Air Force Wants Help Teaching its Weapon Swarm How to ‘Think’

Sept. 29, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen

The Air Force Research Laboratory wants to make its budding swarm of semi-autonomous weapons smarter.

“Golden Horde” aims to connect munitions like Boeing’s Small Diameter Bomb I in a swarm that can work through a list of targets on its own, and that could redirect individual weapons as needed.

AFRL still plans to prove whether a group of bombs can collaborate in a coming demonstration, and is trying to decide how to move the initiative from the lab to a formal combat program. Golden Horde is one of three fast-tracked “vanguard” programs that pulls money and resources from across the Department of the Air Force to become a viable option in warfare sooner.

“We are very interested in looking to move the technology forward,” Weapons Program Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Heath A. Collins told Air Force Magazine.

But after more than a year in development, the Air Force is still figuring out how to create the so-called “playbooks” that would tell a networked munition how to “think” in real life.

“We need to learn a little bit more about how it would apply to those weapon sets and target sets as we move forward,” Collins said.

Researchers hope to let outsiders play around with the software that enables Golden Horde to figure out some of those problems.

“We’re looking at trying to develop and mature the architecture of the NCA [networked, collaborative, autonomous] weapon system … and also set up a virtual capability for operational experimentation for competitions with industry, academia, operators, to come together and learn more about what NCA brings to the fight, as well to hone skill sets and playbooks to go after certain targets and different targets,” Collins said.

One AFRL official recently noted that engineers will test Golden Horde’s radio software on a swarm mission in October to feed data into a virtual model. That “digital twin” can help speed development using predictive algorithms, without needing to build physical prototypes.

A flight test is coming later this year, despite revamping certain parts of the program, Collins confirmed.

“We took a step back to assess what we’ve gained from it, from [Raytheon Technologies’ Miniature Air-Launched Decoy], from everything else we were doing, and then really tried to identify what was going to be the bigger, broader enduring capabilities for our weapon system,” he said. “We did identify that to continue forward with the Small Diameter Bomb test would give us good insight into the Air Force’s foray into a collaborative weapon with those SDB Is. And, frankly, a lot of the modifications have already been made to those SDB Is, so we’re very close to being ready to utilize those.”

AFRL may drop the collaborative version of MALD from Golden Horde altogether. MALD can confuse or jam enemy air defenses to allow friendly aircraft to slip into a protected area.

“We’re still assessing that right now. It’s still in question whether we see that as existing in the long haul,” Collins said. “We’re going to continue with SDB I, and then pivot to both virtual and surrogate platforms as well, and continue a very rapid, regular assessment and evaluation of how to put that [software] onto existing weapons.”

AFRL was working with Scientific Applications and Research Associates, Inc. to integrate SDB I into a swarm network, and with Georgia Tech Applied Research Corp. to do the same with MALD.

Right now, the Air Force has to retool existing munitions to work together. In the future, weapon systems should come ready to plug into a collaborative swarm, he said. He envisions that hypersonic weapons and others like the Stand-In Attack Weapon, a variant of a Northrop Grumman missile used to destroy enemy air defenses, will be part of the operational swarm.

“We certainly don’t want to go out into the field to modify thousands of weapons with new radios,” Collins said. “We’d rather get it into the production line at beginning of the program.”

Space Force Will Eventually Put Troops in Orbit, Ops Boss Says

Sept. 29, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Military troops in the Space Force will someday deploy to orbit, one of the service’s top operations officials said Sept. 29.

“At some point, yes, we will be putting humans into space,” Maj. Gen. John E. Shaw, head of the Space Force’s Space Operations Command and part of U.S. Space Command leadership, said during a conference organized by the AFWERX innovation group. “They may be operating command centers somewhere in the lunar environment or someplace else.”

Space Force officials, wary of being confused with NASA, usually shy away from questions about whether military personnel will go to the Final Frontier themselves. Experts have split on whether a Space Force astronaut corps is a good idea in the next couple of decades, if at all.

“For us, it remains focused on our commanders in the field. So that’s why we’ve gone there—not because we’re battling for control of the moon or Mars, but because we have to ensure space capabilities are there for the folks on the ground,” Space Force Vice Commander Lt. Gen. David D. Thompson said in February. “That opportunity to be an astronaut inside the Space Force today is almost zero.”

SpaceX’s successful launch of two NASA astronauts from U.S. soil to the International Space Station—and their subsequent return—earlier this year prompted new questions about how the civilian and military agencies may work together on future space ventures, and what role private space launch firms could have in taking military personnel to space.

