Boeing Defense Revenue Up Despite Charge on New Air Force One Program

April 28, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Boeing Co. reported its sixth straight loss in its first-quarter earnings report April 28, including a new charge on the Air Force One replacement program.

Overall, Boeing reported $15.217 billion in revenue, down from $16.908 billion in the first quarter of 2020. Company CEO David L. Calhoun said COVID-19 impacts are lingering but that now is “a key inflection point for our industry as vaccine distribution accelerates and we work together across government and industry to help enable a robust recovery.”

Boeing Defense, however, reported $7.185 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2021, up from $6.042 in the same period last year. The increased revenue in its military and space sector was spurred largely by KC-46 contract awards, including Lots 6 and 7 contracts for 27 KC-46s, along with P-8 and V-22 contracts, the company said. However, the company reported a $318 million pre-tax charge for the Air Force One VC-25B program “largely due to COVID-19 impacts and performance issues at a key supplier.”

The supplier, GDC Technics LLC, recently filed for bankruptcy after Boeing canceled its contracts because of schedule delays, causing missed deadlines, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Unlike several recent earnings reports, Boeing did not disclose another charge on the KC-46 program. The company, in its fourth quarter of 2020 earnings report, surpassed more than $5 billion in overruns on that program.

Biden Picks Shyu for Top Pentagon Research and Engineering Job

April 27, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

President Biden nominated Heidi Shyu, formerly the Army’s acquisition executive in the Obama administration, as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. In that role, if confirmed, she would oversee and manage the Pentagon’s technology development enterprise.

Shyu, 67, worked at Raytheon for many years, managing the company’s electromagnetic systems lab, and was director for integrated radar/electronic warfare sensors on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. She also oversaw the company’s unmanned aircraft efforts and served as corporate vice president for technology and research and vice president of technology strategy for Raytheon’s space and airborne systems unit.

Previously, she served on the Air Force’s Scientific Advisory Board, serving as co-chair from 2003 to 2005 and chair from 2005 to 2008.

Since 2016, she has served on the board of trustees at The Aerospace Corp.

Mark J. Lewis, who was the acting undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and served as director of defense research and engineering in the Trump administration until February, called Shyu “a marvelous choice” for the job.

“She is an extraordinary engineer, one of our nation’s leading experts in electronic warfare and radar systems. Heidi knows the Air Force extremely well, having served eight years on the Scientific Advisory Board, including three as the board chair,” said Lewis, now the director of the National Defense Industrial Association’s nonpartisan Emerging Technologies Institute.

She will be “a champion for science and engineering” and leverage her “extensive leadership experience from her many years in industry” as well as from her Army acquisition position, Lewis said.

Shyu holds master’s degrees in mathematics and system science/electrical engineering from the University of Toronto and University of California, Los Angeles, respectively. She has a bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of New Brunswick, Canada. She also graduated from UCLA’s executive management course and a University of Chicago business leadership program.

Shyu was born in Taipei, Taiwan.

Diplomatic Departure Begins in Afghanistan as Military Withdrawal Planning Continues

April 27, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The State Department on April 27 ordered some of its diplomatic staff to leave the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as the drawdown in Afghanistan begins and the U.S. continues planning for what future force protection in the country will look like.

In a new travel advisory, the State Department said it ordered staff “whose functions can be performed elsewhere” to leave the embassy in Kabul. The order comes as more military personnel and equipment are headed to Afghanistan to enable the withdrawal from the country, set to begin May 1 and wrap up before Sept. 11.

“We’re in constant iteration inside the department and with the interagency about how everybody’s going to fit into this plan, but we’ve actually got a very good backbone of a plan that will go into operation formally on the first of May,” U.S. Central Command boss Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. said April 27 during a virtual American Enterprise Institute event. He would not go into specifics but added, “I think we have a plan that will allow for us to get out in a protected manner, that will bring our partners out, … [and] will also bring out elements of the Department of State.”

That plan calls for maintaining the Embassy in Kabul, with a “very minimal” military presence for protection. It is the job of the host nation to protect the embassy, “so we would expect the governor of Afghanistan would live up to that responsibility as we go forward,” McKenzie said.

