First ‘Bamboo Eagle’ Exercise Builds on Red Flag, Adds Multi-Domain Elements

First ‘Bamboo Eagle’ Exercise Builds on Red Flag, Adds Multi-Domain Elements

Jan. 30, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force is underway with its first ever “Bamboo Eagle” exercise, which started immediately following the end of Red Flag 24-1 and adds multi-domain elements—such as maritime warfare—as well as elements of of Agile Combat Employment to the Air Force’s premiere air dominance wargame.

Bamboo Eagle will run eight days and is designed to “provide advanced training in a disaggregated, multi-domain scenario in order to sustain and strengthen the ability of the joint and coalition force to prevail in conflict when necessary,” Maj. Gen. Case Cunningham, commander of the Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., said in a statement.

Red Flag participants “can take the TTPs (tactics, techniques and procedures) exercised during Red Flag and implement them” during Bamboo Eagle, a Nellis spokesperson said.

The exercise “is the first of its kind from the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, which conducts warfighter-centric live and virtual operational test and evaluation, tactics development, and advanced training to optimize Air Force capabilities and prepare Airmen for joint, all-domain combat operations,” the 57th Wing said in a statement.

Many aircraft and units that participated in Red Flag 24-1—including B-2 bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.—are moving directly into Bamboo Eagle.

In addition to Red Flag’s simulated air-to-air and air-to-ground combat, Bamboo Eagle adds an anti-ship and expanded live, virtual, and constructive elements, as well as principles of Agile Combat Employment and logistics, the latter of which are not usually part of a Red Flag.  

“The inclusion of training in eastern Pacific sea and airspace allows for warfighters to train in a combat-representative environment and will incorporate scenarios in the maritime domain,” according to the release. Participants will “implement all-domain combat power generation from multiple basing locations throughout the western part of the U.S., while conducting distributed command and control, agile logistics, and air-to-air refueling.”

The 57th Wing described Red Flag 24-1 as “the tactical buildup to the operational implementation of multi-domain combat readiness training that is Bamboo Eagle.”

More than 3,000 U.S. personnel from all branches of the armed forces in Bamboo Eagle, along with 150 aircraft from more than 20 units. In addition, more than 300 personnel from the U.K.’s Royal Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force are taking part.

The RAF sent Typhoon fighters and Voyager A330 Multi-Role Tanker-Transports to Red Flag, while the RAAF sent F-35As. Air Force F-35As and Marine Corps F-35Bs also participated.

Many of the same aircraft in Red Flag 24-1 are also participating in Bamboo Eagle, including Air Force F-22, F-15E, and F-16 fighters; C-130 and C-17 transports; KC-135 and KC-46 aerial tankers, Marine Corps F-35B fighters, MQ-9 Reapers, Navy EA-18 Growler jamming aircraft, and Air Force EC-130 electronic warfare aircraft. Air Force HC-130 Combat King personnel recovery aircraft and HH-60 combat rescue helicopters are taking part, as well.

The 17 different types of aircraft are deploying to locations such as Naval Air Station North Island, Beale Air Force Base, Camp Pendleton, Travis Air Force Base, and Edwards Air Force Base, all in California, among others.

Operations are being coordinated by the 3rd Air Expeditionary Wing command-and-control force element, comprised of elements of the 3rd Wing  and 673rd Air Base Wing Wing from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

“We’ll be practicing the hub-and-spoke concept along with Agile Combat Employment to sustain operations across four spokes for the duration of Bamboo Eagle,” said Col. Kevin Jamieson, commander of the 3rd AEW.

“As the host wing for four different spokes—also known as forward operating locations—the AEW acts as the mission command center; planning, directing and coordinating the four fighter units and one airlift unit at the operational level,” according to an Elmendorf press release.

The four spokes, deployed closer to the action than the constituent units normally operate, “established operational capabilities for secure communications, ground refueling, air mobility teams, and aircraft security measures leading up to the official start of the exercise,” as part of the Agile Combat Employment concept. Part of the exercise is for the teams to learn to quickly and efficiently set up the spokes, according to the release.

Bamboo Eagle “synchronizes with the AFFORGEN (Air Force Force Generation) model and optimizes exercise events and supporting plans to include proper timing, scale, and mission focus to ensure force capabilities are optimally mission ready when tasked to support Combatant Commander priorities,” a Nellis spokesperson said.

Lt. Col. Terry Fregly, 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander, who led the squadron through the Red Flag exercise and now is heading its deployment to NAS North Island, said “this is a new skillset” for the Air Force “and the joint force as a whole.” The lessons learned in executing Agile Combat Employment will be applied to operations at home station, “so we can train the way we fight.”

‘Masters of the Air’ Nails Many Details, Misses Context

‘Masters of the Air’ Nails Many Details, Misses Context

Jan. 30, 2024 | By David Roza

The new nine-part TV series, “Masters of the Air,” masterfully captures the grueling reality of life in the U.S. Army Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group during the daylight bombing campaign over Europe in World War II. But viewers watching the series on Apple TV+ might miss the larger historical context, according to one expert.