The Space Force currently handles rocket launch ranges in Florida and California, watches for ballistic missile shots around the globe, and manages the Global Positioning System constellation and other daily satellite operations. It was created to focus on beating out China and Russia as the dominant space power and to deter aggression, not to fight aliens or build a Death Star.

It is plausible that, in a future where NASA and commercial industry have set up shop on the moon, the Space Force could be nearby to protect people and hardware. Some see the Space Force becoming a sort of celestial Coast Guard for search-and-rescue missions. Others say the newest branch of the military doesn’t need to put people in space for routine operations or to mount an effective offense or defense.

While humans regularly head to and from the International Space Station, and multiple countries are planning to establish a lasting presence on the moon, “space isn’t all that habitable for humans,” Shaw said. “We’ve learned that since our early space days.”

Military facilities in space may be partially autonomous, so humans wouldn’t need to man them around the clock in person, he added. The Space Force wants its satellites to gradually be able to manage themselves, including automatic software upgrades or maneuvers if threatened.

“The best robots that humans have ever created are probably satellites. … They’re incredible machines, and we’re only getting better,” Shaw said. “With machine learning and artificial intelligence, we’re going to have an awful lot of automated and autonomous systems operating [on] Earth and lunar orbit and solar orbit in the days and years to come, doing national security space activity.”

But don’t expect Space Force personnel to leave Earth anytime soon: it will happen at some point, Shaw said, but when is “anybody’s guess.”

USAF, Navy Practice Joint Air Ops over Persian Gulf

Sept. 29, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Air Forces Central Command and its U.S. Navy counterpart recently teamed up for joint air operations in support of maritime surface warfare (AOMSW) exercise in the Persian Gulf, according to a Naval Forces Central Command release.

Exercises like the one held from Sept. 23-24 “serve to enhance and solidify” joint-force capabilities by making sure air and naval forces can integrate quickly and safeguard “the maritime domain,” NAVCENT boss Vice Adm. Samuel Paparo, who also commands U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, said in the release.

The USAF footprint included F-15Es from the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, as well as support from AFCENT’s Combined Air Operations Center, according to the release.

“Joint, full-spectrum operations in defense of the global commons is a complex task,” said 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group Commander Col. Donald Sandberg in the release. “This most recent AOMSW validated the team’s multi-domain integration and agile command and control—two necessary capabilities to defend the region and to support our partners effectively.”

Naval airpower involved in the exercise included F/A-18F Super Hornets, a P-8A Poseidon that was tasked with command and control, and MH-60R Sea Hawk and MH-60S Night Hawk helicopters, according to the release.

Navy and Coast Guard vessels, including the guided missile destroyer USS Winston Churchill, also took part.

“We’ve conducted similar exercises multiple times, but this is by far the largest scale and most complex from a command and control perspective,” said Navy Capt. Christopher Gilbertson, who leads Destroyer Squadron 50 and Task Force 55, in the release. “This allowed our ships, aircraft, and personnel to practice coordinated defensive tactics and maneuver in a constrained environment, at a much higher level of complexity.”

AFRL’s ‘ROBOpilot’ Returns to Flight After Mishap

Sept. 28, 2020 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s robotic pilot has returned to the sky, following a mishap that grounded the system last year.

The AFRL Center for Rapid Innovation and DZYNE Technologies Incorporated’s ROBOPilot flew for about 2.2 hours on Sept. 24 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The ROBOPilot system is added to the cockpit of a regular plane, with the system grabbing the yoke, flipping switches, and pushing rudders and brakes like a human pilot while also using sensors such as GPS and an Inertial Measurement Unit for situational awareness.

The system first flew in August 2019 on a Cessna 206, and in a later flight was damaged in a rough landing. A Safety Investigation Board convened to look at the incident, briefing AFRL and DZYNE, who then “analyzed the findings and incorporated the recommendations to ensure the success of the latest test,” said Marc Owens, the AFRL Center for Rapid Innovation’s program manager for ROBOpilot, in a release. “We determined the cause of the mishap, identified the best course of corrective action, and we’re very pleased [to] be flight testing again.”

The Air Force Research Laboratory Center for Rapid Innovation and DZYNE Technologies Incorporated resumed flight testing of the ROBOpilot unmanned air platform and completed a successful fourth flight test on Sept. 24, 2020, at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, during which ROBOPilot flew for approximately 2.2 hours, completing all test objectives. Photo: Air Force/courtesy

Crews rebuilt the ROBOpilot for another Cessna 206, and had to meet the same initial test points to be able to conduct the successive test.

“ROBOpilot is too good an idea to let the mishap derail the development of the technology,” Owens said.