He reiterated the plan to remove all U.S. contractors, including those who help the Afghan Air Force maintain its aircraft. The military is still working to continue support from outside the country.

“The one thing I can tell you for sure is: We’re not going to be on the ground doing it. I’m confident of that,” McKenzie said. “So, that’s just something that is not a course of action that we are exploring. When the President says zero, he means zero, so we’re going to zero.”

In the meantime, more U.S. assets are flowing into the country to help with force protection, while B-52 bombers have deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. CENTCOM on April 27 posted photographs of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems moving from Kuwait to Afghanistan to protect U.S. troops as they withdraw.

Department of the Air Force to Study Barriers for LGBTQ, Native American Personnel

April 27, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Department of Air Force has created two new teams to identify and address issues impacting diversity and inclusion, one specifically looking at issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning service members and another looking at issues facing Native American service members.

The move comes amid a major push by the Department of the Air Force to address barriers to service felt by those in minority groups in the services. The Air Force also announced April 27 it was extending the deadline to respond to its survey as part of its second independent disparity review because of a significant response.

“To fully capture the voice of Airmen and Guardians, the Department of the Air Force Inspector General will keep the ongoing gender, racial, and ethnic disparity review survey open for an extra week, Air Force Inspector General Lt. Gen. Sami D. Said said in a release. “Feedback so far has been very high, so we’re keeping the survey open for an extra week to give everyone a chance to contribute to this very important effort. We highly encourage all our Airmen and Guardians to share their stories, views, and concerns. To the tens of thousands that already have, thank you!”

The new teams—the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning Initiative Team and the Indigenous Nations Equality Team—are part of the Air Force’s Barrier Analysis Working Group, which aims to “identify and address the issues impacting diversity and inclusion for Airmen and Guardians,” the department said in a release.

The BAWG dates back to 2008, when it was created to look at data, trends, and barriers to service for civilians. It has since expanded to those in uniform. As of March 2021, the Air Force has created the following subgroups:

Black/African American Employment Strategy Team
Disability Action Team
Hispanic Empowerment and Action Team
Indigenous Nations Equality Team
LGBTQ Initiative Team
Pacific Islander/Asian American Community Team
Women’s Initiatives Team.

The creation of the LGBTQ team comes 10 years after the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

The INET group will review and analyze barriers to employment, advancement, and retention of American Indian/Native American and Alaska native employees and troops, according to the release.

UK Planning Big Steps in Future Fighter Development, Wants to Work With USAF’s NGAD

April 27, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The United Kingdom Royal Air Force is looking to make concrete progress over the next four years on its Future Combat Air System next-generation fighter jet and is reaching out for opportunities to test and compare its progress with the U.S. Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance program.

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense in March released its “Defence in a competitive age” document outlining its strategy for modernization and future competition, including a $2.4 billion investment over the next four years on FCAS. Royal Air Force boss Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, speaking April 27 during a virtual Hudson Institute event, said this funding will go toward developing a demonstrator, with the “big decision” on design to follow.

The RAF’s goal is to have FCAS lined up in the late 2030s to be able to phase out the Eurofighter Typhoon fleet for air defense alert, with the RAF’s F-35s flying much of the rest of the mission set. FCAS will be both piloted and unpiloted, with “swarms” of drones to assist.

Because of this timeline, Wigston said he looks forward to working with USAF on comparing progress with the NGAD system, which already has a demonstrator that flew last year. Additionally, the RAF wants to work alongside and compete with the French and German next-generation fighter jet initiative.

“There’s an opportunity to feed off each other, to test each other,” Wigston said.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is the “backbone” of the United Kingdom’s air defenses, and with the fleet expected to fly through 2040, the schedule is starting to get tight. “Right now, I need to get going, working through what will replace the Typhoon in our quick reaction alert sheds,” he said. “The clock is ticking.”

The RAF is also working on its own version of USAF’s Advanced Battle Management System, which Wigston referred to as a “combat cloud” to fuse air and maritime sensors. The program has been in development in recent years, but Wigston said he has “grown tired of looking at PowerPoint slides with lightning bolt symbols joining up bits of kit” without any real-world progress.