“It risks being too much of an attrition slugfest from a second lieutenant’s viewpoint, where life is really bad and you are struggling to hang on,” said Doug Birkey, executive director of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, who grew up working on World War II-era bombers and completed a master’s thesis on the bombing campaign. “That’s a very real experience.”

But it leaves out the larger historic picture that explains why American military leaders chose that path.

The show premiered with two episodes on Jan. 26 and AppleTV+ is making a new episode available every Friday through March 15.

Tactical Brilliance

“Masters of the Air” follows a handful of pilots, navigators, ground crew, and other members of the 100th from their arrival at Thorpe Abbotts, England, in the summer of 1943, to the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. The production vividly portrays the terror of air combat through details large and small: from the frostbite a tail gunner suffers trying to clear a machine gun jam at altitude, to the centrifugal force pinning crews inside a stricken bomber, to the spent .50 caliber shell casings spilling out of a hatch after a difficult mission. 

Beyond the terror, the show also captures the exultation of watching a formation of bombers take to the sky, the selflessness of pilots risking an entire squadron to protect a wounded comrade, and the moments that seem too real to be true—like when an aircraft commander and a squadron commander argue over who should parachute out of their falling B-17 last, a real-life detail that actually happened.

masters of the air
Elliot Warren in “Masters of the Air,” now streaming on Apple TV+. (Photo courtesy Apple TV+)

The attention to detail is a service to the Airmen of the 100th and the larger 8th Air Force. Birkey applauded producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman for devoting so much time and resources (10 years and about $250 million) to the project and for kicking off a wave of newfound interest in the topic.

“I think if these guys came back and saw themselves portrayed, they’d be happy with it,” Birkey said.  

Birkey grew up helping to restore B-17s and B-24s and knew dozens of WWII veterans who flew those aircraft. Among them was navigator Lt. Harry Crosby, a central character throughout the show’s nine episodes.

“They were like my surrogate grandfathers,” he said. “They were tremendous individuals and I was blessed to know them closely.”

The end of the final episode, which shows photographs of the actual people portrayed in the series, was particularly touching. “I got choked up, because it reminded me of all the guys I’ve known and lost over the years,” he said.

Birkey credited the filmmakers for their accurate depiction of individual experiences in the 100th, and for not whitewashing the devastation of strategic bombing. He also praised the meticulous set design, the exquisite static aircraft, and even the accurate evolution of the Airmen’s uniforms over the course of the war. 

“They bought from top shelf places,” Birkey said about the wardrobe. “They got the jackets from Eastman Leather in the United Kingdom. That is the varsity level.”

“Masters of the Air” is now streaming on Apple TV+. (Photo courtesy Apple TV+)

But while the real-life details were excellent, Birkey questioned the computer-generated effects. To one who has spent hundreds of hours flying in and maintaining B-17s, Birkey viewed the movement of the flying B-17s cartoonish, with take-off and climb rates far too fast and steep. He also criticized the formation scenes for failing to depict how much the aircraft bounced and shook in the chopped air left behind by the hundreds of engines in formation ahead of them.

Beyond the physics, the show did not portray the aircraft as characters in their own right, an area where the 1990 film “Memphis Belle” succeeded.

“I cannot emphasize enough how much these aircraft are alive,” Birkey said. “They have their own personalities and sounds, they smell certain ways from their exhaust and oil and fuel.”

Strategic Omission

But the biggest miss, Birkey said, is the lack of a strategic narrative that would have given context to the 100th’s terrible losses: 757 men killed or missing, 923 prisoners of war. 

The core objective of strategic bombardment was to avoid the endless attrition of World War I. Gens. Henry “Hap” Arnold and Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, the founding fathers of U.S. airpower, argued throughout the 1920s and 1930s, often at great risk to their own careers, that targeting centers of production, transportation, and leadership would be a more effective, less costly way to win a war. 

The problem was scale: before the start of the war in 1939, the U.S. Army Air Corps had just 26,000 troops, about 1,200 bombers and fighters, many of which were obsolete, and a mere 23 B-17s. By the end of the war, the U.S. Army Air Forces would grow to a peak strength of 2.4 million troops and 80,000 airplanes. About 12,700 B-17s were built over the course of the war, but it took several years to get to that point, and until then the strategic bombing campaign was a miserable grind.

“They don’t care if they kill us all, do they?” Crosby asks, referring to his commanders in one episode. Through 1942, 1943, and early 1944, the USAAF conducted relatively accurate and effective strikes on ball-bearing plants and centers of industry, but with such high loss rates, and without enough trained crews and bombers, it lacked the ability to re-strike those targets.

A B-17 flies through heavy flack during a raid on Ludwigshafen, Germany, in September 1944. USAF/AFA Library.

Not until 1944 did the USAAF finally gain the scale to re-strike targets, such as petroleum refineries. “Masters” mentions how the size of the raids grew from just 12 bombers in June 1942 to more than a thousand by the end of the war. The development of long-range fighters equipped with drop tanks also reduced losses by protecting bombers closer to the target. 

