Northrop Gets $7 Billion for B-2 Support Through 2029. After That, Funding Dries Up

May 6, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Northrop Grumman received a $7 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract on May 3 to support the B-2 bomber fleet through 2029. While Air Force budget documents indicate no further procurement or research and development on the B-2 after that, the service was not immediately able to say if the B-2 will retire at that point or soon after.

Only $21,439 is being obligated for the contract right away, and those funds are fiscal 2023 R&D monies, the Pentagon said.

“This contract provides for B-2 enhancements, sustainment, logistics elements including sustaining engineering, software maintenance, and support equipment. Also included is programmed depot maintenance of the fleet and other interim contractor support,” the Pentagon said in the announcement. Work will be performed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.; and Hill Air Force, Utah. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center awarded the contract.

The Air Force is requesting $63.9 million for B-2 procurement in its fiscal 2025 budget, with a total of $207.2 million forecasted through 2029 and no more shown after that. The service is asking for $41.1 million in B-2 research and development in 2025 and just a couple thousand dollars every year after that.

Neither line item covers operations, and most of the potential $7 billion of work thus lies in maintenance, reliability and functional enhancements, and depot visits.

Air Force Global Strike Command has been ambiguous about when the B-1 and B-2 bombers will retire. A bomber roadmap obtained by Air & Space Forces Magazine in 2018 called for the fleet to move to just the B-52 and the new B-21 Raider around 2031-2033, but the Air Force has since described that plan as obsolete, and no successor roadmap has been publicly revealed. The Air Force flies just 20 B-2s, and they are its only penetrating fleet until the B-21 is available for duty.

The B-21 entered low-rate initial production in December, but the rate at which the bomber will enter the inventory has never been disclosed. William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in February that the B-21 production rate was deliberately kept very low to protect the program from budget cutters.

Pentagon and industry officials, and the Department’s inventory planning documents, suggest that the B-21 may only be built at a rate of up to three per year during LRIP, and not more than 10 per year at peak. The first 21 aircraft will be delivered in five lots, but it’s not clear if lots equal years.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has offered cautious optimism that the program is on track but routinely warns members of Congress in testimony that unforeseen problems and delays with the B-21 could develop, potentially necessitating an extension of the B-2’s planned service life. The Air Force has previously said the B-2 has the structural integrity to fly into the 2040s if necessary.

Assuming a production rate of four Raiders per year is achieved in the next couple of years, there could be enough B-21s delivered by 2029 to avoid any reduction in the Air Force’s bomber inventory if the B-2 is retired in that year. The first B-21 flew last fall; five more are in production, and of the first six, five will be dedicated to flight test activities. After initial flight testing is complete, the flight test articles—typically wired and rigged with specialized test apparatus—are to be converted to an operational configuration. The Air Force plans to buy “at least” 100 B-21s.

“I would be surprised if the B-2 [fleet] is retired in 2029,” said Mark Gunzinger, director of future concepts and capability assessments for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. The Air Force needs “all the bomber tails it can get right now and for the foreseeable future,” given that the bomber fleet now numbers only 139 aircraft, he said.

Gunzinger did say, however, that it is possible some B-2s could be retired before the end of the decade if B-21s start to reach operational capability. The size of the fleet is “constrained by funding,” he noted, but replacing B-2s one-for-one “won’t fell the gap” between what analysis shows the Air Force needs and the number of bombers it actually fields. A fleet of 100 B-21s is “not optimum,” he said. Gunzinger has previously recommended 225 B-2s as a more appropriate fleet size, and that building them at a rate of 20 per year should be an Air Force budget priority.

Global Strike Command has said it needs to minimize the amount of time it fields four types of bombers at once—B-1s, B-2s, B-52s, and B-21s—because its long-range planning shows it won’t have enough maintenance manpower to support all four types indefinitely.

Asked to comment on the B-2 award, Northrop Grumman said it funds the Flexible Acquisition Sustainment Team (FAST) III contract, which “provides flexibility to accommodate the broad enterprise of activities associated with the B-2 program.”

These activities cover a huge range of activities, including everything from engineering to cybersecurity to logistics support.

Budget justification documents indicate the bulk of procurement and R&D dollars for the B-2 lie in maintaining and improving the aircraft’s low observable, or stealth systems, with improvements to reduce maintenance man hours and increase aircraft availability, as well as upgrades to communications, the aircraft’s engines and displays. Some of the funds will be used to resolve safety of flight and “vanishing vendor” issues.

The B-2’s Advanced Communications upgrades, “formerly known only as B-2 Advanced Comms Adaptable Communications Suite,” will keep the bomber “ready, effective, and survivable” by keeping up with “growing crypto mandates and mitigating end-of-life systems,” budget documents state.

The suite will also connect with joint all-domain command and control systems and provide secure communications within and outside of line-of-sight conditions, while improving the bomber’s satellite and ultra-high frequency systems.

PHOTOS: Air Force Secretary Flies in an AI-Piloted F-16, a ‘Significant Step’ for CCA

May 6, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall caught a ride in the front seat of a modified, artificial intelligence-piloted F-16 on May 2, a high-profile show of confidence in the service’s autonomous technologies—and another key step in maturing that technology for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

Reporters from the Associated Press and NBC were invited to observe the flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where Kendall spent an hour in the X-62 VISTA, reportedly reaching speeds exceeding 550 miles per hour and coming within 1,000 feet of a second, human-controlled F-16 to test the AI’s proficiency with aerial dogfighting.