“I want to see this fielded operationally in my time,” he said.

The RAF is planning a demonstration in 2022 in the North Atlantic using this new system in a scenario focused on tracking and targeting a submarine.

“That’s bringing to life the ability to move information, move data, and fuse information so that any operator, any platform in the battlespace, can pull on the information it needs, fuse it, … and be able to make better decisions than an adversary,” Wigston said.

For More with RAF Chief Wigston, listen to his conversation with retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, on the Aerospace Advantage podcast.

Frank Kendall III Nominated as 26th Secretary of the Air Force

April 27, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

Frank Kendall III is the Biden administration’s nominee to be Secretary of the Air Force, succeeding Barbara M. Barrett in the role if confirmed, administration officials said. Gina Ortiz Jones, a former Air Force officer who recently held a position in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, was nominated as undersecretary.

Kendall, 71, a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, served as the No. 3 official in the Pentagon for four years in the Obama administration, responsible for all matters pertaining to research and engineering, sustainment, testing, contract administration, and logistics. Immediately following his tenure as undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, the expansive job was legislatively split into two parts: acquisition and sustainment, and research and technology. He was an advisor to the Biden campaign on national security and defense issues.

Kendall’s signature effort at AT&L was the “Better Buying Power” initiative, intended to streamline the Pentagon’s acquisition system, which led to significant improvements in defense programs’ cost and schedule. Noteworthy among these efforts was greater flexibility for program managers to use contracting vehicles that make the most sense for the program or services being acquired, rather than to follow a cookie-cutter approach to management. He conducted a major re-write of the acquisition system’s “5,000-series” rules, which were further simplified and reduced under his successor, Ellen M. Lord.

Previously, Kendall served as the principal deputy to the AT&L position and acting undersecretary. An attorney, Kendall was vice president of engineering for the then-Raytheon Co., where he managed engineering functions and internal research and development. Before joining the Pentagon leadership, he was a managing partner at Renaissance Strategic Advisors, an aerospace and defense consulting firm.

In other Pentagon jobs, Kendall was director of tactical warfare programs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and was assistant deputy undersecretary for Strategic Defense Systems. He served 10 years on Active duty with the Army, during which he taught engineering at West Point.

Kendall holds a master’s in aerospace engineering from CalTech and an MBA from C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, as well as a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He has done extensive pro-bono work on human rights law.

Former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said Kendall is an “excellent choice” for the job because he has a mastery of “all things technical, in manufacturing and R&D.” In addition, “For those of us who know him well, even though he’s not known for people issues, I think he’ll be great in this regard as well because he’s very committed to diversity and inclusion, families, and developing people.”

F. Whitten Peters, former Secretary of the Air Force under the Clinton administration and former Air Force Association Chairman of the Board, called Kendall “a very accomplished executive, both in DOD and industry, and I think he’ll be a real help to the Air Force, particularly as it aims to move procurement forward, faster, and in the rapid assimilation of new technology. He’s … very familiar with the Air Force’s issues, as he got the F-35 up and running” after program setbacks forced a restructure of the program. Kendall has “the right experience” for the job, Peters said.

If confirmed, Kendall “would be facing a familiar challenge of declining defense budgets at a critical time for the Department of the Air Force and its fledgling U.S. Space Force,” said former service Undersecretary Matthew P. Donovan, who is now director of AFA’s Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Research Center.

“He would need to strongly support all Airmen and Guardians, staunchly advocate for the crucial importance of air and space power in support of the joint warfighter and great power competition, and set clear visions for the future” of both the Air Force and Space Force, Donovan said.

AFA president retired Lt. Gen. Bruce “Orville” Wright said, “Frank is very experienced and understands the important role of our Airmen and Guardians in the defense of our nation.” He will be a strong advocate in helping the Department of the Air Force “deter, and be ready to defeat, rapidly growing peer threats.”

Kendall is “a very logical choice” for the Air Force Secretary job, according to Mark J. Lewis, who last served in government as the Pentagon’s director of defense research and engineering under the Trump administration, and is now the head of the National Defense Industrial Association’s nonpartisan Emerging Technologies Institute. The Air Force “has fully embraced the need for modernization, including the adoption of critical emerging technologies in a timely manner,” Lewis said, and Kendall’s background, “not only as a technologist but also as an acquisition expert, is ideally matched to the service’s most pressing needs.”

