SASC Ranking Member: Air Force Needs to Add Hundreds of New Fighters, Double B-21 Fleet

May 29, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee offered a set of sweeping proposals for what he called a “generational investment” in the U.S. military—including hundreds of new fighter jets, bombers, and drones for the Air Force over the next several years.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) laid out his vision in a 52-page report and an op-ed in the New York Times released May 29, two weeks before the committee on which he serves as the top Republican is set to mark up its version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act.

It remains to be seen whether Wicker will push for some or all of his proposals—which cover every combatant command, military branch, and more—in the annual defense policy bill. An aide for SASC Republicans told Air & Space Forces Magazine he will propose a $55 billion topline increase to the Pentagon’s budget request of $850 billion but declined to discuss other potential amendments.

Wicker’s proposals face significant hurdles given the associated costs and the fact that the Pentagon is already dealing with budget caps set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Yet lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have said they may try to bypass those spending caps in 2025.

The aide also noted that many of the proposals Wicker is pushing—especially for the Air Force—will be long-term efforts that will take years to realize. Should Republicans reclaim control of the Senate in November’s elections, Wicker would become chair of the SASC and have even more influence in future Congresses.

Still, Wicker’s call for defense spending to reach five percent of the U.S.’s gross domestic product is certain to face fierce pushback from some lawmakers.

Aircraft Moves

For the Air Force, Wicker wants to reverse what he calls a “death spiral” in the fighter fleet.

“[The Air Force] has not replaced its aircraft fast enough to keep the fleet from shrinking precipitously, even as the mission demands remain steady or increase. This stresses a smaller number of airframes, which are asked to deploy more often. Consequently, we see worse maintenance outcomes, and the cycle continues,” Wicker wrote in his report.

The USAF wants to divest 250 aircraft and procure 91 new ones in 2025, which would put its total fleet below 5,000 airframes for the first time ever. Officials say that decline will continue for at least a few more years.

Wicker is proposing to block retirements of F-22 and F-15E aircraft, something his House Armed Services Committee counterparts are pushing as well. On top of that, he is calling for the Air Force to buy at least 340 fighters more than its current plans in the next five years.

That extra 340 airframes should include more F-35s “once production issues are stabilized,” at least two dozen F-15EXs per year, and a limited buy of 120 Block 70 F-16s, Wicker suggests.

The Air Force has already said it plans to end procurement of the F-15EX after 2025, and the service hasn’t received a new F-16 since 2005. The new Block 70 version, however, is currently in production at Lockheed Martin’s Greenville, S.C., facility for allies like Greece, Turkey, Bahrain and Taiwan.

“While a less capable aircraft, F-16 Block 70 development was paid for by allies and partners, and this still-capable aircraft can perform plenty of less stressing missions,” Wicker suggested.

With F-35s, F-15EXs, and new F-16s each costing at least $60-70 million per aircraft, the addition Wicker is calling for would almost certainly cost tens of billions of dollars.

Yet in addition to new fighters, Wicker also joined a chorus of congressional and analyst voices calling for the Air Force to buy more than 100 B-21 bombers.

“Once early production of the B-21 has ended, the Air Force should move as fast as possible to field at least double its planned quantity of 100,” he wrote.

While U.S. Strategic Command boss Gen. Anthony J. Cotton has said he would “love” to have more than B-21s, Air Force officials have argued such decisions do not need to be made yet and that new technologies may come along to change the decision calculus.

Air Force officials have recently declined to discuss the cost of individual B-21 bombers, but the unit cost of one of the bombers was contractually set at $550 million in 2015 dollars, meaning 100 more could add $50 billion or so to the program.

Wicker’s report also calls for the Air Force to expand its program requirement for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the autonomous drones that will fly as “wingmen” to augment manned platforms. The service set a “notional” figure of 1,000 CCAs, a figure Wicker cited, but Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has suggested the fleet could wind up being much larger than that.

Wicker did not provide an exact figure for how many more he thinks the Air Force should buy, but did write that budget constraints are likely what is limiting the program, not operational requirements.

Finally, Wicker suggested the Air Force look into buying a land-based version of the Navy’s E-2D Hawkeye for airborne early warning and control and begin studies on “equipping fighter aircraft with nuclear air-launched cruise missiles instead of gravity bombs to improve survivability.”

Given the sweeping nature of Wicker’s proposals and the many competing priorities, the proposed Air Force changes could face daunting odds of being realized.