Still, there was a good reason why the air commanders kept sending crews to the meat-grinder before sufficient scale was achieved. With the Soviet Union losing millions of troops on the Eastern Front and the rest of the Allies fighting in North Africa and Italy, the USAAF had to do what it could to keep the pressure on Germany, Birkey explained. Many of the commanders flew those missions themselves, as well.

“We had to do anything possible to exert pressure on them and degrade their ability to fight,” he said. “Something was better than nothing, and it was an existential war–everything was on the line. The luxury of waiting for the perfect was not possible.”

Though the losses suffered by the 8th Air Force during the bombing campaign surpassed 26,000 men, about 30 percent more than the number of Marines killed in the entirety of World War II, those losses were not in vain. The early raids took vital German air resources away from other fronts and took a substantial toll on German war production. Birkey said the overall success of the campaign is evident in the fact that the Allies crossed from Normandy to Berlin in less than a year, where it took four years to go just a few miles in either direction in World War I.

“That is how you measure the impact of strategic bombing,” he said. “We were able to so stress their system that when the invasion occurred, they were extremely leveraged.”

Ncuti Gatwa in “Masters of the Air,” now streaming on Apple TV+. (Photo courtesy Apple TV+)

While “Masters” includes some exposition about daylight bombing in episode two, the limited focus on strategy missed the opportunity to put the characters’ experience into context, Birkey said. He said past works such as “Memphis Belle,” “Command Decision,” and “12 O’Clock High,” were more successful at that aspect, as was the 1998 miniseries about the Apollo program, “From the Earth to the Moon,” which featured Tom Hanks introducing each episode with historical context. 

“It’s entertainment, we’re not here for a Ph.D-level lecture,” Birkey said. “But you need to bring a little bit more in.”

Birkey also saw the cramped treatment of the Tuskegee Airmen, the Black American aviators who helped break the color barrier for the armed forces, but whose story was jammed into just the two final episodes.

Why It Matters

“Masters” is a vivid reminder of the brutality of air-to-air combat, and it comes at a time when the U.S. military is preparing to fight near-peer rivals such as China and Russia without the air superiority that was taken for granted in recent conflicts. 

“It should scare the hell out of people,” Birkey said. “This is what happens when you don’t have the decisive airpower to sustain the fight.”

As when World War II began, America’s Air Force today is too small for the threat, the oldest and smallest it’s ever been in its 76-year history, with just 2,176 fighters and no ability to rapidly scale up, which leads Birkey to argue that the state of Air Force readiness today is less than it was in the 1930s.

“It took two years in WWII with vastly more simple technology and an industrialized nation,” to build the air force which won that war, he said. “We’re no longer an industrialized nation at that level, and the technologies are much more complex. You’re not going to switch from building cars to building F-35s.”

The Air Force has at times struggled to make the compelling case for airpower, but in recent years, events like the ongoing war of attrition in Ukraine have helped update the argument. By remembering the sacrifice of prior generations, “Masters” furthers that case, if not for the aircraft, then certainly for the people who fly, crew, and maintain them.

“This is what the risk looks like,” he said.

Disclaimer: Apple TV+ provided an advance screener for “Masters of the Air.” Doug Birkey also helped source some of the aircraft parts for the series through his extensive ties in the historic aircraft community.

At Barksdale, B-52 Crews Are in High Demand—And Looking Forward to Upgrades

At Barksdale, B-52 Crews Are in High Demand—And Looking Forward to Upgrades

Jan. 30, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La.—Starting in the late 2020s, the Air Force’s fleet of B-52 bombers will transform with new engines, a new radar, updated communications and navigation equipment and more. What was the B-52H will become the re-designated, upgraded B-52J.

At one of only two operational B-52 bases in the service, members of the 2nd Bomb Wing are excited for the major changes, while still putting in long hours and lots of work to keep the H model flying around the globe in the meantime.

“The B-52 has been and will continue to be a very strong message of, the United States will support for allies and deterrence, just by flying through their airspace or putting a jet down on a runway in a friendly nation,” Col. Michael D. Maginness, 2nd BW commander, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Barksdale is anticipating its B-52s to be upgraded in the late 2020s and early 2030s, Maginness said. After that, the aircraft will fly through 2050.

The re-engining will make a major difference for the likes of Master Sgt. Joshua Crowe, a B-52 engines maintainer.

“With the new ones, they’re proposed to have enclosed systems, so you don’t have to spend more time on the back-end servicing,” said Crowe. “And the longevity of them; they’re supposed to be able to sit on the wing longer in between changes, if not, maybe not even change at all for the lifetime of it. Essentially, we’re going to be able to extend our missions longer and reduce our touch time on the ground so that we can free up those technicians to do other things.”

The new powerplants will also give aircrew more time in the air—and less time attached to tankers.

“It pushes out our strike capabilities,” said 1st Lt. Rebecca Moore, a B-52 electronic warfare officer (EWO). “And the efficiency minimizes how much aerial refueling you have to do.”