Neither Kendall nor the safety pilot in the backseat touched the jet’s controls during the entire journey, according to an Air Force release.

“The potential for autonomous air-to-air combat has been imaginable for decades, but the reality has remained a distant dream up until now,” Kendall said in a release. “This is a transformational moment, all made possible by breakthrough accomplishments of the Air Combat Evolution team.”

Kendall’s willingness to fly with the experimental technology, even as it engaged with another aircraft, “is demonstrating his confidence and faith in the AI agent to do some dynamic maneuvering in that environment against another fighter,” Heather Penney, senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and a former F-16 pilot, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

But more than that, Penney said, the flight shows the Air Force’s AI is steadily making the transition from simulations to real-world scenarios, which will be crucial for CCAs—envisioned as autonomous “wingmen” drones that will fly alongside manned platforms.

“The physical world is far more complex, and there are enough differences in the air data, such as humidity or winds, for example, that make the transition from simulation to the physical world very difficult,” Penney said. “To be able to use those aircraft sensors to inform the AI agent to make the decisions, and then maneuver in real world, is a significant step towards fielding CCA capability that can be useful in combat.”

The Air Force has been pushing forward on autonomy as of late, with the VISTA program as just one of several feeding into the CCA initiative. The VENOM project, for example, is exploring manned-unmanned teaming with a half-dozen F-16s at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

The F-16 is particularly well-suited for such tests, Penney said, as its digital flight control system can integrate the AI agent on board and is highly maneuverable, which helps with testing the agent’s ability to make rapid decisions in dynamic environments.

Strengthening the AI’s decision-making is key to building pilots’ trust in it and integrating CCAs into formations, and Penney suggested an iterative, “crawl-walk-run” approach.

“The CCA capability is not going to be as robust as a human, because humans can make decisions and through the fog and friction of war through ambiguity, uncertainty, deception and deceit,” said Penney. “That is very difficult for AI agents at this point in time.”

Even so, the ability for CCAs to maneuver alongside manned fighters will give the Air Force “affordable mass” to deal with near-peer adversaries like China. These AI-piloted aircraft could serve as force multipliers, enhancing sensor and weapon deployment in contested regions and increasing the survivability of crewed stealth aircraft.

“It’s about disrupting our adversary, creating chaos, depleting the weapons magazine so we can fundamentally shift the risk calculus such that combat operations are in our favor,” Penney said.

Last month, the Air Force selected Anduril and General Atomics to continue developing their CCA concepts. A final source selection for the first increment of CCA will be announced in 2026. The service plans to build at least 1,000 and as many as 2,000 CCAs through the mid-2030s.

And while Kendall’s F-16 ride generated plenty of headlines now, Penney said many more AI-related milestones and flight tests will come in the not-so-distant future.

“In the coming years, we should be able to see early test flights of Increment 1 CCAs, proving and maturing their tactics, and potentially being integrated into manned operational exercises,” said Penney. “Because we also need to learn what is the best way to employ these, and the only way to do that is to experiment through exercises.”

Hurricane Hunters Say They Need More C-130s To Meet Record-High Demand

May 6, 2024 | By David Roza

While threats like China and Russia dominate the headlines, one Air Force Reserve squadron is focused on another important peril: extreme weather that can devastate both civilian communities and military bases.

“If you ask the wing commander at Homestead [Air Reserve Base], at Tyndall [Air Force Base], at [Joint Base] Charleston, any coastal installation, they’ll tell you the same thing: they rely on that hurricane center forecast that tells them what’s going to happen,” said Maj. Chris Dyke, an aerial reconnaissance weather officer with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, better known as the Hurricane Hunters.

As hurricane season gets longer and storms roam farther north, the Airmen of the 53rd find themselves flying more storms farther from their home station with the 403rd Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. There is no rest in the winter, when the squadron travels to the Pacific to gather data on atmospheric rivers: massive bodies of vapor that dump snow and rain on the west coast. With just 10 aging WC-130J aircraft and 20 crews, the Airmen and their equipment are feeling the pinch.

“The resources we’re working with today were established and set in 1996 and no significant changes have happened since then,” Dyke said. “At that point it was resourced for a six-month hurricane mission. We are now a 10-month operational mission and a two-month road show. … To be honest, it’s not enough time for the aircraft.”

Hurricanes

Every summer, the 53rd flies WC-130Js into storms over the Atlantic and Caribbean. The data they gather via the aircraft and dropsondes—small cylinders that drop out of the aircraft and parachute to the sea—help scientists at the National Hurricane Center predict the size of the storms and where they will make landfall, which in turn helps decision-makers make calls such as evacuation orders.

Senior Master Sgt. Jay Latham, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron loadmaster, calibrates a dropsonde during a mission Sept. 28, 2022 into Hurricane Ian as it made landfall in Florida. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jessica L. Kendziorek)

Better information also saves money; it costs at least $1 million to evacuate a mile of coastline, and it costs Air Force base commanders money to evacuate aircraft in advance of a storm. The data gathered by the 53rd helps narrow the track of a hurricane and reduce the number of evacuations. But as science improves, the Hurricane Hunters are being asked to fly more sorties.