Air Force Pilot Was Flying F-35B in Crash at Kirtland, in Stable Condition

May 29, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The F-35B that crashed May 28 in New Mexico was flown by an Air Force pilot, the F-35 Joint Program Office and the Air Force said. The pilot ejected at low altitude and suffered serious injuries, but is in stable condition, according to the Air Force.

The loss of the test aircraft exacerbates a shortage of such jets while the Pentagon is struggling to expedite test of key F-35 capabilities, including the TR-3 hardware and software upgrade.

The crash occurred at 1:48 pm local time, immediately outside the fenced perimeter of the Albuquerque International Sunport/Kirtland Air Force Base airfield. The aircraft rapidly lost altitude shortly after takeoff and seemingly pancaked onto scrub desert. The resulting fire was quickly extinguished by Air Force and airport emergency crews, but the condition of the aircraft suggests it will be declared a total loss. Two people injured on the ground received treatment near the scene and were released.

Due to the investigation now underway, the JPO could not provide details on the pilot’s identity or experience other than to say the person was checked out on the F-35B and qualified to fly the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant, which is flown operationally by Marine Corps pilots. The Air Force pilot was flying the jet on behalf of the Defense Contract Management Agency.

An image of the aircraft just prior to the crash and circulated on social media show it to be apparently nose-high for a STOVL takeoff. It was only 50 or so feet off the ground, raising considerable dust on the runway overrun below. It was in full STOVL configuration, with the dorsal lift fan door fully open, engine exhaust ventral doors open, and elevons fully deflected. The rear engine exhaust, difficult to see in the image, may have been in transition from STOVL to conventional flight mode.

The accident bears a few similarities to the crash of an F-35B at Lockheed Martin’s facilities at Fort Worth, Texas, in December 2022, in which that mishap aircraft was also being operated in STOVL mode by an Air Force pilot flying the jet for DCMA. In that accident, the aircraft descended vertically at an excessive rate of speed, bounced, touched the runway with the nosewheel, spun around, came down sideways and collapsed one of the main landing gear. The pilot then ejected at zero altitude but survived with minor injuries. The aircraft remained largely intact.

The 2022 mishap resulted in the JPO grounding some F-35s and pausing deliveries of new aircraft for three months. The grounding was lifted and deliveries resumed after a fix was developed by Pratt & Whitney for a harmonic resonance issue with the type’s F135 engine.

A former F-35 test pilot told Air & Space Forces Magazine that both combined test force pilots and DCMA pilots are typically qualified to fly all three F-35 variants, which include the conventional takeoff F-35A model, the STOVL F-35B, and the carrier-capable F-35C.

The three airplanes “are similar in the way [they] fly,” the test pilot said. “With the B [version], you simply move a lever, and then you’re in STOVL mode, and the controls then do their STOVL moves.” He said it was not possible to tell from an image taken just before the crash what was happening with the main exhaust, which rotates from downward to rearward in the transition from vertical to horizontal flight. But he said the jet should have been at a higher altitude by that point in a STOVL takeoff and the jet’s attitude seemed high for the configuration.

The JPO said the aircraft involved in the May 29 crash was a Technology Refresh 2-configured airplane, which was delivered in September 2023. Due to delays in testing the TR-3 configuration, the government has not accepted any new-build TR-3 airplanes since July 2023, so the aircraft involved was one of the last TR-2s built and delivered.

The JPO could not immediately say what kind of testing the mishap aircraft was earmarked for, but an industry source noted that the TR-3 is only one of several test campaigns now underway with the F-35, although “it is the priority.”

A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said the jet was being transferred from Fort Worth, Texas, where the company’s F-35 factory is located, to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for modifications and testing. Neither the JPO nor Lockheed described the modifications it was to receive. The stop at Kirtland was made to refuel.

“This was a U.S. government-owned-and-operated aircraft that was being flown by a government pilot who safely ejected,” Lockheed Martin said in a press statement.

“The aircraft was a test jet equipped with Technology Refresh 2 and was transferring to Edwards AFB for additional test equipment modification. Safety is our priority, and we will follow appropriate investigation protocols,” the Lockheed spokesperson said.

“The cause of the crash is being reviewed by an Air Force Interim Safety Board,” an Air Force spokesperson said.

The House Armed Services Committee recently upped the number of new test F-35s it would authorize in the fiscal 2025 defense bill from six to nine, as the existing test fleet is too small in number to handle the demand for F-35 testing and is hard-pressed to handle pop-up discoveries. The loss of an F-35 test asset will only exacerbate that situation, as the new jets, if fully authorized and appropriated, will not arrive for several years.