In a massive aircraft like the B-52, aerial refueling from an older aircraft like the KC-135 Stratotanker can be tough to hold in place and stay steady—“fatigue-inducing,” B-52 pilot Capt. Michael Brady said. A different Air Force modernization effort, the KC-46 Pegasus, will also make a difference for B-52 crews.

“The bumpiness of the KC-135 versus the KC-46 is… my day is made, when the aerial refueling is with the 46,” said Moore, who sits in the back on the same floor as the pilots but facing backward, adding that her experience as an EWO can differ from the feelings in the cockpit.

Brady described the KC-135 as the bomber’s “best pal,” but also said the KC-46 “is forgiving, not to inspire complacency, but it’s definitely a confidence booster. It’s an incredibly capable plane.”

Finally, the new comms equipment coming as part of the upgrade will mean more information and connectivity for the crews’ weapons system officers, noted Lt. Col. Amanda Goncalves, 2nd Bomb Wing Inspector General.

All of that is still years down the road. More immediately, the 2nd Bomb Wing has flown its BUFFs from northwest Europe to South Korea to even a mission within the U.S. Southern Command region in the past year, and air crews put in 12-15 hours per day in training, said Goncalves, with some days going even longer. That includes:

  • full days of mission planning to discuss contingencies
  • air refueling, simulated weapons events, or simulated defensive profiles
  • ‘pattern work,’ practicing various configurations for takeoffs and landings
  • debriefing and evaluation

Officials declined to discuss future operations, citing operational security, but demand for the B-52 remains high, said Maginness said.

“Frankly, there are more requests for B-52 airpower than we can service at this point,” he said. “It brings such an incredible capability to the combatant commanders, long range precision strike.”

New Report: Why the US Should Invest More in Quantum Now

New Report: Why the US Should Invest More in Quantum Now

Jan. 30, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

Highly precise sensors that could enable aircraft to navigate without satellite-based GPS. Tiny atomic clocks that could ensure perfect timing in the face of GPS jamming. Wideband, low-power antennas that could guarantee secure communications. 

These are among the breakthrough capabilities promised by quantum technologies that experts say could give the U.S. Air Force crucial advantages in a future conflict with China—provided, that is, that the U.S. military invests in developing those technologies sooner, not later.  

“We have to make decisions about what technologies to pursue, and we have to understand quantum to do that,” said Heather Penney, senior resident fellow at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, and the author of a series of papers on the topic. “We need to be able to focus on high potential—the practical science makes sense, the technology is ready. We need to focus on high payoff—what will actually make a difference to the warfighter.” 

Penney highlighted three quantum technologies for reporters at a Jan. 29 rollout event. The three high-potential, high-payoff applications: timing, inertial sensors, and radio frequency receivers. 

“Quantum timing integrated with quantum inertial sensors could provide warfighters with an internal, self-contained [precision navigation and timing] capability whose accuracy exceeds current GPS solutions,” Penney writes. 

Air Mobility Command experimented with just such a capability in May 2023, placing a quantum magnetic sensor the size of a small crate in the back of a C-17—then measuring changes in the Earth’s magnetic field and using those calculations to navigate the aircraft to its destination.  

Air Force leaders increasingly express concern about their aircraft’s dependence on GPS satellites to know where to go. Were GPS jammed or disabled, however, quantum devices like magnetometers and gravimeters could still get aircraft to their destination using precise measurements of the behavior of sub-atomic particles. 

Such sensors promise other benefits, including the ability to “detect and map underground tunnels [and] enhance undersea sensing and navigation,” Penney wrote. 

Atomic clocks have been around for decades, but quantum tech can make them even more precise in even smaller packages—expanding the number of platforms they could go on and again freeing them from relying on external timing signals that could be jammed. 

Such precise instruments could “provide resilient position, navigation, and timing in highly contested environments,” Penney wrote—and they’re not that far off from being a reality, said Michael Hayduk, deputy director of the Air Force Research Lab Information Directorate. 

“Timelines are very critical here,” said Hayduk. “When we think about putting these together in quantum-assisted [PNT]-type systems—clocks are pretty much here, one to three years out, and sensors around two to five years as well. So when we talk about military readiness and being able to push technologies out, timing and sensing I think are very critical.” 

Finally, both Penney and Hayduk cited the potential of “Rydberg atom”-based receivers—technology that can receive radio signals from across the entire spectrum. Hayduk noted that the Army has conducted research in the area, showing long-range communications with low size, weight, and power requirements, while also being more secure and harder to detect.  

Such systems could “improve electronic protection and electronic attack,” Penney wrote. 

Learning Quantum

Broadly speaking, quantum refers to “sub-atomic particles and their attributes and behaviors,” Penney wrote in the first of her three-part series. While scientists have understood those attributes and behaviors for years, only recently have they developed “the ability to directly and precisely control, manipulate, and measure quantum particles, attributes, and behaviors,” she added. 

The possibilities created by that ability are enormous; Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, has put quantum among her top priorities. The most oft-cited example is quantum computing, using specialized “qubits” instead of classical bits to generate enormous processing power that can solve certain complex problems in ways traditional computers can’t. 