Byron Callan of Capital Alpha Partners, in an April 27 bulletin to investors, said Kendall may not support the pending acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne by Lockheed Martin, as he has previously warned against excessive consolidation in the defense industry. As an expert on tactical aviation, Kendall will also shape the ongoing joint-service “TacAir” review and will likely get involved with the interservice fracas regarding the Army’s attempt to claim some of the deep strike mission from the Air Force, via hypersonic missiles, Callan said. While Kendall will likely support continuation of the strategic triad, Callan wrote, he may “weigh in on another Minuteman III upgrade” that would defer funding of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program.

Jones, 40, was the 2018 Democratic candidate for Texas’s 23rd district House seat, which she narrowly lost to incumbent William Hurd. In a second run for the seat in 2019, she did not win the Democratic primary.

In keeping with the Biden administration’s effort to appoint leaders who “look like America,” Jones would be the first openly gay person of color to hold the undersecretary position. She is of Filipino descent.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Jones received an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship to attend Boston University, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies and a master’s in mathematics. She served in the Air Force three years as an intelligence officer, deploying to Iraq and reaching the rank of captain. Jones received a master’s from the Army Command and General Staff College. As a student and on Active duty, she was required to conceal her sexual identity under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

She later worked as a civilian for U.S. Africa Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency, where she specialized in Latin American affairs.

In late 2016, Jones joined the office of the U.S. Trade Representative and stayed on into the Trump administration. She left in 2017 to seek the seat in Congress.

Donovan to Lead New Spacepower Research Center

April 26, 2021 | By Amy Hudson

Former Undersecretary of the Air Force Matthew P. Donovan will lead a new research center focused on the advancement of spacepower and the needs of the U.S. Space Force. Called MI-SPARC, the new Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Research Center will have its own research staff.

Donovan was Air Force under secretary, Acting Secretary of the Air Force, and undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness during the Trump administration. During that time he helped pave the way for the Space Force to become an independent service under the Department of the Air Force.

“The United States really did consider space a benign domain and didn’t want to weaponize it,” Donovan said in a press call April 26. “That wasn’t our choice. Our adversaries did that for us. [Now], we want to make sure when we’re talking about the defense budget, that space stays at the forefront of the minds of the people who are making those decisions on funding and policy.”

While at the Air Force Department, Donovan sought to shed the so-called pass-through budget—about $40 billion in largely classified spending also known as the “non-blue budget. “That is a problem,” Donovan said in an interview. “That’ll be another major platform position MI-SPARC will be going after, because it not only affects the United States Air Force, but now also the United States Space Force, as both are within the top line of the Department of the Air Force. There’s nearly $40 billion that are passed through the Air Force but executed by other agencies within the Department of Defense. I had no support within the Department of Defense for that, because showing the true top line authority of the Department of the Air Force is not really in anyone else’s best interest … if you think about it.”

Donovan said during his time as Acting Air Force Secretary, then-Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper was unaware of the pass-through, and he noted that senators asked incoming Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III about it during his confirmation hearing. The fact that this $40 billion bill is hidden in plain sight in the Air Force budget is “amazing, really,” he said.

This portion of the Air Force budget has artificially inflated the service’s top line for decades, Air Force Magazine previously reported.

Donovan said it’s an “issue that’s near and dear to my heart,” noting that budget transparency “becomes even more critical now when you consider that at the Department of Air Force budget includes funding for two separate military services.”

In addition, the research center plans to take a deep dive into the roles and responsibilities of military space, space authorities, assuring communications and the implications associated with that, as well as cutting-edge space technologies, such as nuclear-powered propulsion systems for spacecraft.

“MI-SPARC will contribute to the education of the American public, the Congress, and the burgeoning space industry on the criticality of space for America’s national security, and indeed for our economy, our way of life, and our global leadership,” said retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute.