Some 75 TR-3 jets—which have new cockpit displays, a much more powerful processor, and new software—are completed but in storage, awaiting completion of TR-3 testing or a decision by the JPO to allow them to operate with a “truncated” version of the TR-3 software. Lockheed has said that it doesn’t expect that TR-3 jets will be cleared to fly until the third quarter of this year at the very earliest.

The JPO has said that while the F-35 partners and FMS customers have agreed to accept the “truncated” version to get deliveries moving while TR-3 is being fully vetted, it doesn’t know when that version will get the green light. Lt. Gen. Michael J. Schmidt, the F-35 program executive officer, wants to see more stability in the “TR-3-minus” software before going ahead with deliveries.

The Government Accountability Office recently said the TR-3 jets will likely take a year to deliver, as it considers Lockheed’s plan to deliver them at a rate of one per business day as too optimistic.

The most recent crash of an F-35—also a B model, Marine Corps jet—happened in South Carolina in September 2023.

Air Force Reservists Can Apply to Become Full-Time Guardians in June

May 29, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

As the Space Force starts the process of adding Reserve elements and creating a unique system that combines full-time and part-time Guardians, it will start accepting applications June 1 for Air Force Reservists in space-related roles who want to become full-time Guardians.

“This is an important first step toward fully integrating critical space expertise from the Reserve into our force,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said in a release. “We’ve been serving side-by-side together, supporting the same mission, for longer than the Space Force has existed.”

The move is one of the easier parts in a planned five-year implementation period for the Space Force’s new personnel management system.

Officials say the new structure, authorized by Congress last year, will allow Guardians to seamlessly move between part-time and full-time status, reducing bureaucracy, providing career flexibility, and helping leaders manage their missions more effectively. Earlier this month at the Council on Foregin Relations, Saltzman predicted that the system will be a “game changer.”

It does, however, require the Space Force to build new management systems and definitions to track part-timers, something Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John F. Bentivegna noted during an AFA event earlier this month.

Reservists who want to be full-time Guardians, by comparison, pose little complication. The application window for full-time positions will run through Nov. 30. The assignments for newly minted Guardians will be determined using existing Space Force methodology, considering mission requirements, developmental needs, and member preference.

Air Force Reserve officers with specialized roles not currently in the Space Force, such as scientists, will be assigned as developmental engineers or acquisition managers.

“The Space Force is about to integrate some of the most talented space operators,” Air Force Reserve Commander boss Lt. Gen. John Healy said in a statement. “I have no doubt they will be key to advancing security in the space domain.”

Once the transfer starts in fiscal 2025, most new Guardians are expected to relocate, according to a “Frequently Asked Questions” document released by the Space Force. Those already located near Space Force bases may stay if there are vacancies; otherwise, they might be reassigned, possibly requiring a permanent change of station. The service currently has six main operating bases across Colorado, California, and Florida, but there are opportunities at other smaller units available around the world.

The eligible positions include, but are not limited to:

Eligible Air Force Reserve officer positions (must be colonels and below)

13S – Space Operations

17D – Cyberspace Operations

14N – Intelligence

62E – Developmental Engineer

63A – Acquisition Manager

61X – Scientist

Eligible Air Force Reserve enlisted personnel positions

1C6 – Space Systems Operations (iC6)

1N0 – Intelligence

1N1 – Imagery Analysis

1N2 – Signals intelligence

1N3 – Cryptologic Language Analysis

1N4 – Network Intelligence Analysis

1N8 – Targeting Analyst

1D7X1 – Cyber Defense Operations

1D7X2 – Spectrum Operations Technician

1D7X3 – Cable and Antennae Defense Operations

Applications for part-time roles will open for the Reservists in 2026, the Space Force noted in a release. Eventually, all Reserve Airmen in space operations will face a choice: transition to the Space Force, switch career paths within the Air Force, or leave service.

Meanwhile, the Department of the Air Force is also trying to build up the Space Force’s new structure by transferring Air National Guardsmen conducting space missions into the USSF. However, the service’s move to bypass state governors’ authority over these units was met with intense backlash, leading the House Armed Services Committee to pass an amendment to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act last week that would require the Air Force to work with governors to make any such moves—it remains to be seen if that language survives the legislative process, or if any governors would accept such a move.

USAF B-52 Bombers Fly Over Baltics Near Russian Territory

May 29, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

Two B-52 Stratofortresses from a U.S. Air Force bomber task force flew over the Baltics and Eastern Europe on May 28, U.S. Air Forces in Europe said.