But experts are uncertain about how quickly quantum computing will become practical. Other quantum technologies, meanwhile, promise immediate payoffs. 

“Timelines are very critical here,” said Michael Hayduk, deputy director of the Air Force Research Lab Information Directorate. “When we think about putting these together in quantum-assisted [positioning, navigation, and timing]-type systems—clocks are pretty much here, one to three years out, and sensors around two to five years as well. So when we talk about military readiness and being able to push technologies out, timing and sensing I think are very critical.” 

Hayduk pointed to a 2022 demonstration AFRL put on with partners and allies, including the Five Eyes intelligence network, to place quantum sensors and clocks in a shipping container in the middle of the Pacific ocean. Conducting PNT experiments, they showed the technology could work outside the lab. 

“These capabilities must be ruggedized, integrated with platforms, and stressed in realistic combat conditions like operational exercises to demonstrate their value to warfighters,” Penney wrote. 

She recommends the Department of the Air Force establish a substantial acquisition program to push quantum towards operational fielding and help bolster the industrial base. 

“If we’re going to secure a meaningful advantage, an acquisition program of record is urgently needed if U.S. policymakers are serious about quantum and fielding it to their warfighters,” Penney told reporters during a briefing on her report. “Even an initial minimum viable capability, fielded capability, can kickstart and accelerate the broader quantum ecosystem.” 

Fielding capabilities will also help scientists refine them with real-world experience and “help educate our leadership,” said Hayduk. 

Given the limited commercial utility, the government must take the lead in funding development, argued Laura Thomas, chief of staff at the startup Infleqtion.

“We have to have the nudge from government to really get it out of the lab and into the field,” Thomas said. “We have these very small batch capabilities … we have an entire trophy case of prototypes that we’ve built, especially from R&D money. But now it’s, how do we build the devices at scale, where the warfighter can use it and truly benefit from it and we can advance more quickly than China.” 

USAF Wraps Up Flight Testing on Electric Aircraft, Complete with Casualty Evac

USAF Wraps Up Flight Testing on Electric Aircraft, Complete with Casualty Evac

Jan. 29, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force and BETA Technologies finished a three-month stint of flight testing with its “Alia” electric aircraft at Duke Field, Fla., the contractor announced Jan. 29—which included several milestones for electric aviation within the Department of Defense. 

Most prominently, the Air Force’s 96th Test Wing said that on Jan. 11, the sleek, quiet, fixed-wing aircraft flew a simulated casualty evacuation mission and communicated directly with Air Force aircraft for the first time. 

The 413th Flight Test Squadron, the Air Force’s rotary wing test squadron, wrote the test and safety plan for Alia, which landed at Duke Field in late October. BETA continued to own and operate the aircraft. 

In a release announcing the end of the “deployment,” BETA said Alia’s time at Duke was “the next phase of a larger developmental test and evaluation (DT&E) effort being conducted by the U.S. Air Force to assess electric aviation’s applicability for DOD missions.” 

One such mission is getting wounded troops to medical care as quickly as possible. 

On Jan. 11, an HH-60W helicopter from the 41st Rescue Squadron transported a simulated casualty from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., according to the 96th Test Wing release. There, the Air Force aircrew transferred the casualty on a stretcher to the BETA aircrew, who loaded the stretcher into Alia and then flew 68 nautical miles to Duke Field, where it was met by a medical crew. 

The transfer took less than 10 minutes, but it could mark the beginning of a shift in how the Air Force approaches the difficult mission of casualty evacuation, when time is of the essence and aircraft are in high demand. 

“During these exercises, the goal is to augment the existing fleet with additional low-cost assets to assist in mission execution so battlefield aircraft can stay in the fight,” Maj. Riley Livermore, 413 FLTS Futures Flight commander, said in a statement. 

Back in April 2020, the Air Force launched its “Agility Prime” program to spur development in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft industry. Service leaders said the aircraft could, among other missions, help with search and rescue and medical evacuation—missions that are being rethought amid the Air Force’s push to prepare for competition and possible conflict in the vast Indo-Pacific region. 

While the Alia now being tested is a fixed-wing, conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, BETA is also building a vertical takeoff and landing variant and has participated in Agility Prime. 

The casualty evacuation mission marked the first ever by an electric aircraft and “demonstrates key impacts electric aviation can have on military services, including increase in response time at the [forward operating base],” BETA’s release stated. “The HH-60 was able to initiate the movement of the Quick Response Force sooner than if it had to move the patient to definitive medical care.” 

Additionally, the release pointed out that if the Air Force needed to rely on a C-130 to transport the patient, it would require more crew and more fuel.

On top of the casualty evacuation simulation, the Alia aircraft also completed a simulated Maintenance Recovery Team (MRT) mission, flying to Eglin to pick up a needed part for an F-35 that had landed at Duke. 

On the commercial side, electric aircraft are often thought of as future “air taxis,” to quickly and quietly move people in dense urban environments. For the Air Force, they could be useful for logistical problems by moving people and cargo faster than cars or trucks, but more efficiently than large airlifters. 