“The hurricane center moving from a three-day to a five-day to a seven-day forecast is great, especially for me as a coastal resident,” Dyke said. “But with that comes added work, because now we’re going to be flying the storm earlier in its development.”

The 53rd saw an 18 percent increase in demand flying hurricanes since 2018, the major said. They are also flying into potential tropical cyclones to gather early data, and the last few seasons they have flown up to Canada as storms travel farther north. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also has Hurricane Hunters who fly into storms, but they gather different sets of data.

“The research that comes from NOAA’s data helps change the equations in the model, while we collect data that goes into the model that is actively running,” Dyke said.

The demand is increasing so much that the 53rd WRS can’t fly them all, which leaves gaps in storm data. Just last year, the squadron had to pull aircraft out of the Caribbean island of St. Croix and send them back to Keesler in order to track Hurricane Idalia, which was deemed the more important storm.

“That was an example where we’re asking the hurricane center, ‘OK, pick and choose, what’s your priority?’” Dyke said. “There are impacts from the one we don’t fly. We’re talking about potential impacts to stateside readiness, homeland defense.”

The hurricane season keeps the 53rd busy all summer, and a relatively new mission has them flying through the winter too.

hurricane hunters — A screenshot from a 53rd WRS slideshow visualizes the impact of Hurricane Hunter data in specifying where a storm will hit, which saves millions of dollars in evacuation efforts. (Screenshot via 53rd WRS)

Atmospheric Rivers

Over the Pacific Ocean flow mighty atmospheric rivers: bodies of water vapor that can carry 15 times the water flow equivalent of the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to NOAA. When the rivers make landfall, that vapor can turn into heavy rain, snow, and flooding which can damage infrastructure. The rivers also affect how deep local governments draw water from their reservoirs.

“That has significant impacts on the Central Valley, we’re talking about the national food supply,” said Dyke, referring to California’s role in growing much of the country’s fruits, vegetables, and nuts. “It has effects on those DOD installations in that area, so it has a duplicative effect on wartime readiness as well as national security and homeland defense.”

Since 2016, the 53rd has flown atmospheric river missions as far as Guam to provide better data on when and where the rivers arrive. In 2022, the data they gathered provided another 72 hours of decision time for emergency planners, which allowed them to pre-position search and rescue teams and supplies and help make “over 600 swift water rescues” possible, Dyke said.

The demand for atmospheric river missions has increased 606 percent since 2018. Combined with the hurricane season, fiscal 2023 saw the highest number of operational flying hours in the past nine years for the 53rd WRS, and fiscal 2024 is on pace to meet or exceed that. But the Hurricane Hunters do not have the resources to keep pace.

Tech. Sgt. Victoria Kinman, 403rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, inspects the wings of a WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance on the flightline prior to an atmospheric river mission Jan. 27 at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Carranza)

Weathering the Weather Planes

When it adopted the WC-130J in 1999, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron was among the first units in the Air Force to fly the ‘J’ model, the latest version of the venerable C-130 aircraft. But 25 years later, the fleet is feeling the effects of a quarter century of rough skies.

“Because it’s aging, it gets worse each year, and so the vast majority of your non-mission capable time is scheduled maintenance, and that increases each year,” said Col. William Magee, commander of the 403rd Maintenance Group.

Hail in particular takes a toll: last year maintainers had to change out an aircraft’s propellers and radome (the nose cone) after flying through Hurricane Ian. The salty sea air also corrodes the aircraft faster. Magee estimated he usually has eight aircraft available for missions at any given time, with the other two down for maintenance.

“I’m not authorized to say when enough is enough, but we are growing our storm missions at a rate where about every two years, we would need another airplane,” he said.

The pace takes a toll on the people too. During hurricane season, the squadron sends a team of 35 maintainers and 35 crew members on the road to work out of airfields closer to the storms. In the winter, teams hit the road again for California and atmospheric rivers.

“We’re happy to do it, we love the mission, but it does take us away from home a lot,” Magee said. “That means some wear and tear on the families.”

Ten of the five-member Hurricane Hunter crews are made up of full-time reservists, while the other 10 are traditional part-time reservists, but all are feeling the strain. The demand “is just continuing to grow, and when you have the same resources that are in place, those are the same full-time crews, occasional part-time crews that are flying those year after year,” said Dyke. “So yeah, it’s definitely taking a toll on the people.”

Tech Refresh

A forecast model is only as good as the data feeding it, Dyke explained. As modeling improves, scientists need different kinds of data to help planners make decisions. The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron could provide that data with new sensors and technology, but the funding bucket for those upgrades, the National Guard & Reserve Equipment Appropriation (NGREA) usually is not big enough to cover it and all the other national security priorities.

“While weather reconnaissance is number one on my list, there are other competing priorities: great power competition,” said Dyke. “So it’s a rack and stack and the NGREA pot’s only so big.”

1st Lt. Ryan Smithies, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron pilot, flies a WC-130J Super Hercules in the eye of Hurricane Dorian Sep. 4,2019 off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Ryan Smithies)

One potential modernization is a broadband upgrade that would let the Hurricane Hunters send real-time high-definition video of radar footage back to the National Hurricane Center as they fly through a storm.