AFRL has said the system is a low-cost alternative to developing all-new unmanned aircraft. It is installed by removing a pilot’s seat, and using commercially produced components. ROBOpilot is currently developed for general aviation aircraft, and the service has not identified specific USAF airframes that could be targeted for its use, though it could be used for cargo planes, in turn freeing up pilots for other missions.

“ROBOpilot offers the benefits of unmanned operations without the complexity and upfront cost associated with the development of new unmanned vehicles,” Alok Das, a senior scientist with AFRL’s Center for Rapid Innovation, said in a 2019 release.

How California Guard MQ-9s Are Helping With Fire Response

Sept. 28, 2020 | By Brian W. Everstine

California Air National Guard MQ-9s have flown the length of the entire state helping to coordinate responses to more than 24 fires that have been burning in the past two months.

As of Sept. 28, there have been 7,982 total wildfires, burning more than 3.6 million acres and damaging or destroying 7,630 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

To help with the response, the 163rd Attack Wing at times had three Reapers in the air at a time, flying more than 70 sorties and more than 1,000 mission hours, according to a release. Their operations so far this fire season have more than doubled any previous year, said Maj. Lee Nichols, the senior intelligence officer in the 163rd Operations Group.

The wing was first activated to help combat the LNU Lightning Complex fire last month, which now has burned 363,220 acres but is mostly contained. Since then, pilots, sensor operators, and intelligence officers from other MQ-9 units in eight states have flown to California to help with the response. MQ-9s have provided fire-mapping surveillance to help emergency crews coordinate a response, while simultaneously flying over burned areas to provide damage assessments.

“The guest help has been hugely instrumental to surging to three lines,” said Capt. Eric Jeppsen, the 196th Attack Squadron’s chief of current operations, in the release. “The timing has been difficult.”

The wing played a pivotal role in a dramatic rescue in early September when California Army National Guard helicopters flew through smoke and fire to pick up more than 200 people who were stranded near a reservoir as flames encircled them. An MQ-9 was tracking the Creek Fire, and spotted safe landing sites for CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters with the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade.

“We had aircrew members with family and friends at those lakes, and told them to get out of there,” Jeppsen said in the release. “The infrared capability cut through the smoke. We’re thousands of feet above a fire so fierce it was generating its own weather, in this case, causing thunderstorms. Our role was helping intel determine where the helicopters needed to go.”

The pilots of the choppers were forced to use night-vision goggles and instruments to land because the smoke was so thick, as winds gusted up to 30 knots. Once on the ground, the aircrew loaded as many people as possible into the helicopters, flying three evacuations each, according to ABC News. The aircrew received Distinguished Flying Crosses for their actions.

“This is our backyard, this area that we’re operating in, it’s where we train and we’re out there a couple times a week,” Black Hawk Pilot Chief Warrant Officer 5 Kipp Goding told ABC News. “It’s also the local community for us, friends, neighbors, people we go to church with and are friends with, so we all know people who have been definitely evacuated and we fly over neighborhoods where we know people that live there.”

Whiteman Hosts Drive-In Air Force Ball During Pandemic

Sept. 28, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The COVID-19 pandemic inspired the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to pioneer a new kind of USAF birthday celebration: a drive-in Air Force ball.

The idea to transition the ball from an in-person party to a drive-in celebration stemmed from unique challenges presented by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, said Master Sgt. Joshua Braswell, the 509th Security Forces Squadron Antiterrorism & Force Protection Planner, who served on the event’s planning committee.

The flyer from Whiteman Air Force Base’s 2020 Air Force Ball. **Graphic: 509th Bomb Wing/courtesy**

After Braswell and Senior Master Sgt. Kelii Kanoa got the 509th Bomb Wing command chief’s permission to hold an Air Force birthday celebration despite the ongoing pandemic, they assembled a team who evaluated potential options for holding an event in the old and new normal, respectively, Braswell explained in a Sept. 24 response to questions from Air Force Magazine.

The committee started planning a traditional ball in June, but once they realized they wouldn’t be returning “to the old normal,” the committee decided to pursue “a new type of event,” he said.

“While adapting our plans, one of our committee leads … introduced the idea of a ‘drive-in movie’ style event,” Braswell continued. “This was to allow service members and their spouses to pull up in their vehicles, watch an AF birthday video on a big screen and still have a date night (like other AF Balls), which eventually turned into a family night out instead (to appropriately accommodate childcare).”