The MRT mission, for example, took about one hour of flight time and cost $25 in electricity. A truck driving the same distance would take four hours and consume $45 in gas, the BETA release said. 

The Air Force is pressing ahead with other electric aircraft investments. In September 2023, the service accepted an eVTOL aircraft from Joby Aviation at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and it is expected to get another in the near future. USAF has also awarded a contract to Archer Aviation worth up to $142 million for up to six of the company’s aircraft. 

Foreign Military Sales Sets New Record, Up 55.9 Percent in 2023

Foreign Military Sales Sets New Record, Up 55.9 Percent in 2023

Jan. 29, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The U.S. transferred a record $80.9 billion worth of military equipment and services to other countries in fiscal 2023, a 55.9 percent increase over the fiscal 2022 level of $50.9 billion, according to the U.S. State Department.

“This is the highest annual total of sales and assistance provided to our allies and partners,” a State Department release said.

The total marks progress in State’s goal of accelerating FMS cases after an internal review last year of how the process could be sped up.

Of the overall figure, $62.25 billion was funded by “U.S. ally and partner nations,” while the rest was financed by the U.S. The roughly $18 billion remainder includes about $4 billion through the foreign military financing program and $14.68 billion for State Department programs such as anti-narcotics trafficking enforcement and de-mining operations, as well as the Pentagon Defense Building Capacity programs such as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

From 2021-23, FMS sales averaged $55.9 billion per year, a 21.9 percent increase over the 2020-22 average of $45.8 billion per year.

The State Department provides this three-year rolling average because of the “multiyear implementation timeframe for many arms transfers and defense trade cases,” it noted in its release.

Poland was the single largest FMS customer in fiscal 2023, with over $30 billion in transfers.

Prominent examples of FMS sales in 2023 included:

  • Poland: AH-64E Apache attack helicopter, $12 billion
  • Poland: High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), $10 billion
  • Germany: CH-47F Chinook Helicopters, $8.5 billion
  • Australia: C-130J-30 air transports, $6.35 billion
  • Canada: P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, $5.9 billion
  • Czech Republic: F-35 fighters and munitions, $5.62 billion
  • Republic of Korea: F-35 fighters, $5.06 billion
  • Poland: Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System, $4.0 billion
  • Poland: M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, $3.75 billion
  • Kuwait: National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) Medium-Range Air Defense System (MRADS), $3.0 billion
  • Germany: AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), $2.90 billion

The State Department also provided figures for Direct Commercial Sales, which are not managed by the FMS program but which require congressional approval. The total of licensed Direct Commercial Sales from U.S. companies to foreign customers was $157.5 billion in fiscal 2023, a 2.5 percent increase from the $153.6 billion recorded in fiscal 2022.

The three-year rolling average for DCS was $124.9 billion, a 16.5 percent change from the previous three-year period.

DCS “includes the value of hardware, services, and technical data authorized from exports, temporary imports, re-export, re-transfers and brokering,” according to a State press release.  

State also noted that the number of DCS cases adjudicated rose six percent in fiscal 2023 versus 2022, from 22,138 to 23,474. The “Total Licensed Entities” involved also rose 2.9 percent, reflecting a wider defense industrial base doing defense business.

Prominent examples of DCS sales in 2023 included:

  • Italy: F-35 wing assemblies and sub-assemblies, $2.8 billion
  • India: GE F414-INS6 engine hardware, $1.8 billion
  • Singapore: F100 engines and spare parts, $1.2 billion
  • South Korea: F100 engines and spare parts, $1.2 billion
  • Norway/Ukraine: NASAMS, Norway and Ukraine Ministries of Defence, $1.2 billion
  • Saudi Arabia: Patriot Guided Missiles, $1 billion

State noted that it follows “a holistic approach when reviewing arms transfer decisions,” as they will have “potential long-run implications for regional and global security.”

The “holistic approach includes consideration” of U.S. conventional arms transfer policies and takes into account “political, social, human rights, civilian protection, economic, military, nonproliferation, technology security, and end use factors to determine the appropriate provision of military equipment and the licensing of direct commercial sales of defense articles to U.S. allies and partners.”

USAF Pushes for Better Health Care Access for Far-Flung Recruiters

USAF Pushes for Better Health Care Access for Far-Flung Recruiters

Jan. 29, 2024 | By David Roza

As the Air Force Recruiting Service works to increase its presence in new parts of the country to help solve its recruiting challenge, its leader wants to make sure recruiters working far from military medical facilities have access to health care and are reimbursed for long travel times to and from doctors’ visits.

“We charge our recruiters with the critical job of finding youth willing and able to serve and protect our nation,” AFRS commander Brig. Gen. Christopher Amrhein said in a recent press release. “In turn, it’s our responsibility to support these Airmen and their families to the absolute best of our ability.”