“Right now, we’re able to send the radar imagery we compile from flights in a video file after the fact,” Lt. Col. Tobi Baker, an aerial reconnaissance weather officer, said in a 2021 press release. “That’s great for research purposes, but being able to send the video in real time will be beneficial for those people on the ground putting out the watches and warnings as it will give them a better idea of what’s going on in and around the eye or center of a storm.”

Broadband access would “open up our data pipe to push more information at a quicker pace,” Dyke said. Other upgrades include a better Doppler Radar that could capture higher-resolution data and a dynamic sensor pod that would let crews swap out sensors for different missions. But the upgrade pace is glacial, which is frustrating when several already exist on the commercial market.

The 53rd WRS receives some funding from the Navy and other agencies which benefit from the squadron’s work, but overall the funding structure does not keep pace with modern demands, unit members said.

What would a better funding mechanism look like? The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act requires a report on whether the Hurricane Hunters and their counterparts in NOAA need more resources to carry out their mission through 2035. The report was due 90 days after the bill was signed into law on Dec. 22, but Maj. Gen. C. McCauley von Hoffman, the deputy chief of the Air Force Reserve, said it’s still under development.

“I think that there’s recognition, particularly in the coastal state delegations, that this is an important mission that has to be resourced,” Hoffman said. “This request asks ‘are there enough funds to maintain these aircraft, are there enough of them, where does the funding come from, and do we have it right?’”

With so many agencies involved, the current state of funding for the squadron “is kind of a mess,” she added. “So I think part of what they’re asking is ‘what, Air Force, would you say is a better solution?’”

New INDOPACOM Boss Takes Over, Urging Readiness Against Chinese Aggression

May 4, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on May 3, succeeding Adm. John Aquilino and pledging strong responses to threats in the region.

“We must be ready to answer the People’s Republic of China’s increasingly intrusive and expansionist claims in the Indo-Pacific region,” Paparo said during a change of command ceremony in Hawaii. “As we look to the future, the joint force will meet this great responsibility with strength, resolve and confidence.”

Paparo, formerly at the helm of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, has long maintained a firm stance against China’s actions in the region, asserting that it is pursuing “an undaunted effort to extend its aggression as a revanchist, revisionist, and expansionist state,” seeking to reset borders with military power.

The change of command arrives amid simmering tensions in the South China Sea, fueled by Beijing’s increasingly hostile actions against U.S. allies’ maritime traffic in the waters and a latest surge in “unprofessional” intercepts towards U.S. aircraft. Compounding the situation are China’s recent military restructuring and upping its defense budget.

“Our world is a complex problem, set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China and its rapid buildup of forces,” said Paparo. “INDOPACOM, together with our partners, is positioned to deny and defend against attempts to break the peace accorded by the international rules based order. With this enduring test, the United States and our allies and our partners will uphold the stable and open international system that’s been a pillar of global security and wellbeing for nearly a century.”

To counter China, INDOPACOM fortified its posture in the region under Aquilino’s tenure. The command bolstered Guam’s defense system and expanded defense ties with key regional nations such as Australia, the U.K., the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan through multi-domain exercises. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III noted these years have been a “decisive time for our defense strategy,” cautioning that China is the “only country with both the will and increasing capacity to dominate the Indo-Pacific.”

“Unfortunately, the People’s Republic of China continues to engage in increasingly coercive behavior,” said Austin. “And we can see that across the Taiwan Strait in the East and South China Seas among the Pacific Island countries along the line of actual control with India and more.”

Paparo also echoed Austin’s concerns about Russia, North Korea, and violent extremist organizations that also threaten regional security. He vowed to work in concert with allies to preserve a “free and open Indo-Pacific.” As Washington strengthens its defense bonds with regional allies, observers have cautioned against the burgeoning military and economic partnership between China, Russia, and North Korea.

“The team is uniquely ready to shape the current strategic environment to our nation and our allies and partners advantage and we must act now with a sense of urgency we set out on this path,” said Paparo. “We will safeguard the international order characterized by transparency, cooperation, fair competition, and the rule of law will bring all to bear in all domains, harnessing and integrating capabilities supporting partnerships to maintain peace and security while safeguarding sovereign rights.”

US, Australia, Japan Pledge to Hold F-35 Exercises in All Three Nations

May 3, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and his Australian and Japanese counterparts met May 2 and agreed to increase the frequency and complexity of trilateral exercises, including F-35 training in all three countries amid growing tensions with China.

“We talked about the security landscape across the Indo-Pacific and discussed new initiatives to make the region more stable and secure,” Austin said at a press conference after the meetings at Camp Smith in Hawaii.

In a joint statement, Austin, Australian defense minister Richard Marles, and Japanese defense minister Minoru Kihara said they would conduct trilateral F-35 exercises such as the upcoming Cope North in the U.S., Bushido Guardian in Japan, and Pitch Black in Australia, from 2025 to 2026.

This comes after the first reciprocal deployments of Japan and Australia’s F-35As, with both nations sending fighters to each others’ territories last year.

Australia has purchased 72 Lockheed F-35As to establish three squadrons within its Royal Australian Air Force, with plans to acquire up to 100 jets. Japan intends to procure 105 F-35As and up to 42 F-35Bs, with their order placed in 2022.

Elsewhere in the statement, the three leaders agreed to collaborate on research and development for new technologies—including collaborative combat aircraft (CCA), the wingmen drones that the U.S. Air Force in particular plans to invest billions in over the next several years.

