New F-15EX Fighters—Nos. 3 and 4—Arrive at Eglin for Testing

Jan. 2, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The third and fourth airframes of the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II have arrived at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., for testing, the Air Force said Dec. 30. To hold the program schedule, six more need to be delivered before July.

The new aircraft, dubbed EX3 and EX4, arrived at Eglin on Dec. 20, the Air Force said. EX1, EX2, and EX4 belong to the 53rd Wing, while EX3 belongs to the 96th Test Wing.

The aircraft are undergoing both developmental and operational testing simultaneously, in order to compress the test schedule and get operational aircraft to the fleet as soon as possible. The first EX was delivered to Eglin in 2021. Flight test data acquired from similar aircraft sold under the Foreign Military Sales program has also been incorporated into the combined test effort.

The two new jets will also be earmarked for flight test, as will the next two. The last pair delivered under the first lot will be operational aircraft assigned to the Oregon Air National Guard, which runs the Air Force’s F-15 schoolhouse.

The first F-15EX to arrive at Eglin Air Force Base, in March of 2021 soars over the runway at Eglin AFB, Florida on Dec. 20, 2023. EX1 joined EX3 and EX4 in formation. U.S. Air Force photo by Ilka Cole

Aircraft Nos. 3 and 4 are about a year late, a situation Boeing has chalked up to supply line problems, manufacturing mistakes, and delays stemming from shifting some production work from South Korea to the U.S. The last four aircraft of the first lot are expected to be delivered by the spring.

According to the best-case, or “objective,” scenario under the F-15EX contract, the program was supposed to achieve initial operational capability (IOC) by last July, but did not do so. It can still meet the “threshold” or minimum-required IOC deadline of July 2024 if the Air Force takes delivery of eight total aircraft by then. If it doesn’t, the program will be in breach of the Nunn-McCurdy Act, requiring certifications from the Secretary of Defense to continue.

Full operational capability is deemed to be 44 jets on duty, with all the necessary pilots, spares, and support gear. It is now expected in 2027.

In October, the Pentagon reported that the F-15EX will have a flyaway cost of $94 million per fighter, assuming the Air Force buys the planned 104 aircraft. That disclosure came after the service transitioned the EX from being a mid-tier acquisition program to a Major Defense Program, triggering a requirement to set baseline program costs in the quarterly Selected Acquisition Reports. The Air Force has considered F-15EX production as high as 188-200 airplanes, but seems to have settled on a force of 104 jets.

The $94 million price quoted by the service includes the Eagle Passive/Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS) jamming and electronic warfare suite for the new-build jets. The initial unit cost estimate for the Eagle II was $80 million, comparable to the flyaway cost of the F-35.

In 2018, the Pentagon directed the Air Force to buy the F-15EX, deeming it the quickest way to replace worn-out F-15Cs with fresh iron. Most of the F-15C fleet is beyond its planned service life—with an average age of 38 years—and suffers from severe structural fatigue issues, deteriorating wiring, and parts obsolescence, resulting in speed, load, and maneuvering restrictions. The oldest USAF F-15C has been in service since 1979.

The EX—based on the F-15QA developed for Qatar—is a fly-by-wire aircraft with a powerful new processor and an additional two weapon stations versus the F-15E Strike Eagle, giving the Eagle II the largest combat load in the Air Force’s fighter inventory.

Like the E model, the EX has accommodation for two seats, but the Air Force plans to operate the fighter with a single pilot. The EX is also supposed to be equipped with conformal fuel tanks (CFTs), like the F-15E. The CFTs also have weapon stations, and besides extending range, offer more air-to-ground weapon hardpoints. However, the service did not fund the CFTs for the first 50 or so EX models, meaning they will be optimized for air-to-air missions. Service officials have said the first squadrons will likely be assigned to handle the homeland defense mission, rather than ground attack.

The first two F-15EXs have participated in a number of exercises; notably Northern Edge 2023 in May 2023, and Combat Hammer in August, where they fired live rounds in weapons tests.

Unlike the initial two jets, the new aircraft have cockpit pressure monitors and a warning system, along with a high frequency antenna for satellite communications. They also “feature a forward fuselage redesigned specifically for the U.S. Air Force,” a service release said.