The two B-52s are deployed to RAF Fairford, U.K., as part of a four-aircraft bomber task force from Air Force Global Strike Command’s 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. The BUFFs, operating as the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, took off around 8:30 a.m. for a roughly eight-hour flight.

A spokesperson for U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the pair of B-52s were escorted by two Spanish F-18 Hornets, two Polish MiG-29s, and five total German Eurofighter Typhoons at different points in the exercise as the strategic bombers “flew over the Baltic region” during the mission on May 28.

According to publicly available flight tracking data, at one point, the B-52s flew roughly a few dozen kilometers from Russian territory in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland, and flew around the territory again on the way back to the U.K. The B-52s circled over Lithuania and also flew through Dutch, German, and Polish airspace.

The bomber task force mission is “a demonstration of NATO allies and partner nations’ ability to seamlessly operate together to maintain a stable and prosperous Baltic Sea region,” the USAFE spokesperson said. “This sends a strong message to potential adversaries, deters aggression, enhances stability, and assures Euro‐Atlantic publics.”

NATO Allied Air Command said on May 24 that the BTF was operating in “a NATO context with one focus on the Baltic region.” Another bomber task force made up of B-1s is operating in the Pacific out of Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, but the Air Force has released few details about that deployment so far.

Two B-52s from the BTF flew north over the Baltic Sea to launch the bomber task force on May 24. The Swedish military announced that the bombers practiced striking land-based targets in an exercise with Sweden’s Navy.

On May 29, two B-52s flew circles over the North Sea. USAFE did not immediately provide details of the mission.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on May 30 with additional details.

How Airmen Pulled Off an ‘Unheard-of’ 26-Hour C-130 Flight Across the Pacific

May 29, 2024 | By David Roza

The loud, rugged C-130J transport plane is not known for comfort, but that did not stop two crews assigned to the 40th Airlift Squadron from flying more than 26 hours and 7,000 miles from their home at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, to Guam last month in an effort to prepare for potential conflict in the Pacific.

“The idea is from home station we will conduct the max endurance mission, the 26-hour mission, to get into theater as quickly as possible, and then execute follow-on missions,” Maj. Alex Leach, mission commander and the squadron’s assistant director of operations, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

As a part of Air Mobility Command, which oversees Air Force transport and tanker aircraft, the 40th Airlift Squadron is getting ready to help carry the rest of the military’s troops and equipment across the vast distances of the Pacific. But with a range of 1,840 miles, the turboprop C-130J would run out of gas before it reached Hawaii.

Luckily, 40th Airlift Squadron had a secret weapon: external fuel tanks carrying 17,000 pounds of gas, roughly four extra hours of flying. The tanks powered the C-130Js all the way from west Texas to Hawaii without stopping, a previously “unheard of” feat in the Super Hercules, Leach said. The squadron is not the first to fly a C-130J with tanks, but it was the first in Air Mobility Command to use them in a maximum endurance operation (MEO), the term for very long flights meant to test the capabilities of the crew and the aircraft.

If an actual conflict took place in the Pacific, Hawaii would likely be just the first stop on the way to fighting further west. The first crew would not have time to rest, so the Dyess contingent brought along a second crew to fly the trip to Guam. Each crew was composed of three pilots and two loadmasters.

“After initial takeoff [from Dyess], we more or less banned the second crew from the flight deck,” said Leach. “We wanted them to rest mentally and physically as much as they could.”

c-130 — A U.S. Air Force C-130J Super Hercules assigned to the 40th Airlift Squadron takes off from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, in support of a Maximum Endurance Operation to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, April 18, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Leon Redfern)

Easier said than done: the plane’s loud engines and vibrations makes getting rest a challenge, the major said. But the Airmen hung up hammocks to mitigate the rumbling and marked off a section near the back where the second crew would not be disturbed by others walking back and forth.

Improving human performance in such conditions is one of Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Mike Minihan’s top objectives, since some tanker and transport crews may find themselves flying for 72 hours or longer in a near-peer conflict. Aircrews are using biometrics and healthy habits to inform better strategies for MEOs, and medical experts from the 7th Bomb Wing rode along on the long flight, which was dubbed ‘Hazard Leap,’ to help the crew and learn from the experience.

“They recommended not being on your phones: normal, ‘go to bed’ kind of techniques. Most people tried to read a book or listen to a podcast,” Leach said. “You try not to dramatically change what you do before you go to bed and eat when you normally eat, to keep it as healthy as you possibly can.”