The trio also agreed to conduct the first combined live-fire air-and-missile exercise in 2027, along with developing a joint air defense architecture to counter growing air and missile threats in the Indo-Pacific region

Philippines Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr, joined the meeting later that day, marking the second-ever joint gathering of the four countries’ defense chiefs.

“We want to pursue coordinated security assistance to the Philippines that will boost interoperability and help the Philippines achieve its defense modernization goals,” Austin said. “We’re looking to conduct more maritime exercises and activities among our four countries.”

The four nations held their first joint maritime cooperative activities (MCA) last month in the South China Sea, featuring naval, maritime, and air units. China has claimed sovereignty over much of the waters in the region, including areas claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, escalating tensions in the heavily-trafficked area. The Philippine coast guard said two of their patrol vessels were struck by Chinese coast guard using water cannons on April 30, adding to the growing number of hostile actions from Beijing.

The U.S. has also sent fighters and bombers in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) since 2018 for bilateral training. The Chinese military has previously accused the Philippines of collaborating with outside countries “to stir up trouble” in the region.

The four defense chiefs reaffirmed their opposition to any destabilizing actions by China to alter the status quo through force or coercion in the South and East China Seas, including unsafe encounters at sea and in the air, and the aggressive use of coast guard vessels. They underscored their commitment to maintaining a free, open, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Last month, President Joe Biden has suggested plans for trilateral military exercises involving Japan and the U.K. Biden also met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in their “first of many” trilateral summits in April to address concerns over Beijing’s “dangerous and aggressive” behavior in the South China Sea.

Air Guardsmen Explain Why They Don’t Want to Switch to the Space Force

May 3, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

Air National Guardsmen called a proposal to transfer their units into the Space Force an “existential threat” to the Guard and dangerous for national security in the latest volley of criticism of an idea that Department of the Air Force leaders are pushing Congress to adopt.

In a media call featuring 10 Guardsmen involved in space missions, troops cited their families’ needs, personal connections to their communities, and uncertainties about how the Space Force will administer a combined full-time/part-time component as reasons they don’t want to make the switch.

Should the proposal championed by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall go through, the Guardsmen warned, many of them and their colleagues would change jobs to stay in the Guard rather than make the switch—creating critical vacancies that would take the Space Force years to fill.

One internal survey, sent to all 14 ANG units in seven states that perform space missions, found that 70 percent of respondents would retrain or retire rather than join the Space Force, according to the Guard.

Kendall has said he is not concerned about such surveys, arguing that respondents did not have all the information they need to understand the change.

“I think when you go to people and say ‘Do you want to stay like you are or jump off a cliff?’ They’re going to stay like they are,” Kendall said. “We’re not asking them to jump off a cliff. We’re asking them to go to another arrangement which will be very, very like the one that they’re currently serving under. They’re not going to see much change frankly, as I see it.”

But multiple Guardsmen said they have specific reasons for wanting to stay in the Guard.

“I love staying home in Hawaii,” said 1st Lt. Mao Lefiti of the 150th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron. “I love all the people that I work with. The institutional knowledge that the Guard provides, it’s just such a wealth, huge amounts of information and knowledge that gets passed on. So I love being here. I don’t want to leave and just the uncertainty and the ability to possibly be switched, because we are an operational squadron, I’m kind of in a tactical role, and the uncertainty of that I may be moved to who knows where is cause for concern.”

Staff Sgt. Robert Brown of the Colorado Air National Guard’s 233rd Space Group, said he met his wife, got married, and had his first child while on Active duty. His family put down roots in the community, and they wanted to stay close to medical specialists for his son.

“But because I love this nation and I love this state, I wanted to continue my service through the Air National Guard, and I didn’t run the risk of getting stationed anywhere far from home,” Brown said. “Currently, my wife and I are expecting a daughter in just about a month. So that really enforces our need to stay.”

Capt. Bonn Franks of the Colorado ANG’s 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron said part of the reason he serves in the Guard is to assist with state missions like humanitarian relief and disaster response.

“I was on Active duty in the early 2010s, and there was a pretty significant fire in Colorado Springs, and on Active duty, we were doing a lot of makeshift firefighter training so that we could go help,” Franks said. “But the red tape process for us to be able to go help the firefighters with that natural disaster ended up being too much. And so we went through all this training and weren’t able to do I mean, really anything for a very devastating fire.”

And while the Space Force has been granted new authorities to manage part-time and full-time Guardians in one components, Staff Sgt. Kaiehu Kaupu-Hanks of Hawaii’s 109th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron said he feared he would have fewer opportunities in the Space Force.

“Within the Hawaii Air National Guard, I have a clear career progression toward getting a chance at becoming command chief of the whole Hawaii Air National Guard,” Kaupu-Hanks said. “Switching over to the Space Force Active duty, I’m uncertain of that, as well as, how promotions would work, and even how order systems would work.”

Should space-focused Guardsmen leave rather than make the switch, Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman has said he is confident the service can minimize the risk associated with the transition and attract new talent. But Guard officials argued losing their expertise would have more of an effect.

“The duties that our space professionals are performing are highly complex,” Col. Daniel Wrazien, director of staff for the Hawaii Air National Guard, said. “It takes about a year and a half to two years to train a space professional. And that’s not something you can just do overnight.”