The Air Force said the 2023 annual report from the Pentagon’s director of operational test “stated that the F-15EX is operationally effective, suitable, and survivable against threats likely to be encountered while performing its missions in threat environments.” It added that this report “allows the program to move into a new testing phase.”

The F-15EX has “met every challenge we’ve thrown at it,” and is “on the cusp of being ready for the warfighter,” according to Lt. Col. Christopher Wee, Operational Flight Program Combined Test Force commander.

The new deliveries pave the way “for not only the delivery of combat-coded aircraft to the U.S. Air Force, but also the continued development” of the aircraft, he said.

Lt. Col. Christopher Wee, the Operational Flight Program Combined Test Force commander and Maj. Matthew Russel, 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, director of operations, piloted one of the newest F-15EXs to its new home at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida on Dec. 20, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Ilka Cole

The Air Force plans to buy 24 F-15EX in fiscal year 2025. Negotiations between Boeing and the Air Force on prices for production lots 2-4 were underway in the fall. The company has considered production rates between 24 and 48 aircraft per year at its St. Louis, Mo., facilities, and is marketing the EX to other countries with the Air Force’s blessing. Boeing has identified Indonesia as a possible EX customer, with an interest in buying 24 of the fighters.

Besides offering an in-kind replacement for the F-15C/D and E—performing both air superiority and ground attack missions after enemy air defenses have been beaten down—the EX is expected to serve as a standoff platform for launching long-range missiles and hypersonic weapons.

How an Aerial Photographer Snapped the B-2 Flying Over the Rose Bowl

Jan. 2, 2024 | By David Roza

Besides the dramatic, 27-20 win for the University of Michigan football team, the 2024 Rose Bowl will be remembered forever for a stunning shot of an Air Force B-2 stealth bomber flying over 96,000 fans in Pasadena, Calif., during the pregame rendition of the ”Star-Spangled Banner” on New Year’s Day.

But while the picture lasts forever, aerial photographer Mark Holtzman had just a few heartbeats to capture the bomber and the stadium at the perfect angle in one frame, all while flying at 100 miles per hour in one direction at about 4,500 feet as the B-2 flew about 200 miles per hour in the other at about 3,000 feet.

“It’s a very fluid shoot,” Holtzman told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “Everything’s moving and it’s gone before you can take a breath.”

Aerial video of the 2024 Rose Bowl B-2 Flyover @Whiteman_AFB @AlabamaFTBL @UMichFootball #GoBlue #RollTide @rosebowlgame @RoseBowlStadium @rosebowl2024 @PasadenaGov @VisitCA #aerialphotography #fromanairplane #pilotview @SonyAlpha #sonya7riv #gmaster pic.twitter.com/ro6zZyV4TJ
— Mark Holtzman (@westcoastaerial) January 2, 2024

Holtzman had been up in his Cessna 206 since before dawn that morning to shoot the football game and the preceding Rose Parade, which also featured a B-2 flyover. A 20-year aerial photographer, Holtzman has shot the Rose Bowl 15 times now. Each occasion requires careful planning with the military pilots performing the flyover and the various government agencies overseeing security for the event.

“Everybody is at different altitudes and we’re all on a discrete frequency so there is no interference,” Holtzman said. “It’s very professional.”

Capturing a moving object at just the right spot and angle is a complicated task. If Holtzman gets the angle wrong, his photos will make it look as if the B-2 missed the stadium, or it might block the view of the field or the names of the teams painted in the endzones.

“It’s not just taking a picture of the plane flying by,” he explained. “For me, it’s putting it in context with what they’re flying over. That’s the hard thing.”

b-2 — Aerial photographer Mark Holtzman shot this image of an Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flying over the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Mark Holtzman)

The pilots of the B-2 or any other flyover aircraft follow a tight schedule to appear over the stadium at the exact right time in coordination with the national anthem, and during the approach they are told by controllers on the ground to speed up or slow down based on the pace of the performance. Holtzman has to read the situation and make the right call to shoot the flyover, but first he has to spot the jet as it approaches.

