.”

The pilot, who was assigned to the 43rd Fighter Squadron, 325th Fighter Wing, sustained minor injuries in the ejection. The incident was one of two involving fifth-generation fighters at the base. Less than a week later, on May 19, 2020, an F-35 crashed at Eglin. An AIB into that mishap stated that excessive landing speed, exacerbated by issues with the pilot’s helmet-mounted display, caused the crash.

Even though Air Education and Training Command conducted an AIB to investigate the second incident, the F-35 Joint Program Office said any corrective measures from the crash would remain secret.

While most Class A mishaps result in publicly released reports, it is not clear how often commanders waive the requirement to provide the public with the investigation. In fiscal 2020, the Air Force reported 29 total Class A mishaps with 14 aircraft destroyed. The public repository for AIBs lists nine reports for the destroyed aircraft. Air Education and Training Command did not conduct an AIB for an Afghan Air Force A-29 Super Tucano that crashed in Afghanistan since USAF did not own the aircraft. It is not clear what the remaining aircraft are.