Beyond the practical changes, officials also argued that the Department of the Air Force would create a dangerous precedent by removing units from the Guard without the approval of those states’ governors. It is an argument that 53 governors of states and territories made in a recent letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.

“Nothing legislatively ever happens once,” said Col. Michael S. Griesbaum, commander of the Alaska Air National Guard’s 168th Wing. “If [the proposal] is successful, it will open the door to a wholesale harvesting of National Guard resources both from the Air National Guard and the Army National Guard to the regular components.”

Ultimately, advocates say, Congress should create a separate Space National Guard to ensure their units are connected to the Space Force while retaining the unique advantages of the Guard structure.

“I still think a Space National Guard is the right answer,” Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno, director of joint staff for the Colorado National Guard, said. “But my concern today is [the legislative proposal] because existentially, it’s across the entire National Guard, both Air and Army, that they can then come in and take these units out of the National Guard out from under gubernatorial authority.”

The fierce criticism of the proposal appears to be reaching Capitol Hill as well—Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) and Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) both expressed skepticism about the idea this week during hearings. Calvert and McCollum are the chair and ranking member of the powerful House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

“My recommendation to the Air Force is I think they need to work with the states on a reasonable way ahead, because obviously, this is not going to fly,” Calvert said.

7 Facts You Should Know About Military Spouses

May 3, 2024 | By Lyndsey Akers

Americans are generally familiar with the U.S. military, holding our 2 million Active, Guard, and Reserve members in high esteem and routinely thanking the millions of veterans of the armed forces for their service. But few know much about the unpaid shadow force behind those volunteering to serve the country in the military—the nation’s military spouses.

Ronald Reagan sought to highlight that service when he established Military Spouse Appreciation Day in 1984. By 1999, the nation had expanded that observance to National Military Appreciation Month, and ever since, the Friday before Mother’s Day—May 10, this year—has officially been recognized as Military Spouse Appreciation Day.

Here are seven key, surprising facts every American should know about military spouses—and the personal, quality-of-life, and economic issues they face during and after their spouses’ service.

1. Today there are currently around 1 million military spouses, and more than 11 million spouses of veterans.

The Department of Defense reports there are nearly 1 million Active-duty, Reserve, and National Guard spouses. The U.S. Military Spouse Chamber of Commerce estimates an additional 11.2 million who are spouses of veterans. With such a large population, military spouses comprise an enormous part of the community and culture at military installations around the world.

“It’s no surprise that military spouses report having a better quality of life when they feel a sense of belonging in their communities,” said Tara Brandt, an Air National Guard spouse. “Social media and resources like the Twelve Million Plus app make it easier for military spouses to connect digitally even though we might be geographically separated.”

2. Roughly 10 percent of all military spouses are male.

And the rate is even higher in the Air Force, where 13.8 percent of military spouses are men. Research by the Defense Department and Blue Star Families suggests that this demographic creates a unique set of challenges. For instance, male military spouses die by suicide at higher rates than female spouses. Divorce rates across the military are the highest in families where a female service member is married to a male civilian.

“We face many of the same issues, we just react differently. Inability to find meaningful employment, childcare, loneliness during deployments, lack of friends—these issues are not unique to female spouses,” said Mike Franklin, an Air Force spouse and the host of The Professional Dependa podcast. “The phrase ‘Hey Ladies’ can be seen on the bulk of social media posts on any spouse page for the different installations. While innocent enough, it makes almost every male spouse scroll right past the question. I feel that most male spouses want to be included in events happening within the military community.”

3. The unemployment rate among military spouses is five times the national average—and could be a factor in declining Active-duty service.

The unemployment rate for military spouses has remained five times the national average for more than a decade—and the underemployment rate is far worse. Military spouses have faced a 24 percent unemployment rate that has gone statistically unchanged in the last 10 years. Military spouses estimate thousands of dollars in income lost while waiting to obtain a new professional license (or have a current license honored) after relocation.

The high rates of unemployment are also contributing to an already-diminishing force size. According to an executive order from the White House in 2023, “Nearly one in five military families cite challenges with spousal employment as a reason when considering leaving Active-duty service.”

“Military spouses are highly educated, yet disproportionately unemployed and underemployed. Many of us have our own ambitions and aspirations, and if those can’t be realized, they rise up as an important point of discussion when we evaluate our spouses’ continued military service,” said Melissa Shaw, a civilian Guardian, Space Force spouse, and the Vice Chair of AFA’s United Forces & Families (F2) Task Force. “The talent pool of military spouses is deep for employers who are willing to embrace our strengths and offer a bit of flexibility now and then for our unique circumstances. And those efforts may make a meaningful difference, long-term, in military readiness and retention.”

4. One in five military spouses is a primarily self-employed entrepreneur.

In 2022, the U.S. Military Spouse Chamber of Commerce cited that 21 percent of all military spouses are primarily self-employed business owners. The report calls military spouses “a mighty force,” reporting some 26,000 milspouse-owned businesses around the world.

Small business ownership is a transportable, flexible option that can fit well into a military lifestyle, but it’s also an important financial factor—of these entrepreneurs, 87 percent say they feel their work is right for their family.