It seemed to do the trick; by the time Leach and the rest of the second crew took over in Hawaii, they were “ready to go,” he said. “Not 100 percent but definitely able to operate the aircraft with no problem.”

Hazard Leap ended after the crew landed in Guam on April 20, but Hazard Spear was just beginning. In that exercise, Dyess Airmen helped transport troops and equipment for the 4th Marine Regiment during Exercise Balikatan 2024, an annual operation where U.S. and Philippine troops train together. Specifically, the crew practiced landing at blacked-out airfields, forward area refueling, and loading and off-loading High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).

“While we all know how to upload these things at home, we don’t really do it too often,” Leach said. “So for the Marines, and for us, there was a moment of ‘where do we put this thing in at again?’ It was an extremely valuable experience for us.”

U.S. Marines from Marine Aircraft Group 24 and Marine Wing Support Squadron 174 discuss how to offload cargo with U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Joshua Bredwell, 40th Airlift Squadron loadmaster, during Exercise Balikatan 24 at Basco Airfield, Philippines, April 28, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Leon Redfern)

Rapidly moving HIMARS between islands is a key element of the U.S. battle plan for the Pacific. Leach was impressed to see the rocket artillery platform’s GPS system tie into the C-130’s so that when it arrived in a new location, the HIMARS “knows where it’s at and gets a firing solution pretty much instantaneously once it gets off the aircraft,” he said. “That was something unique that our crews got to see.”

Later, after delivering a fuel bladder to Marines on another island as a part of Balikatan, the Dyess crew was told that they were the largest aircraft to have ever landed there.

“These little islands in the north Philippines are extremely difficult for vessels to get into,” Leach said. “So for us to fly from Guam, which obviously is a big hub, offload all the equipment, all the people, all the fuel that they need to conduct combat operations in the Luzon Strait, is very important strategically.”

Like the 26-hour flight to Guam, the external fuel tanks made it possible.

“We didn’t have to upload any fuel, in fact we gave them fuel and were able to fly back on the same day, with literally zero ground support,” Leach said. “It was just us and the Marines. And that’s it.”

Air Force Mission Capable Rates Fall in 2023, Led by Declines for F-15C and B-1

May 29, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Mission capable rates across most Air Force fleets declined in fiscal 2023, continuing a broad downward trend, according to information provided by the service. Readiness fell predictably in high-demand, hard-used assets and some systems approaching retirement, but the availability of some vintage aircraft continues to hold up well.

Mission capable rates measure the percentage of time an aircraft is able to perform at least one of its core missions, while “full mission capable” rates refer to an aircraft being able to do all its assigned missions. For example, an F-16’s missions include dogfighting, ground attack, suppressing enemy air defenses, etc. Full mission capable rates were not provided. The service has said the way it measures mission capability rates has changed in recent years, with more focus on readiness of aircraft either already deployed or about to deploy and less on stateside aircraft.

The service has said it aims for an mission capable rate average of 75-80 percent. The unweighted average of all fleets in 2023 was 69.92 percent, down from 71.24 percent in fiscal 2022. The rates are not weighted by numbers of aircraft in a particular fleet, and the numbers also include aircraft that were fully divested by the end of fiscal 2023, such as the KC-10 tanker.

Of 64 aircraft types that carried over from 2022 to 2024, 44 saw a decline in mission capable rate—more than two-thirds. Those in decline included most of the service’s biggest, most active fleets.

The F-15C—which is flight restricted due to structural issues and is now about ten years past its planned retirement date—posted the lowest MC rate among fleets with at least a dozen aircraft, at 33 percent. That means that typically, two of three aircraft were not available for action.

Other types available less than half the time included the B-1B bomber, C-5M strategic airlifter, CV-22 tiltrotor, E-3B AWACS, C-130H, and RQ-4B Global Hawk drone.

The B-1B’s rate fell from 54.8 percent to 47 percent, even though the Air Force reduced the size of the fleet two years ago by 17 airplanes but preserved the manpower and maintenance funding associated with the bomber in order to boost its availability. The C-5M’s rate fell from 52.6 percent to 46 percent, despite a decade-long, $10 billion re-engining, avionics, and structural upgrade intended to jumpstart the Galaxy’s flagging availability rates.

In fiscal 2022, the Air Force had:

No airplane types reporting MC rates below 25 percent

Five between 26 and 50 percent

38 between 51 and 75 percent

26 between 76 and 100 percent

In fiscal 2023, those numbers fell to

One type below 25 percent (the MC-130H, with a zero percent MC rate)

Nine between 25 and 50 percent

26 between 51 and 75 percent

28 between 76 and 100 percent

The bulk of those aircraft performing best were in the small and medium cargo/utility categories—notably C-12 variants, with an MC rate of 99 or 100 percent—as well as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance types such as the MQ-9 drone, which specifically turned in an MC rate of 86 percent.