Master Sgt. Timothy Carlson, 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron first sergeant (left), Chief Master Sgt. Nadine Carlson, 509th Civil Engineer Squadron superintendent (right) and their son (center) sit together during the Air Force Ball at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., on Sept. 19, 2020. The Carlson family and many attendees set up chairs to watch the event while safely distancing from others in adherence to COVID-19 restrictions. **Photo: Airman 1st Class Christina Carter**

They also tweaked the dress code to fit the “family friendly” mood, he said, letting troops don their Uniform of the Day and asking civilians to wear business casual attire, and personalized the event’s programming.

“We decided on the theme ‘AF Gratitude,’ which allowed for some added personalization to the video,” he explained. “Instead of showing a ‘typical’ AF video that incorporated the different occupational areas contributing to the mission, we decided to include the Total Force … and allow them a way to comment and express their gratitude for the AF and what it has provided them.”

Finally, the committee decided against charging admission to “alleviate any additional stress in peoples’ lives” and to give the unorthodox event the best possible shot at success, he said. The wing also allowed people to RSVP via a QR code to make the process easier, wing spokesperson Tech. Sgt. Alexander W. Reidel told Air Force Magazine in a Sept. 24 email.

But though the event was different than Whiteman Air Force Balls of yore, the wing didn’t throw every aspect of tradition out the window.

The base’s “Honor Guard still posted the colors and conducted the POW/MIA table ceremony”—albeit with sparking cider, Braswell noted.

Whiteman Air Force Base Honor Guardsmen present the colors before the Air Force Ball at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., on Sept. 19, 2020. Attendees stood outside of their vehicles during the Honor Guard’s presentation, while maintaining plentiful social distancing to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. **Photo: Airman 1st Class Christina Carter**

And 509th Bomb Wing Commander Col. Jeffrey Schreiner still delivered a speech to attendees, just from atop an outdoor platform, as shown in a photo shared by the wing.

Whiteman AFB celebrates the 73rd anniversary of the AF with drive-in ball — 509th Bomb Wing Commander Col. Jeffery Schreiner speaks during the Air Force Ball at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., on Sept. 19, 2020. Schreiner addressed attendees and said he was grateful for Team Whiteman’s mission contributions during the year and the COVID-19 pandemic. **Photo: Airman 1st Class Christina Carter**

The innovative event was an all-of-base effort that garnered assistance from civil engineering, security forces, maintenance, operations group, public affairs, protol, and Honor Guard Airmen, in addition to volunteers and a “cinema crew that provided the screen and FM transmitter,” Braswell said.

“From all of the feedback we have had from other bases, we are the first base to execute a drive-in style AF Ball and the team of [Senior Master Sgt.] Gwendolyn West, [Master Sgt.] Joshua Crosby, [Master Sgt.] Jeffrey Neahr, [Master Sgt.] Adrienne Sanders, [Master Sgt.] Charles Cooper, [Master Sgt.] Ryan Skuller, [Master Sgt.] Shawn Carroll, and [Master Sgt.] Sherrod Williams did an outstanding job coming together to ensure this was a success,” he said.

USAF F-16s to Police Bulgaria’s Skies for NATO

Sept. 28, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

For the next four weeks, USAF Airmen and F-16s and Bulgarian air force fighter aircraft will fly NATO air patrols over Bulgaria to protect the nation’s airspace, improve the Air Force’s interoperability with its counterparts there, and serve as a show “of Allied solidarity,” NATO and USAF announced Sept. 28.

“Approximately 140 personnel and six F-16s from the 555th Fighter Squadron deployed in support of the Allied mission along with various units from Aviano Air Base, Italy, and Airmen assigned to the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing, Ramstein Air Base, Germany,” a 31st Fighter Wing release stated.

The participating F-16s will serve as a quick-response force for aircraft who fall into distress or defy international flying rules and advance toward NATO nations’ sovereign airspace, a NATO Allied Air Command release about the mission explained. This tasking is part of the alliance’s increased “air policing measures in the region,” which it implemented in reaction to Russian activity in Ukraine, including the annexation of Crimea, NATO noted.

“Six Canadian F-18 jets are also operating in the region under the NATO mission, from neighbouring Romania,” the NATO release stated.

Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, will also serve as home base for the American F-16s taking part in the air-policing mission, the NATO Allied Air Command release noted.

The 31st Fighter Wing and Ramstein Air Base’s 435th Air Ground Operations Wing previously sent Airmen—and 555th Fighter Squadron F-16s—to the base from Sept. 18-25 for Thracian Viper 20. The multilateral training exercise helped the Triple Nickel squadron practice agile, in-theater deployments, as well as to develop local procedures for F-16 operations at Graf Ignatievo, Maj. Rohan Naldrett-Jays, the squadron’s chief of standardizations and evaluation, told Air Force Magazine on Sept. 24.