MI-SPARC will serve as an arm of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, and Donovan said the two organizations will work hand-in-hand. In addition to Donovan, Christopher Stone, a space professional and professor of space strategy, and Lukas Autenried, Mitchell’s lead senior analyst, will join the MI-SPARC team.

“MI-SPARC could not come at a more opportune time as our association expands to support and advocate for two great military services, rather than one. The Guardians of the United States Space Force need the same kind of independent advocacy that AFA and the Mitchell Institute has long provided our Air Force,” AFA President retired Lt. Gen. Bruce “Orville” Wright said. “Former Secretary Donovan’s years of leadership experience in the Department of Defense and on Capitol Hill make him the ideal leader for this role.”

USAFE Begins New Tanker Operation to Increase Refueling Capacity

April 26, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

U.S. Air Forces in Europe recently began a new operation to bring additional aerial refueling capacity to its area of operations, while alleviating stress on its only permanent tanker unit.

Operation Copper Arrow 2021 started earlier this month when a rotation of Airmen and a KC-135 from the Kansas Air National Guard’s 190th Air Refueling Wing flew out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and refueled a NATO E-3A Sentry. The operation will bring in Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command tankers to USAFE, to fly out of Ramstein and provide more refueling capacity.

“Tankers are a highly tasked mission,” said Maj. Shay Dickey, 116th Air Refueling Squadron chief of current operations and scheduling and Copper Arrow detachment commander, in a release. “A lot of people need the training. They need the air refueling to either extend the mission or for pilot and crew proficiency.”

The 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, England, is USAFE’s only tanker unit, and is highly tasked within the AOR. Operation Copper Arrow uses funds from USAFE-AFAFRICA’s Request for Forces and the European Deterrence Initiative to bring in volunteer ANG and AFRC crews, the release states. The operation combines Operation Atlantic Resolve missions from NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, Germany, and RAF Mildenhall into one that is overseen by USAFE’s Tanker Operations, according to the command.

“From a Guard perspective, it’s an opportunity for crews to operate in the European theater for an extended period of time,” Dickey said in the release. “The operating area here is pretty busy, so our younger crews can get some of that experience working in a new region, and it really broadens our horizons for future work in the European theater.”

While the first rotation includes KC-135s from Kansas, USAFE is expected to host more Stratotankers, along with KC-10s and KC-46s for the first time. The 101st Air Refueling Wing of the Maine Air National Guard also will participate in the operation.

“I appreciate all the crews; the 190th, the 101st (Air Refueling Wing, Maine ANG) that are coming out, and the Guard and Reserve crews that help get this mission going,” said Lt. Col. William Silence, the 130th Operations Support Squadron and 603rd Air Operations Center A34 Copper Arrow project officer, in the release. “It’s a fun mission, but it’s still time away from their family, time away from home, and they are providing that increased capacity.”

More B-52s to CENTCOM, Ground Troops Reportedly Deploying to Afghanistan

April 26, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Pentagon will reportedly send hundreds of troops and dedicated close air support aircraft to Afghanistan to protect U.S. forces during the withdrawal, as two more B-52s arrived in the region.

The two B-52s from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., touched down at Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, on April 26, joining two more that arrived late last week. CNN reported that about 650 forces, largely from the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan to help with the withdrawal. Close air support such as AC-130s also will deploy for protection.

Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said he could not confirm the details in the report, saying “we want to be careful about some elements of our ability to provide force protection,” but the “addition of posture in Afghanistan to assist with this drawdown” is expected.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has asked U.S. Central Command boss Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. to provide an updated drawdown plan by the end of the week, which will include more force protection recommendations, Kirby said.

During an April 25 interview in Kabul, Gen. Austin Scott Miller, commander of Resolute Support and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, said, “We have the military means to respond forcefully to any type of attacks against the coalition and the military means to support the Afghan security forces. If the Taliban attack U.S. or any coalition forces, we will have a forceful response if our forces are attacked.”

In the coming months, American troops will turn over bases to the Ministry of Defense and other Afghan forces, Miller said. After the withdrawal, Kirby said U.S. support will be limited mostly to financial aid, though the U.S, also is looking for ways to help with aircraft maintenance from outside the country. U.S. airstrikes in support of Afghan operations are not a part of the plan, Kirby said.