“Everything is very fast, and if you can’t see him, you’re not going to get the picture,” said the pilot, who flies with a co-pilot and his son to make sure somebody spots the approaching aircraft in time. When the moment finally arrives, Holtzman sticks his camera out the Cessna window to get the shot. By then, the pre-flight jitters are gone as he starts to work his magic.

“Once I’m there, I’m in kind of a zone. I’m not thinking, I’m just reacting,” said the photographer, who grew up playing jazz on the trumpet. “It’s very improvisational … if I did it one way this time, who knows how I’m going to do it next time.”

b-2 — Aerial photographer Mark Holtzman shot this image of an Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flying over the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Mark Holtzman)

The payoff happens afterwards, when football fans, pilots, and others reach out to share what the flyover photo meant to them. Some say they printed out a copy because it marked the last time they went to a football game with their grandparents, or because their spouse was an aerospace engineer involved in the B-2 design program.

“Pictures are strong,” Holtzman said. “We know that, but it’s a wonderful thing. Just one picture, and no words, but it means a lot.”

Though they missed the 2023 flyover due to a fleetwide grounding, the B-2s stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., regularly perform the Rose Bowl flyover. Last year, a pair of B-1 bombers did the honors. The pilots who perform the flyovers appreciate the photos, and Holtzman often prints out his work and sends them to the crew. Over the years, he has built something of a reputation to live up to.

“They call me now before the game and ask ‘are you going to be there taking pictures?’” he said. “It’s a bit more pressure now.”

X-37 and Chinese Space Plane Both Launch: ‘Two of the Most Watched Objects on Orbit’

Jan. 2, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle returned to orbit Dec. 28, riding a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Fla after multiple scrubbed launches.

The launch of the secretive reusable space plane came two weeks after China launched its own mysterious spacecraft, “Shenlong,” on Dec. 14. Initially, the Space Force planned to launch X-37 before Shenlong, on Dec. 7, but that date was pushed back several times due to ground issues, weather, and pad availability.

Still, the close proximity of the dueling space plane launches has raised eyebrows—and Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said Dec. 13 that it was “probably no coincidence” the two were launching around the same time.

“It’s no surprise that the Chinese are extremely interested in our space plane. We’re extremely interested in theirs,” Saltzman said at the Spacepower conference in Orlando, Fla. “Because it is a capability; the ability to put something in orbit, do some things, and bring it home and take a look at the results is powerful. And so these are two of the most watched objects on orbit while they’re on orbit. It’s probably no coincidence that they’re trying to match us in timing and sequence of this.”

Shenlong has already generated headlines after Space.com reported amateur trackers claimed it had released six objects into orbit, some of which were emitting signals.

Details on X-37 are scarce, but the Space Force has acknowledged this mission—the space plane’s seventh—will test the spacecraft in “new orbital regimes.” It has operated in low-Earth orbit in the past, some 110-500 miles above the ground, but Falcon Heavy can deliver payloads of 58,860 pounds—far more than the X-37B—to geosynchronous orbit, more than 22,000 miles up.

“We are going to expand the envelope,” Saltzman said prior to the launch. “There are some good experiments and tests and that’s the primary goal of that, testing technologies.”

In a release after the launch, the Space Force said X-37 would be “experimenting with space domain awareness technologies and investigating radiation effects to NASA materials.” Other payloads remain classified.

“My memories go back to the Gemini and Mercury programs,” Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said in a release. “This is an incredible event, and I think about the teamwork over all those decades that has led to what has been a revolutionary improvement in space travel capability. We have come so far, and it’s been teamwork by the government; the Air Force and now the Space Force, which didn’t exist until a few years ago; NASA; industry teams; and so many others that all contributed to what we saw tonight.”

When the Space Force will say anything more about X-37 is unknown, but it could be a while—with each successive mission, the space plane has spent more time in orbit, hitting a record 908 days when it last returned in November 2022. Should that trend continue, it will not return to Earth from its current mission until June 2026.

Regardless, Saltzman made clear at the Spacepower conference that “great power competition” between the U.S. and China has reinvigorated interest in keeping the X-37 program alive.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is prepared for launch prior to USSF-52 carrying a United States Space Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A. U.S. Space Force photo

USAF’s New No. 2: Slife Sworn in as Vice Chief of Staff

Jan. 2, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

After a monthslong wait, the Air Force has a new No. 2 officer. Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife was sworn in as the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force and received his fourth star on Dec. 29.