“The Triple Nickel’s participation in NATO enhanced Air Policing allows us to demonstrate comprehensive deterrence and defense through joint and combined interoperability,” 555th Fighter Squadron Director of Operations Lt. Col. Brian Lewis said in the 31st Fighter Wing release. “Mission sets like these not only reinforce the capability, capacity, and readiness of the Alliance, but generate an appreciation for allied and partner contributions. Operating together is crucial to our effectiveness.”

Fourth GPS III Satellite Heads to Space

Sept. 25, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Lockheed Martin’s fourth GPS III satellite is scheduled to head to space on a SpaceX rocket Sept. 29, marking the navigation system’s second launch so far this year.

“It’ll be awesome to have four GPS III satellites on orbit. It’s a good start to the Space Force’s effort to modernize the space portion of the entire Global Positioning System,” Tonya Ladwig, acting vice president for space navigation systems at Lockheed Martin, said on a Sept. 25 call with reporters. “GPS III provides three times greater accuracy, and up to eight times improved anti-jamming power over satellites in existing constellations.”

Those more-advanced satellites will comprise more than 12 percent of the GPS constellation once the fourth system is up and running. This satellite is the 23rd equipped with M-Code upgrades that protect against signal jamming, one short of the 24 needed for global coverage, Ladwig said.

It is slated to become operational in mid-October, following post-launch tests and transfer to the Space Force personnel who oversee the constellation.

The next six GPS III satellites in the pipeline are in various stages of fabrication and approval. Lockheed could also build up to 22 additional satellites that offer greater capabilities as part of a follow-on program.

As part of the launch, SpaceX will recover its Falcon 9 rocket booster on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean—the second time it has done so for a GPS mission.

SpaceX will begin reusing Falcon 9 boosters starting with the fifth GPS III launch, marking an important shift in rocket technology that aims to drive down the military’s cost of reaching orbit as space needs grow.

“I am proud of our partnership with SpaceX that allowed us to successfully negotiate contract modifications for the upcoming GPS III missions that will save taxpayers $52.7 million while maintaining our unprecedented record of success,” Walt Lauderdale, the Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Falcon Systems and Operations Division chief, said in a Sept. 25 release.

The launch range at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., is gearing up for a busy few days, with a National Reconnaissance Office mission slated for Sept. 27, a SpaceX Starlink satellite launch set for Sept. 28, and the GPS III liftoff on the 29th. The Eastern Range is trying to streamline its processes to allow for a steady stream of launches and minimize turnover time on its launch pads.

Brig. Gen. Douglas A. Scheiss, head of the 45th Space Wing at neighboring Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., told reporters the installations have started allowing up to half of the workforce to return to their offices amid the coronavirus pandemic. That has not caused a spike in COVID-19 cases, he said.

“For launch day, we continue to do the same things, … which is face coverings, temperature checks before you go into certain ops centers,” he said. “We’ve been able to spread folks out to be able to keep that distancing. … While it’s been inconvenient, and maybe a little bit different, we’ve been able to keep the manifest going.”

USAF Orders NP2000 Propeller Systems for Guard, Reserve C-130Hs

Sept. 25, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The Air Force recently chose Collins Aerospace Systems, a Raytheon Technologies subsidiary, to provide NP2000 propeller systems for 30 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130H aircraft, the company announced.

The Air Force aims to equip about 160 of its C-130Hs with the cutting-edge propeller systems, and has ordered 55 systems to date, according to Collins.

“With its eight composite blades and digital Electronic Propeller Control System (EPCS), NP2000 offers a number of benefits compared to legacy systems, including: a 20 percent thrust increase during take-off, a 20db sound reduction in the cockpit, and a 50 percent reduction in maintenance man-hours,” a company press release stated.

During a recent interview with Air Force Magazine, Quinlan Lyte, the company’s senior director for propeller systems who oversees its NP2000 program, said the EPCS system takes 1970s-era mechanics “and makes it more electrical.” This, in turn, lets C-130H propellers synchrophase [or adjust in order to rotate at identical speeds] better and gives pilots more control over the aircraft’s speed mid-flight.

“It provides better comfort for the crew and better system responsiveness,” Lyte said.

NP2000’s man-hour reduction, on the other hand, stems from maintainers’ ability to switch out “individual blades on-wing,” an advantage its predecessor systems lacked, he said. The Air Force reserve component’s C-130Hs will also see “improved removal rates” with the new propeller systems, he said.

“In addition to the new order, Collins Aerospace earned the system’s C-130H Air Worthiness Certification from USAF and completed the first formal combined NP2000/EPCS installation on a USAF C-130H in April,” the release noted.