The bomber fleet all performed at less than 60 percent mission capable, with the B-1 at 47 percent, the B-2 at 56 percent and the B-52 at 54 percent. Those figures include a monthslong grounding of the B-2, called a “safety pause” by the Air Force. The previous year’s rates for those three aircraft were 55, 53 and 59 percent, respectively.

Fighters generally checked in between 52 percent—the stealthy F-22’s rate—and 69 percent, the rate for the F-16C, although the brand-new, two-airplane fleet of F-15EXs logged a MC rate of 86 percent. A third F-15EX has since joined the force, and 96 more are coming in the next few years. The venerable A-10C, which the Air Force will divest by the end of the decade, had an MC rate of 67 percent.

The Air Force did not provide an MC rate for its F-35As. However, the Government Accountability Office reported in April that the Air Force’s F-35A mission capable rate as 51.9 percent in fiscal 2023, down from 56 in 2022.

The new KC-46A tanker turned in an MC rate of 65 percent, down from last year’s rate of just under 70 percent. The KC-135, which it will replace, came in at 69 percent.

The T-38 supersonic trainer fleet—overdue for replacement by the T-7A Red Hawk—managed rates between 58 and 70 percent. The oldest T-38As had an MC rate of 63 percent, but the upgraded T-38C only managed 58 percent, while the AT-38B lead-in fighter trainer hit 70 percent.

The E-8C Joint STARS, which has been divested, turned in a final MC rate of 64 percent.

While the Air Force has pointed to low MC rates, obsolescence, and vanishing vendor issues as the reason for divesting or retiring C-135 series types such as AWACS and JSTARS, other C-135 variants—used for signals intelligence, reconnaissance, weather, etc.‚are doing well, between 76 and 87 percent mission capable.

The Air Force said it generally prioritized modernization over readiness in the fiscal 2025 budget request which went to Congress in March. But it included readiness asks in its Unfunded Priorities List, which Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said were “targeted” to specific fixes and parts that could produce disproportionately large gains in readiness.

AIRCRAFT TYPE	2023 MC%	2022 MC%
A-10C	67%	69.70%
AC-130J	76%	80.80%
AT-38B	70%	74.20%
B-1B	47%	54.80%
B-2A	56%	52.80%
B-52H	54%	59.30%
C-12C	99%	98.70%
C-12D	100%	100.00%
C-12F	99%	95.60%
C-12J	100%	100.00%
C-130H	44%	68.40%
C-130J	72%	74.90%
C-17A	76%	77.50%
C-21A	100%	100.00%
C-32A	88%	88.40%
C-37A	93%	94.50%
C-37B	91%	91.20%
C-40B	88%	89.90%
C-40C	91%	90.10%
C-5M	46%	52.60%
CV-22B	46%	51.90%
E-3B	47%	40.20%
E-3G	60%	63.90%
E-4B	61%	55.40%
E-8C	63%	49.20%
EC-130H	33%	68.90%
EC-130J	63%	67.20%
F-15C	33%	45.70%
F-15D	55%	58.50%
F-15E	55%	51.60%
F-15X	85%	84.60%
F-16C	69%	70.70%
F-16D	65%	68.90%
F-22A	52%	57.40%
F-35A	51%	65.40%
HC-130J	72%	76.40%
HH-60G	67%	68.90%
HH-60W	67%	60.80%
KC-10A	79%	80.40%
KC-135R	69%	72.00%
KC-135T	67%	69.60%
KC-46A	65%	69.90%
LC-130H	48%	54.70%
MC-12W	100%	100.00%
MC-130H	0%	68.50%
MC-130J	76%	79.40%
MQ-9A	86%	89.90%
RC-135S	73%	80.60%
RC-135U	85%	79.50%
RC-135V	71%	70.00%
RC-135W	77%	67.70%
RQ-4B	50%	70.80%
T-1A	78%	76.30%
T-38A	63%	69.50%
T-38C	58%	57.20%
T-6A	62%	71.40%
TC-135W	82%	76.10%
TE-8A	79%	83.00%
TH-1H	60%	71.70%
U-2S	76%	73.50%
TU-2S	81%	69.60%
UH-1N	78%	81.80%
UV-18B	100%	N/A
WC-130J	68%	64.10%
WC-135R	87%	73.30%

Belgium Pledges F-16s to Ukraine ‘as Quickly as Possible.’ F-35 Deliveries Could Complicate Things

May 28, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

Belgium pledged to provide Ukraine with more than two dozen F-16s in a pact agreed to by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo during the Ukrainian leader’s visit to the country May 28.