“We stand at the precipice of a different strategic environment,” Slife said in remarks at a small ceremony at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C.

Between Slife and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin, the Air Force now has no fighter or bomber pilot in either of its top two jobs—Slife was a special operations pilot and Allvin was a mobility aviator, including time as a test pilot.

Slife will now help guide the Air Staff through what are expected to be significant changes for the service. The Air Force will soon unveil its plans for “re-optimization,” which Slife had been helping shape in his previous role as deputy chief of staff for operations (A3).

Led by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, the re-optimization is aimed at improving service readiness for potential conflict with China, officials say. The branch already increasingly centers its operations around the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept, in which teams of Airmen disperse to operate from remote or austere locations. Leaders also introduced a new force generation model known as AFFORGEN.

On the Air Staff, Slife was charged with helping with the development and implementation of those policies as well as overall oversight of operations, force management, training, and readiness.

“The attributes that this strategic environment demands are a focus on mission over function,” Slife said of his work as the A3 in an interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine before he became VCSAF. “It prizes agility and adaptiveness.”

In the role of Vice Chief, Slife will have a broader remit overseeing the USAF’s adaptation to that environment.

“[It’s] the hardest thing we’ve done in a long time and maybe the hardest thing we do together,” Allvin said of the changes ahead for the service. “Having someone on the team who knows that and has done that … couldn’t be better now for our force.”

Slife has “seen all parts of the business and has done it with excellence,” Allvin added.

After being promoted to the position of Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, Gen. James Slife’s family pins his new rank on his uniform during his ceremony at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C., Dec 29, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Andy Morataya

Slife has spent most of his Air Force career in special operations at Hurlburt Field, Fla.; RAF Mildenhall, U.K.; and Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.; culminating in becoming a major command boss as the head of Air Force Special Operations Command. Slife then moved to the Pentagon in December 2022.

Slife was not confirmed as VCSAF until Dec. 19 despite being nominated for the job in September, which left the Air Force without a Vice Chief for three months. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) placed a hold on en masse confirmation of senior military promotions and nominations, which are subject to Senate approval, in protest of the Department of Defense’s reproductive health policies. The hold on most of the officers was lifted in early December, but Slife was part of the last batch of four-star generals that were confirmed two weeks later.

There are still many confirmed Air Force generals who have yet to assume their new posts, but Slife’s elevation is a significant step toward more senior officers beginning to take on their new assignments

As VCSAF, Slife will join other service vice chiefs as a member of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC), which focuses on identifying common requirements across the U.S. military.

“That dialogue is going to be necessary because I believe, in some ways, our technology has advanced faster than our service cultures have combined,” Allvin said in a recent interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine, speaking of his own experience on the JROC as the Air Force’s Vice Chief from 2020-2023.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the CSAF for most of Slife’s tenure on the Air Staff, offered praise for Slife—as a person and as an Airman.

“This is a very proud day because this is something I thought Jim Slife truly deserved,” said Brown. “I really felt like Jim was one of those that I could always turn to because he always provided thoughtful insights.”

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. administers the Oath of Office to newly appointed Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife during a ceremony at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C., Dec 29, 2023. Slife will become the Air Force’s 41st Vice Chief and most recently served as the deputy chief of staff for operations. U.S. Air Force photo by Andy Morataya

B-1 Bombers Fly in Second Trilateral Exercise with Japan and S Korea

Dec. 21, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers flew from the mainland U.S. to participate for the second ever trilateral aerial exercise with South Korea and Japan on Dec. 20—the latest in a surge of bomber exercises over the Korean Peninsula in 2023.

The bombers, assigned to the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., have now returned to Ellsworth as of Dec. 21, a 7th Air Force spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

U.S. F-16 fighters assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing and the 35th Fighter Wing, along with South Korean F-15Ks and Japanese F-2s, escorted the two bombers over the waters near South Korea’s southernmost island, Jeju. KC-135 Stratotankers stationed at a U.S. base in Japan also provided aerial refueling support for the B-1Bs during the trilateral exercise, the spokesperson added.