“As a military spouse, it can be hard to find a career doing something you truly love, if one at all,” said Monica Fullerton, an Air Force spouse and the founder of Spouse-ly, an online marketplace featuring products and services created by military families. “Because of this many spouses are turning to entrepreneurship to bridge the gap between doing what you love and living a life on the go. Military spouses make some of the best entrepreneurs because we are accustomed to overcoming challenges, leveraging our creativity and passion, and we have a whole lot of grit.”

5. Military spouses are some of the most highly educated and skilled professionals.

According to Military One Source, 84 percent of military spouses have some college education, and 25 percent have a bachelor’s degree. Yet, military spouses earn roughly 25 percent (around $12,000) less than their civilian counterparts.

Military spouses often have gaps in their work history due to frequent moves, which can make it difficult for them to find traditional employment options—despite their being more educated than most working Americans, according to a 2017 report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

“While the unemployment statistics facing military spouses are high, we also recognize that military spouses make up a remarkable talent pool of highly skilled and educated individuals. Military spouses are uniquely equipped to adapt, navigate ambiguity, and accomplish their mission with resolve,” said Erica McMannes, the co-founder of Instant Teams, an online talent marketplace that’s focused on sourcing military spouses for remote work. “When military spouses are supported professionally with remote, flexible employment that aligns with their skill level, regardless of gaps in their job history, they are more likely to remain with that employer for the long haul.”

6. Dual-military families face unique challenges.

Roughly 111,000 service members are married to another military member, bringing increased challenges related to being stationed together, childcare, career trajectory, and deployment cycles.

“We’ve faced the challenges of finding duty stations where there are positions for both of us based on rank and career progression, but also that fit our family needs,” said Savannah Stephens, an Air Force Reserve Public Affairs Officer whose husband is an Air Force pilot. “Being dual-mil changed even more when we started a family. I deployed last year, leaving behind our 18-month-old while my Active-duty husband juggled his career, flying long sorties, and dealing with the day-to-day life of a toddler alone—which was incredibly difficult for us all.”

7. Around 70 percent of caregivers to veterans are their spouses.

The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that nearly 5.5 million caregivers are assisting veterans with daily-life activities and medical tasks. Of those, some 70 percent of caregivers are spouses or partners, and they care for their loved ones for an average of 10 years.

Tech. Sgt. Melissa Kirkbride, a military trainer at the U.S. Air Force Academy is a caregiver for her husband, Mark, who was also an Active-duty Airman until he fell ill and began suffering strokes just a year into their marriage. Now Melissa is juggling the roles of caregiver, military spouse, and service member.

“Mark now needs assistance in most aspects of his life, and the Active-duty military would not recognize me as a caregiver,” Melissa said. “Becoming a caregiver for me wasn’t easy. Many times, I wanted to give up because life was so hard. Nearly every day after his strokes, we were struggling in our marriage. All the goals we planned for ourselves were either put on hold or forgotten.”

Supporting the Whole Military Family

The unique challenges facing military spouses spurred the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) to create the United Forces & Families (F2) program in 2022. Since then, AFA has integrated quality of life discussions into its annual Air, Space & Cyber Conference and launched its F2 grant program, committing $100,000 in grants in just two years. So far, these grants have directly impacted more than 126,000 Airmen, Guardians, military spouses, dependents, and family members. Learn how you can help F2 support military families here.

About the author: Lyndsey Akers is an Air Force spouse and the Chair of AFA’s United Forces & Families (F2) Task Force, an advisory group dedicated to bringing awareness and impact-focused recommendations to AFA for quality-of-life issues facing today’s military families.

Air Force Slowly Returning V-22 Ospreys to Flight After Crash

May 3, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

The Air Force has begun flying its CV-22 Ospreys again. But that is just the start of a multistep process to return the fleet to normal operations following a deadly crash last year, service officials said.

“As of today, several aircraft have conducted functional check flights, the first step in resuming flying operations,” an Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) spokesperson said May 2. “Each individual aircraft will be cleared for flight.”

AFSOC operates all of the Air Force’s fleet of around 50 Ospreys, one of which crashed off the coast of Japan on Nov. 29, prompting the Pentagon to ground all its Ospreys in December. Eight Airmen died in the crash.

While an accident investigation board has yet to release a full, public report, DOD officials have said they know that a part of the aircraft failed and that this was the cause of the crash, not pilot error.

The V-22 Joint Program Office, which falls under Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), made the decision to ground the fleet in December before lifting that grounding in March, after which the Marines and the Navy resumed flight operations. The Marines use the Osprey as their primary medium-lift helicopter, while the Navy uses the Osprey for deliveries to aircraft carriers. Both services rely on the aircraft more heavily for day-to-day activities than the Air Force. USAF CV-22s are special operations aircraft will an official mission of “long-range infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply missions for special operations forces,” according to the Air Force.

AFSOC said at the time the grounding was lifted it planned to take a phased approach to returning Ospreys to flight, and the Air Force was the last service to resume flying the Osprey.

The return still has a ways to go. The Air Force is just starting its resumption of Osprey training flights, which began only days ago, and fewer than 10 Air Force Osprey flights have occurred during that time, Air & Space Forces Magazine has learned.

As the Air Force requalifies its crews in various missions, the service plans to increase the complexity of the sorties, but that process will take time.

After the grounding was lifted, the Air Force said its Ospreys would undergo more thorough and frequent maintenance checks, and the flight crew would have new procedures for responding to emergency situations.