The F-16s will be delivered “as quickly as possible,” according to the security cooperation agreement. But Belgium’s pledge comes with significant caveats.

The agreement does not guarantee that the first Belgian F-16s will arrive before the end of 2024, though it says the Belgian government will strive to meet the end-of-year goal. That’s because the F-16 delivery schedule is linked to Belgium’s acquisition of F-35As to maintain and strengthen its own military capabilities.

“Belgium will do everything possible, in consultation with its allies and partners of the F-16 coalition, to accelerate the first delivery, if possible before the end of 2024, without endangering its security and the operationally of its air capacity and taking into account the delivery of the F-35s to the Belgian Air Component and subsequent decommissioning of the F-16s,” the agreement states.

Ukraine also cannot use Belgian-provided F-16s over Russian territory, according to the pact.

“Everything which is covered by this agreement is very clear—it is for utilization by the Ukraine Defense Forces on Ukraine[‘s] territory,” De Croo said.

Belgium has already received its first F-35, and the first training on the jets by the country’s Air Component, as its air force is known, is scheduled for this summer. Belgium’s government has previously announced its intent to buy 34 F-35s to replace its F-16 fleet. Belgium plans to give Ukraine 30 F-16s by 2028.

“F-16 jets will be provided to Ukraine as soon as possible,” De Croo said. “Our aim is to be able to provide the first aircraft before the end of this year, 2024.”

Lockheed Martin’s deliveries of F-35s have generally been hampered by delays in software and hardware issues associated with the Technology Refresh 3 and Block 4 upgrades

“Ukraine is looking forward to receiving F-16 fighter jets from its Western partners to strengthen the defense of our skies,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media.

Ukranians continue to be killed by the Russian invader every day.

Dear @ZelenskyyUa, these F-16 will be yours to help you protect your citizens.

Ukraine can only push back Russia with more and better arms, delivered at a faster pace. pic.twitter.com/YVHydmTGPw
— Alexander De Croo 🇧🇪🇪🇺 (@alexanderdecroo) May 28, 2024

Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands have also pledged to provide the U.S.-made fighters.

Zelenskyy visited Melsbroek Air Base in Belgium, where he met with Ukrainian service members who are being trained to maintain F-16. “We are also waiting for our warriors, who are training to maintain F-16s, at home,” Zelenskyy said in his statement. “They are highly motivated to start performing combat missions and speed up the victory of our country.”

The Belgium-Ukraine agreement says the F-16s will be used to “strengthen Ukraine’s defense capacity and defend its airspace and territory against Russian military targets.” But it does not spell out what munitions will be provided or specify details on how the F-16 will be maintained and where the aircraft will be based.

The agreement says that Belgium is working on how to provide “F-16 ordnance” and will be part of a coalition that helps train Ukrainian pilots and technicians, supports the long-term maintenance of the fighters, and establishes “proper facilities in Ukraine.”

The first American-trained Ukrainian F-16 pilots have graduated from U.S.-based training at the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported May 23.

Ukraine has already employed air-launched Western munitions, but they have proved to be less effective than hoped, according to a recent report by The Washington Post, due to Russian electronic warfare, especially JDAM-guided bombs. Some weapons reportedly used by Ukraine, such as air-launched small-diameter bombs, have proved more resilient to jamming, according to the Post, which cited confidential Ukrainian assessments.

U.S. officials have previously noted that Ukrainian pilots have had to fly low to avoid Russian air defenses, reducing the effectiveness of weapons. “They’re somewhat effective,” a U.S. senior defense official said in February of the Ukrainian Air Force. “The problem they have, that Russia has as well, is both sides have a pretty sophisticated integrated air and missile defense system.”

Air Force Bases Evacuate Aircraft, Report No Damage from Severe Storms

May 28, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Air Force bases in Kansas and Oklahoma evacuated their aircraft ahead of severe weather over Memorial Day weekend, but no Air Force installations in the region experienced any serious issues from the storms, which caused more than two dozen deaths and massive power outages across the southern and central U.S.

Several KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-46A Pegasus aircraft departed McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on May 25 to avoid severe weather forecasted for the Wichita area later that day and the following day.