In late January 2023, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III promised during a visit to South Korea, formally known as the Republic of Korea, that the U.S. would step up its military exercises with the ROK, to include expanded use of air assets like bombers.

That pledge was followed by regular appearances of B-1 and B-52 bombers above or near the Korean Peninsula nearly every month. The Dec. 20 exercise marked the Lancer’s sixth appearance in a joint exercise with the ROK this year, while the Stratofortress has participated eight times, including a historic touchdown on the Korean Peninsula in October, a sight not seen for the last three decades:

On Feb. 1, two B-1s and F-22 Raptors flew with South Korean F-35s over the Yellow Sea.

On Feb. 19, two B-1s flew with F-16s and ROK F-35s through the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone.

On March 3, one B-1 flew with South Korean F-15K and KF-16 fighters over the Yellow Sea.

On March 6, one B-52 flew with South Korean F-15s and F-16s through the Korean ADIZ.

On March 19, two B-1s flew with F-16s and South Korean F-35s.

On April 5, one B-52 flew with U.S. F-35Bs and F-16s and South Korean F-35s

On April 14, B-52s flew with USAF F-16s and ROKAF F-35s.

On June 30, multiple B-52s flew with USAF F-16s and F-15Es and ROKAF F-35As and KF-16s.

On July 13, one B-52 flew with USAF F-16s and ROKAF F-15s over the peninsula.

On Aug. 30, one B-1 flew with USAF F-16s and ROKAF FA-50s.

On Oct. 17, a B-52 landed in South Korea and participated in a joint drill with South Korean F-35s.

On Oct. 22, that B-52 flew with three U.S. F-16s, two South Korean F-15Ks, and four Japanese F-2s.

On Nov. 15, one B-52 was escorted by USAF F-16s, U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs, and ROKAF KF-15s and KF-35s.

The October exercise between the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, marked the first ever trilateral air training between the three countries—Dec. 20 marked the second such occasion.

The increase in exercises comes as North Korea continues to advance its nuclear capabilities, along with growing threats from Russia and China. Washington’s non-nuclear allies increasingly rely on U.S. bombers for visible shows of deterrence.

For the second time this year, fighter aircraft from the U.S., Japan, and the Republic of Korea conducted a trilateral escort flight of U.S. bombers operating in the Indo-Pacific, Dec. 20, 2023. Photo by Senior Airman Karla Parra

This latest exercise was held two days after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile launch on Dec. 18. Pyongyang’s state media claimed it reached an altitude of 4,050 miles, covering a distance of 622.6 miles, and accurately hit the intended target in the sea.

On Dec. 19, a day after Pyongyang’s missile launch, the Pentagon announced the full activation of a real-time North Korean missile warning data sharing mechanism with South Korea and Japan.

The Department of Defense also confirmed the joint establishment of a comprehensive multiyear trilateral exercise plan the same day, hinting at a potentially increased presence of U.S. bombers in the region in 2024.

Airmen Turn C-5 Into ‘Huge Floating Gas Station’ with Refueling Experiment

Dec. 21, 2023 | By David Roza

At 247 feet long and with a 222-foot wingspan, the C-5M Super Galaxy is the largest aircraft in the U.S. military—and, as a crew at Travis Air Force Base recently proved in the skies over northern California and Oregon, America’s largest flying gas station.

On Dec. 12, a Travis crew tried out a process called reverse flow air refueling between a C-5 and a KC-10 Extender tanker. Instead of the gas flowing out of the tanker and into the receiving aircraft through the refueling boom as it usually does, the gas went up the other way from the C-5, through the boom and into the KC-10.

Normally reserved for emergencies, this was the first time the technique had been tried with the C-5 since the aircraft was first designed in the 1960s. Airmen with the 22nd Airlift Squadron wanted to see how it worked with the C-5M, the modernized version in use since 2006.

“The whole reason behind doing this was to get some baseline data,” Maj. Justin Wilson, the squadron’s chief of standards and evaluations and C-5M evaluator pilot, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “Now we can see what other scenarios we can use this in.”