On Jan. 11, Amrhein met with Defense Health Agency and TRICARE officials to develop strategies for some of the issues recruiters encounter when located far from a base, including:

  • Staffing shortages both in local communities and across the Military Health System
  • Outdated “find a doc” directories, where providers who no longer take TRICARE are often listed
  • Lack of clarity on TRICARE benefits for service members far from military health facilities
  • Costs and delays in home-delivery prescriptions

The release noted that broader challenges, such as the health care worker shortage, will take time to resolve, but DHA and AFRS want to start with low-hanging fruit, such as improving awareness and ease of use for TRICARE Prime Remote, a no-fee plan for active duty and some activated reserve component members and families who are more than 50 miles or one hour’s drive from a military hospital or clinic. 

“The drive time standard is crucial for recruiters stationed in traffic-heavy cities like Chicago, where an hour drive can quickly extend to two or three,” the release said.

Amrhein wants to make sure recruiters understand the resources available to them through Prime Remote, including Prime Travel Benefit, which reimburses participants for health care-related travel expenses. Starting in February, AFRS will hold monthly TRICARE briefings for Air Force recruiters in training and their families, though the exact date and time for the first brief has not yet been scheduled, a spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. About 1,500 of AFRS’ total 2,700 recruiters are stationed away from a military installation, she added.

“Our aim is to provide our recruiters with health care information prior to their first assignment,” Amrhein said in the release. “We want them to feel supported from the start.”

In the meantime, AFRS also wants to identify the places “with the greatest access or provider directory challenges,” so that DHA can focus its improvements on those areas.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Harrell, director, Defense Health Network Central, responds to a question about healthcare access for recruiters during a meeting at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, Jan. 11, 2024. (Defense Health Agency photo by Brian J. Valencia)

T-5 Refresh

Though the Jan. 11 meeting was focused on Air Force recruiters and their families, the takeaways could help DHA understand the challenges all remote military families face, a spokesperson for Defense Health Network Central, DHA’s largest health care network, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

“The lessons learned and solutions implemented by DHA and the Air Force Recruiting Service will improve access to care not only for Air Force recruiters, but for all service members and their families in remote locations around the world,” the spokesperson said.

One change coming soon is a new TRICARE contract known as T-5 which is scheduled to begin in 2025. The new contract is meant to enhance provider network flexibility, boost telehealth resources, streamline referral transfers, and other improvements, according to a TRICARE release. 

Many of these changes could be moot without up-to-date provider directories, which DHA hopes to achieve through “frequent and large-scale audits,” the DHA release said.

It will be a long road, as there are over 800,000 participating providers in just the TRICARE East region. To speed things along, T-5 will include a link for beneficiaries to report provider discrepancies on the TRICARE West website. As of now, only TRICARE East has that feature. 

The upcoming changes will arrive amid a wider reckoning in the Military Health System, many of whose 9.6 million beneficiaries reported long wait times and staffing shortages at military treatment facilities. 

“The need to stabilize the MHS is clear,” an MHS official wrote in a statement. “The realignment of medical personnel and the volatile health care economy of the past three years created challenges in the care of beneficiaries.”

The statement promised a review of all medical manpower and staffing by June 30, as well as a “limited redistribution” of providers to a few key locations no later than July 1. 

“We are going to rebuild that capacity first to earn trust from our beneficiaries.” Dr. David Smith, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for health readiness policy and oversight, said in a statement.

3 Dead, Dozens Wounded By Drone Attack on US Base in Jordan

3 Dead, Dozens Wounded By Drone Attack on US Base in Jordan

Jan. 28, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

Three U.S. service members were killed and at least 34 troops were injured in an overnight attack at a base in Jordan on Jan. 28, the U.S. said. It marked the first U.S. troops killed in the region by enemy action since the Israel-Hamas war began in October and Iran-backed groups began launching attacks against the U.S.

“While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” President Joe Biden said in a Jan. 28 statement.

The troops were killed at Tower 22 in northeastern Jordan, a small outpost close to the border with Syria that houses Air Force and Army personnel. U.S. Central Command said in a statement the attack was carried out by a one-way attack drone that “impacted on a base.”

Such groups have attacked U.S. troops at least 158 times since Oct. 17, using drones, rockets, and ballistic missiles, according to U.S. officials. While most have been unsuccessful, a U.S. contractor died of a heart attack while sheltering in place in one instance, and a U.S. service member was critically wounded in another.

Tower 22 is located near Al Tanf Garrison in southeastern Syria, where the U.S. works with local partners to combat the Islamic State group. Al Tanf has drawn frequent attacks in recent months, but the Jan. 28 attack on Tower 22 was the first known attack on U.S. forces in Jordan. Tower 22 provides logistics and support for Al Tanf. CENTCOM initially said 25 troops were injured, but within hours, that number had risen to more than 34 wounded. Eight troops were transported out of Jordan for a higher level of medical attention and CENTCOM indicated the number of injured troops may increase.

“There are approximately 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel deployed to the base, conducting a number of key support functions, including support to the coalition for the lasting defeat of ISIS,” CENTCOM said in a statement issued later in the day.