The relocation was to “protect the aircraft from potential damage, but also preserve the 22nd Air Refueling Wing’s capability to support its worldwide aerial refueling and airlift mission,” a base spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The aircraft count and the receiving base locations were not revealed due to operational security. The spokesperson added that aircraft undergoing various phases of maintenance, along with a range of flightline vehicles and equipment, were safely stored in hangars during the weekend.

A KC-46A Pegasus takes off from McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, April 15, 2024. Due to the possibility of high winds and hail, the majority of McConnell’s aircraft left the base for a weather relocation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st class William Lunn)

The base reported no damage after the storm, and all of the refueling tankers returned to the base on May 26, the spokesperson confirmed.

This marked McConnell’s fourth aircraft relocation in six weeks due to severe weather, following its tankers’ evacuation earlier this month in response to potential large hail and tornadoes warnings.

Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.—the hub of maintenance and sustainment center for various aircraft, including the E-3 Sentry, E-6 Mercury, and KC-135 Stratotanker—also flushed their aircraft from the base ahead of the severe weather. A 72nd Air Base Wing spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the aircraft have already started returning, and the base suffered no serious issues from the weather.

Other Air Force installations across the region reported no aircraft movement or site damage from the storm, including:

Altus Air Force Base, Okla.

Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.

Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.

Barksdale Air Force Base, La.

Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas

Dyess Air Force Base, Texas

Devastating storms and tornadoes pummeled parts of the South and Midwest U.S. starting on the evening of May 25, spreading eastward on May 27.

Air Force installations frequently choose to evacuate their aircraft in advance of storms. Altus did so in April ahead of forecasted tornadoes, and with hurricane season officially beginning June 1, bases in Florida and other southeastern states may do so in the months ahead. The National Weather Service is predicting an above-average hurricane activity in the Atlantic this year.

Space Force Eyes Better EW Test and Training Ranges with New Contract Awards

May 28, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force has awarded six-month contracts to six different companies to develop plans for improving the service’s electronic warfare training capabilities in the latest move in USSF’s efforts to upgrade its test and training infrastructure.

Space Training and Readiness Command and Space Systems Command collaborated on the contract awards, which were given to NouSystems, ExoAnalytic Solutions, TMC Design, HII Mission Technologies Corp., Parsons Government Services Inc., and Lockheed Martin. Announced last week, the contracts started at the end of February and will last through August.

The program, dubbed Advanced Space Technology for Range Operations-Electromagnetic Range or ASTRO-E, is aimed at providing enhanced “ground infrastructure and on-orbit subjects” for electronic warfare test and training, according to a service release.

“By providing space warfighters with interconnected, scalable, and distributed physical and digital ranges for full-spectrum testing and training, this project will enable joint warfighting solutions to prevail in conflict,” the release added.

The program would be just the latest addition to what the Space Force calls the National Space Test and Training Complex (NSTTC), a collection of sensors and assets on the ground and in orbit that the service uses as “the gym where we go to work out the force,” then-STARCOM commander Maj. Gen. Shawn W. Bratton said in May 2023.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman made improving test and training infrastructure one of his top priorities from the very start of his tenure. In his confirmation hearing before the Senate in 2022, he noted that, “We don’t have simulators that allow our operators to practice their tactics against a thinking adversary, even if it’s a simulated adversary. We don’t have good simulators. We don’t have ranges where they can routinely practice their tradecraft. We don’t have the ability to link multiple units together so they can practice the coordination that’s necessary to do large force employments, if you will.”

In the two years since, the Space Force has sought to address the issue through its Operational Test and Training Infrastructure initiative.

“We are already building live ranges to conduct events in the actual environment ensuring ‘ground truth’ is captured for systems and tactics evaluations,” Saltzman said of the effort this February at the AFA Warfare Symposium. “We are also creating an intelligence-informed inventory of adversary capabilities—with Opposing Forces whose tactics reflect actual counterspace threats to the space, ground, and link segments. Finally, we are investing in high-fidelity mission-specific simulators that replicate each unique mission area, weapons system, and their associated crew positions.”

STARCOM and SSC have collaborated on an integrated program office, and the budget devoted to the enterprise is exploding from $350 million in fiscal 2024 to a planned $438 million in 2025—a 25 percent increase even as the Space Force’s overall budget is projected to decline slightly.

In congressional testimony earlier this year, Saltzman highlighted EW in particular as an area where the Space Force was expanding its test and training infrastructure investments. Such investments could help expand new exercise series like Black Skies, the Space Force’s premier EW training event that expanded in September to include more than 170 participants with live-fire and simulated portions.