A U.S. Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy performs a reverse flow air refueling proof of concept with a KC-10 Extender over Northern California and Oregon, Dec. 12, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexander Merchak)

Air Force planners are preparing for a possible conflict against China, where the branch’s aerial refueling tankers would be hard-pressed to help the rest of the military’s aviation fleet cross the vast Pacific Ocean. If a C-5 can ferry gas to a tanker, it could keep more tankers in circulation, Wilson said.

“By using a C-5 as a huge floating gas station, it allows more tankers to be positioned for offloading to fighter or mobility aircraft, versus having to use one tanker to refuel another, which takes away a tanker asset from the mission,” he explained in a press release. “This allows more tanker aircraft in the theater and extends their range or orbit time.”

The operation was an unusual one for the crew, and especially for the flight engineers who run through the checklists and operate the fuel panel in order to push gas through the C-5’s various tanks. As gas moves through and leaves the aircraft, it shifts the jet’s center of gravity, which requires constant monitoring and communication with the flight deck. The center of gravity affects how to handle the jet, how efficiently it flies through the air, and other factors as the pilots work to keep the massive plane connected to the tanker.

Despite the challenges, the flight was a success, with the C-5 offloading 23,500 pounds of fuel (about the weight of two African elephants) in approximately 30 minutes. By comparison, a tanker can offload 6,000 to 7,000 pounds a minute depending on the aircraft, Wilson said. But the point was not to prove the C-5 is more efficient than a tanker. Instead, it was to prove the operation could be done, to see how much gas could be moved, and how quickly the C-5 could move it.

The KC-10 had to burn gas to stay in a refueling formation for 30 minutes, but overall the aircraft flew away with 15,000 more pounds of fuel than it had before. That would extend the tanker’s range by about an hour and a half to two hours, depending on what mission it is flying, Wilson said. Two hours may not sound like much, but it could make all the difference for a fighter pilot running low on fuel hundreds of miles from the nearest runway.

c-5 — U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Sebastian Paredes, 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron C-5M Super Galaxy crew chief, puts tools away prior to flight at Travis Air Force Base, California, Dec. 12, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexander Merchak)

The reverse air flow refueling is the latest experiment using transport aircraft in unusual ways. Past flights have seen C-17 and C-130 transports launch cruise missiles out of their cargo compartments and haul gas to distant runways. The experiments are part of a larger effort by the Air Force to maximize the use of its fleet in a possible conflict. A C-17 could also move gas back to a tanker, Wilson said, albeit with less in its tanks than the larger C-5.

Now that the flight is over, future planners know what results they might expect to see if they ever have to use a C-5M to reverse flow air refuel in the future.

“It’s just one more thing that the C-5 is capable of doing,” Wilson said.

For Tech. Sgt. Robin Ogg, 60th Operations Group C-5M senior evaluator flight engineer, the flight also showed how flexible the crew could be to do something new.

“This mission on the C-5 meant showcasing precision, teamwork, flexibility, and adaptability,” he said in the release. “It highlighted the importance of trust and coordination within the team, emphasizing everyone’s crucial role. The experience left me with a deep sense of pride and accomplishment.”

Lawmakers Open Investigation into Osprey Safety after Deadly USAF Crash

Dec. 21, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

In the wake of a CV-22 crash off the coast of Japan last month that killed eight Airmen and other deadly incidents involving the Osprey, the House Oversight Committee has opened an investigation into the tilt-rotor aircraft and is requesting extensive documentation from the Pentagon.

In a Dec. 21 letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, committee chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote that his committee is “concerned about safety and performance issues surrounding the Osprey program” and wants more information “to better understand the Osprey program’s performance, safety, and oversight.”

On Nov. 29, a U.S. Air Force CV-22 went down off the coast of Southern Japan, killing all eight Airmen on board. It was the deadliest Air Force aviation mishap since 2018, and all three services that fly the Osprey—the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps—have grounded their fleets in response.

While the crash was the first fatal CV-22 mishap for the Air Force since 2010, the Osprey has been involved in multiple deadly incidents in recent years. In August 2023, three Marines were killed when their Osprey crashed in Australia. In June 2022, five Marines died when their Osprey went down in Southern California. And in March 2022, four Marines died in a V-22 crash in Norway.