“We have high confidence that we understand what component failed and how it failed,” V-22 Program Manager Marine Corps Col. Brian Taylor told reporters in March when NAVAIR lifted the Pentagon’s grounding. NAVAIR and AFSOC have declined to identify that part or why it failed.

A U.S. Air Force pararescueman assigned to the 82nd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron is hoisted into a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey during training off the coast of Djibouti, April 16, 2024. The Air Force, Marines, and Navy have resumed flying the Osprey following a deadly crash last year. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Olivia Gibson

Ospreys, unique tilt-rotor aircraft that can fly as aircraft and helicopters, have earned a reputation for deadly crashes throughout their history. AFSOC grounded the fleet in 2022 after a series of “hard clutch engagements” during which the clutch slips and reengages, causing spikes in torque. But officials have said that a hard clutch engagement was not the cause of November’s Osprey crash.

“The AFSOC CV-22 fleet is executing the deliberate return-to-flight process,” the AFSOC spokesperson said. “Each individual aircraft will be cleared for flight. Each aircraft is going through maintenance inspections as well as a review of its maintenance records as prescribed by the Joint Program Office. Once those steps are accomplished each aircraft has a functional flight check before it is cleared finally for routine training flights.”

As for the aircrew, AFSOC said CV-22 crews have been undergoing simulator training as part of their multistep return-to-flight process.

“As each aircraft is cleared, our aircrew will immediately commence flight operations,” the AFSOC spokesperson said.

USSF Eyes Proliferated Constellation in LEO for Space-Based Targeting

May 3, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force and NRO will build a large number of targeting satellites to launch into low-Earth orbit as part of the ongoing push to proliferate satellites, the USSF’s top intelligence officer said May 2.

For months now, the two organizations have been working on a program to develop satellites that will provide moving target indication (MTI), helping troops on the ground or in the air keep track of targets and replacing old Air Force platforms that officials say would not survive in a contested environment. But many details of the plan remain under wraps.

Speaking with the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Maj. Gen. Gregory J. Gagnon, vice chief of space operations for intelligence, did not offer specifics on how many satellites will be needed or when they will launch, but he did lay out the basic framework for how they will work and how Guardians will use them to assist combatant commanders around the globe.

“This will be an asset that’s in LEO,” Gagnon said. “You think about the numbers of these that you will buy, and you think about proliferating this architecture so that it can be difficult to destroy multiple of them … and so the fact that you proliferate your architecture and don’t just have like six satellites that can do this—I won’t give you the real number—but you can have lots of satellites that do this. It makes it difficult for them to disrupt.”

The Space Force is already building proliferated constellations for transporting data and missile warning/missile tracking in low-Earth orbit. The hope is that a potential adversary such as China won’t be able to shoot down enough satellites to disrupt the network, thus discouraging it from trying in the first place.

In order for such a targeting solution to work, the Space Force will likely have to buy dozens of small satellites. Spacecraft in LEO don’t stay in one place, and it takes several to provide steady, persistent coverage over an area. On the plus side, small, fast-moving satellites are tough to disable, Gagnon said.

“if you’re lying in the backyard and you’re looking up and something’s going over at LEO, it’s going over really fast,” he explained. “So you have to be able to know what it is, track it, send that firing solution to a firing element, and get that engagement as it’s zipping over you, because you only have a field of view that’s kind of short.”

For decades, the Air Force relied on aircraft such as the E-8C JSTARS and E-3 AWACS for moving target indication, but officials worry those could be easily destroyed in a near-peer conflict. Proliferated satellites are thought to be more survivable, but they require a change in mindset about the very nature of military space, Gagnon said.

“It’s a tactical platform in space, and our use of space as a community has always considered it special and strategic,” he said. “Space is no longer only strategic. Space is tactical. And our adversaries have made it so.”

The shift to tactical raises questions about who will direct and operate the satellites. For years, agencies such as the NRO and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency conducted intelligence operations from space, but did not focus on real-time targeting. With the shift to tactical, Space Force officials say the combatant commands should have tasking authority over the satellites, with the help of the Space Force components stood up within those combatant commands in recent years.

“The Space Force proposal, since we’re part of the joint force, and we’ve stood up components in each of the combatant commands, is to make sure that our component can service their component partners, whether it’s the Army component, the maritime component, or the Air Force component, with timely, relevant MTI capability based off the direction of their joint combatant commander,” Gagnon said.

Recent media reports indicate tension between the Space Force and other agencies about how to fulfill the MTI mission, but Gagnon said he is working with both the NGA and NRO on the problem.

“I have spent the last three days actually out at NGA with [NGA director Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth] and [NRO director Christopher Scolese]. We’re in meetings where we’re talking about the best way to optimize taxpayer money that supports the joint warfighting need,” Gagnon said. “Because we must be able to do moving target indicator with sensor control from the warfighters so that they can close the kill chain. That’s our remit.”

Government satellites may not be the only ones providing MTI. Gagnon noted a Space Force pilot program that started last year called “Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking,” or TacSRT, that created a commercial marketplace for such data. Combatant commanders can go to the marketplace, type in the kind of data they need, and then contractors have 72 hours to respond to the proposal, Gagnon explained.

Space Systems Command, the Space Force’s main acquisition arm, then determines if it can fund the proposal and if other intelligence community agencies have contracts or capabilities that can meet the need.