The U.S. is seeking to avoid widening the conflict in the region, while at the same time preventing attacks against U.S. troops there. Iranian-backed groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen have all launched attacks of one sort or another. The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have also attacked international shipping, leading to a steady stream of U.S. and allied strikes against Houthi military targets.

“The goal is to deter them and we don’t want to go down a path of greater escalation that drives to a much broader conflict within the region,” Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said on ABC’s This Week in previously recorded interview that aired Jan. 28.

The U.S. has conducted retaliatory and self-defense airstrikes against the Iranian-backed militias that have attacked American and coalition personnel in the region as recently as last week when it struck Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi group responsible for many of the attacks on American troops, according to the U.S. military. The attack came as talks are set to begin over a final withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq.

“These service members embodied the very best of our nation: Unwavering in their bravery. Unflinching in their duty. Unbending in their commitment to our country—risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, and our allies and partners with whom we stand in the fight against terrorism,” Biden said. “It is a fight we will not cease.”

CENTCOM said the identities of the service members would be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.

“The President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests,” Austin said.

The president was briefed on the attack the morning of Jan. 28 by Austin, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, White House officials said. Biden convened another meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, CIA Director Bill Burns, Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Austin, Brown, Finer, and Sullivan in the afternoon.

“The three American service members we lost were patriots in the highest sense,” Biden said. “We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism. And have no doubt—we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing. “

“We shall respond,” Biden added at an event in South Carolina.

New SpOC Commander Highlights ‘Destabilizing’ Acts by Russia and China in Space

New SpOC Commander Highlights ‘Destabilizing’ Acts by Russia and China in Space

Jan. 27, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

Space weapons being developed by China and Russia this week pose a threat to the U.S, according the new head of Space Operations Command and a new report co-produced by the National Space Intelligence Center.

Speaking with the Space Force Association just a few days after he officially took command of SpOC, Lt. Gen. David N. Miller Jr. said that in his previous job as director of operations for U.S. Space Command, two events stood out in his memory as indicative of how space has become more challenging. 

The first came in the summer of 2021, when China launched a fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS) with a hypersonic glide vehicle—incorporating concepts from an old Soviet Union system. 

“I think that is a particularly destabilizing capability. That is the potential for an adversary to launch potentially a nuclear payload into orbit, leave it there for some period of time, and then deorbit it whenever they feel like,” Miller explained. “In this case, it was back into the [People’s Republic of China]. That’s a pretty destabilizing capability. And I think that is something that while … we’ve begun to restore military-to-military communications, those are not activities that promote stability and security globally.” 

A few months later, Russia tested a direct ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missile against one of its own spacecraft, creating thousands of pieces of debris in orbit.

Both incidents were also highlighted in a new report produced by the National Space Intelligence Center (Delta 18) and the National Air & Space Intelligence Center, titled “Competing in Space.” 

A previous edition of the report was published in December 2018, but in the six years since, the number of threats—and targets—in space have multiplied. 

“The U.S.’s key competitors, China and Russia, both operate hundreds of space systems to strengthen warfighting capabilities, boost spheres of influence, and position themselves as leaders in the international space community,” the report states. “At the same time, both of these competitors are developing counterspace capabilities capable of degrading or destroying space systems critical to civilian infrastructure and military operations.” 

China’s FOBS test traveled some 40,000 kilometers (the length of the Earth’s circumference) and stayed aloft more than 100 minutes, both records for a Chinese land attack weapon, the report noted. Meanwhile, Russia’s ASAT test created “tens of thousands of lethal but nontrackable objects.” 

“There are just things that I do not think promote stability and security, and when we say we have global competitors, it’s actions like that that bring it to the forefront. But it’s fundamentally a challenge to the rules-based order,” Miller said of those actions. 

While both events occurred more than two years ago, Miller said they “continue to this day to be concerning for me from a perspective of this is just potentially destabilizing behavior—and it’s the reason, in my view, that America has a Space Force.”

“Competing in Space” noted several other counterspace capabilities being pursued by China and Russia, including previously-reported events like the launch of a Chinese satellite with a “grappling arm” that can grab and tow satellites into different orbits and “nesting doll” Russian satellites that have tested kinetic kill capabilities. 

The report also detailed other capabilities both China and Russia are pursuing, including jammers and ground-based lasers that could blind or damage satellite sensors. 

“By the mid-to-late 2020s, Beijing may have higher-power systems capable of damaging satellites,” the report warned. 

While many of these capabilities are obvious threats, even seemingly benign developments could be dangerous, the report added. 

“The dual-use nature of some spacecraft technologies makes counterspace tests or hostile activity difficult to detect, attribute, or mitigate,” the report stated. “For example, sensors to inspect other satellites and robotic arms for servicing other satellites support peaceful missions, but can also be used to target or attack spacecraft.” 

In the face of all this, Miller said one of the main goals for his tenure atop SpOC is “improving the combat capability we have today,” from the modernization of the Space Force’s existing systems to building up the infrastructure around those systems and investing in leadership development “to make sure that America’s Guardians and Airmen in Space Operations Command are ready for the range of threats.”