The Air Force also grounded its CV-22 fleet briefly in 2022 after a series of hard clutch engagements—in which the clutch slips and reengages—which caused USAF Ospreys to make emergency landings.

The Osprey, which can take off and land like a helicopter, then move its rotors and fly like an airplane, has long had a reputation for safety incidents, though proponents argue its safety data is comparable to other platforms.

Still, Comer noted in his letter that more than 50 service members have died in Osprey crashes since 1992.

“While, statistically, the Osprey is not considered as dangerous as some other military aircraft, the Committee remains alarmed that most fatalities involving the aircraft have happened during training exercises, not combat operations,” Comer wrote.

A previous Oversight Committee hearing on the program in 2009 was hampered by a lack of cooperation by the Pentagon, Comer noted. Given the costs and continued reports from government watchdogs about issues with the program, “oversight is needed to ensure public safety,” Comer wrote, while noting the Osprey’s military advantages.

Comer set a deadline of Jan. 4 for the Defense Department to provide:

Safety records, including accident investigations and incident reports

Maintenance and reliability data and logs

All documents and communications “detailing incidents or accidents involving Osprey aircraft

Training and professional development protocols for air crew and maintainers

Performance evaluations and assessments of the Osprey

Budget documents, including acquisition and maintenance

Any third-party evaluations of the program

Future plans for the program, including upgrades or modifications

The Pentagon’s V-22 Joint Program Office did not immediately respond to a query from Air & Space Forces Magazine on the request for documents.

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder confirmed to Air & Space Forces Magazine on Dec. 22 the DOD had received the letter and said “the Department will respond accordingly.”

Space RCO Director: Effort to Modernize Aging Network for Controlling Satellites ‘On Track’

Dec. 21, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

ORLANDO, Fla.—The Space Rapid Capabilities Office, charged with quickly delivering cutting-edge, often-classified technologies for the Space Force, has made key progress in its push to modernize the aging system used to control U.S. government satellites, its director revealed last week.

Additionally, the secretive organization deployed “threat awareness sensors” in geosynchronous orbit this year that have already yielded intelligence on foreign capabilities, director Kelly Hammett told reporters at the Space Force Association’s Spacepower Conference.

Compared to the Space Force’s other two acquisition arms—the Space Development Agency and Space Systems Command—the Space RCO reveals very little about what it does. But Hammett did say that his organization’s size and portfolio continue to grow as they take on new projects and ramp up work on others.

Perhaps the most high-profile program for which the office is responsible is the Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource (SCAR), which will provide desperately needed upgrades to the Satellite Control Network (SCN)

SCN, composed of 19 antennas stationed around the world, from Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean to the village of Oakhanger in southern England to Schriever Space Force Base, Colo., is used to track a satellite’s location, collect its health and status reports, and send signals to control its subsystems such as power supply, antennas and mechanical and thermal control.

satellite control network — The sun sets beyond the radomes and Joe English Hill at New Boston Space Force Station, New Hampshire, Sept. 17, 2022. U.S. Space Force photo by Paul Honnick.

But the antennas are old—Hammett noted that they are technically the second-oldest active weapons system in the Pentagon, after the B-52 bomber—and can only maintain contact with one satellite at a time—an increasingly untenable situation given the growth in the number of satellites in orbit.

SCAR will boost SCN with electronically steerable phased array antennas that can connect with multiple satellites in a time, expanding communications capacity ten-fold, according to the SpRCO. The office awarded a $1.4 billion contract to BlueHalo in May 2022, and Hammett told reporters in Orlando that in August 2023, the program completed a “one-meter demo,” clearing the way for full-scale radars to be produced.

The first radar is “on track” to be delivered in March 2025, Hammett added, but the SpRCO’s work hasn’t slowed while it waits.

“We are actually right now working very hard to figure out how to deliver the SCAR system, how to modernize the SCN, and to put together that integrated roadmap across the Space Force to modernize,” Hammett said.

In particular, the office has worked with other Space Force organizations to finalize the first location for a SCAR antenna, Hammett said, though he could not say where that would be.

“The modifications to the infrastructure at that location are underway,” Hammett said. “So they’ll be ready for us when we bring the first unit in 15 months versus, there’s a big gap because we haven’t worked all the details and we deliver the first unit and then it sits there or in a vendor facility somewhere. We don’t want that to happen. We want these things to get out there to be fielded and to be employed in time.”

Getting SCAR in place could be particularly important for the Space Force given the service’s increased interest in so-called “dynamic space operations,” which involves satellites maneuvering within and between orbits to conduct both defensive and offensive operations.

Right now, most satellites’ movement is defined by “station keeping,” or ensuring they stay in place in orbit. More extensive maneuvers will require more robust command and control, and that C2 has to “actually get out to antennas and tell the satellite, ‘You move here then, and you move here then,” Hammett noted. “And this all has to be done in near real-time.”

The Space RCO is also working on a program called Rapid Resilient Command and Control (R2C2) that will provide the software necessary for such control, Hammett added, with the goal of delivering working software in around three months for demonstration projects.

Also in 2023, the RCO had its first satellite launch in January. At the time, the Space Force described two of the three payloads on the launch as being for “enhanced situational awareness,” but little else was revealed about their purpose or results.

Hammett declined to offer many details about the payloads, but he did say they completed testing and checkout after launch in roughly 60 days.

“They’ve been flying around the GEO belt collecting data,” Hammett added. “And we have learned a lot of interesting data that I can’t go into the details, but I can say that has been shared with the intelligence community, it is changing the intelligence estimate on certain foreign capabilities.”

Now, the Space RCO is working with the rest of the Space Force to proliferate those sensors “to the rest of the enterprise,” Hammett said.

US and China Hold First High-Level Military Talks in More Than a Year

Dec. 21, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S.’s top military officer spoke with his Chinese counterpart on Dec. 21, the first senior-level military-to-military talks between the two countries in more than a year, the Pentagon said.

In a video call, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. spoke with People’s Liberation Army Chief of the Joint Staff Department Gen. Liu Zhenli.

Brown emphasized the need for more communications between the two sides as the number of risky aerial intercepts and maritime incidents between the U.S. and its allies and the Chinese military increases, according to a readout provided by the Joint Staff.

“Gen. Brown discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” the Joint Staff readout stated. “Gen. Brown reiterated the importance of the People’s Liberation Army engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings.”

Between the fall of 2021 and the fall of 2023, the Pentagon says there have been more than 180 “coercive and risky air intercepts” of U.S. military aircraft by the Chinese military. In October, a Chinese fighter came within 10 feet of a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress at night in what the U.S. military said was a particularly dangerous incident.

The top generals’ call follows a meeting in November between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping outside of San Francisco in which the two leaders pledged to restore military-to-military communications. The last time a top Pentagon leader spoke with their Chinese counterpart was in November 2022, when Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with the Chinese defense minister, a post that is currently vacant.

The U.S. expects China to name a new defense minister in the spring, a U.S. defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Relations between the two countries have grown steadily more tense in recent months, driven by Beijing’s anti-American rhetoric; the Biden administration’s efforts to curb China’s access to advanced U.S. semiconductor technology; a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the continental United States in early 2023, continued provocative actions by China towards vessels and aircraft in and over the South China Sea; an August 2022 visit to Taiwan—the self-governing democracy China views as a rebel province—by then-Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

“The two military leaders discussed a number of global and regional security issues,” Joint Staff spokesperson Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey added.

Despite the high-level discussion, the U.S. is pushing for more regular communication to avoid miscalculation in a crisis. In particular, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command boss Navy Adm. John Aquilino told reporters in October he has repeatedly attempted to talk to the commanders of his Chinese counterparts, the commanders of the PLA Eastern and Southern Theater Commands, for the past two years, but none of those requests have been accepted.

More formal mechanisms for discussions have also been frozen, such as Defense Policy Coordination talks and Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meetings, which are designed to ensure safety at sea—both sets of talks last occurred in 2021. Those talks are expected to resume in the future, according to a DOD official.

“Gen. Brown reaffirmed the importance of holding the bilateral Defense Policy Coordination Talks, holding Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks, and opening lines of communication between the Commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command and the commanders of the PLA Eastern and Southern Theater Commands,” the Joint Staff said. “The Chairman regularly communicates with Chiefs of Defense across the world and remains open to constructive dialogue with the PRC.”