Air Force Identifies 1 Airman Killed in Japan Osprey Crash, 7 Still Missing

Dec. 3, 2023 | By Chris Gordon and Greg Hadley

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Dec. 1 and Dec. 3 with additional details.

Air Force Special Operations Command has recovered and identified the remains of one Airman from the U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey that crashed off the coast of southern Japan last week, while seven others remain missing as U.S. and Japanese officials continue their search.

Staff Sgt. Jacob “Jake” M. Galliher, 24, was a native of Pittsfield, Mass., according to AFSOC. He enlisted in the Air Force in 2017 and served as a Direct Support Operator—DSO—working as an airborne linguist specializing in Mandarin. A member of the 43rd Intelligence Squadron, Detachment 1, Operating Location—Alpha, Galliher earned the Air Force Achievement Medal, Air and Space Commendation Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, and Air Force Meritorious Unit Award in his career.

The seven other members of the CV-22 crew remain unidentified and are in DUSTWUN status—“duty status-whereabouts unknown.”

“We’re very proud of them—all of them—and we’re very saddened by that situation,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said Dec. 2 at the Reagan National Defense Forum.

AFSOC confirmed the death of one Airman on Dec. 1 and identified Galliher on Dec. 3.

The Pentagon and the Japanese Ministry of Defense have both said the ocean search continues.

“Emergency personnel remain on scene conducting search and rescue operations,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Nov. 30.

The aircraft was assigned to 353rd Special Operations Wing and based at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It went down during what Air Force and Pentagon officials have called a “routine training mission” near Yakushima, Japan. The unit operating the CV-22 involved in the mishap is not currently conducting flight operations, Singh added in Dec. 1 statement.

In remarks before the fatality was confirmed, Singh added that “our efforts are on, of course, thinking of these families who are missing their loved ones right now.”

In a statement on Nov. 29, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said the aircraft crashed at roughly 2:50 p.m. local time, and Japanese military and coast guard dispatched aircraft and ships to conduct a search and rescue operation. Singh said the U.S. military is now leading the effort with Japanese assistance.

“The U.S. military, alongside the Japan Coast Guard, Japanese Self-Defense Forces, local law enforcement, and Japanese civilian volunteers, is continuing search and rescue operations for the CV-22 crew,” AFSOC said in its Dec. 1 statement. “Search and rescue operations consist of a combination of air, surface, and subsurface search of water and coastline in the vicinity of Yakushima, Japan, in order to locate the crewmembers.”

Pacific Air Forces; United States Pacific Fleet; United States Marine Corps Forces, Pacific; Special Operations Command Pacific; 353rd Special Operations Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan; 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan; and the 1st Special Forces Group are involved in the search efforts, the U.S. military said.

“Our sincere gratitude to all the units and Japanese partners involved in helping us locate our Airmen,” AFSOC said in a statement.

The Osprey, which is also used by the Marine Corps and Navy, is a tilt-rotor aircraft, which allows it to take off and land like a helicopter, then move its rotors and fly like an airplane. Air Force Special Operations Command operates a fleet of around 50 Ospreys.

Across the military, there has been no decision to ground the aircraft, Singh said Nov. 30, even as the Japanese reportedly decided to ground their fleet of Ospreys.

The next day, Singh noted in a statement that all U.S. V-22 Ospreys in Japan “operate only after undergoing thorough maintenance and safety checks. We have already started sharing information about the accident with our Japanese partners, and have pledged to continue to do so in a timely and transparent manner. “

The Osprey has developed a poor safety reputation among the public. In August, three Marines were killed when their Osprey crashed in Australia. In 2022, two separate crashes in San Diego and Norway resulted in the deaths of nine Marines. An Air Force has had one previous fatal mishap involving a CV-22, which occurred in 2010.

AFSOC temporarily grounded the Osprey in 2022 after two “hard clutch engagements,” in which the clutch slips and reengages. However, the cause of the latest incident is unknown, according to military officials.

For now, military officials said the focus remains on finding the Airmen and wreckage or the Osprey.

“There is an investigation that is currently determining and looking into what exactly happened with this aircraft and the mishap,” Singh said. “Should that investigation yield in results that require the department to change anything about the Osprey or to take additional steps, we will certainly do that.”

“We are taking what happened, the mishap of one of our aircraft, extremely seriously,” she added. “There’s a true commitment to safety when it comes to any of our Airmen operating any aircraft.”

Air Force Announces Not One, But Two Bonus Programs to Retain Aviators in 2024

Dec. 1, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force is renaming its traditional aviation bonus program in 2024 and continuing a new, experimental second program, ordered by Congress, aimed at getting aviators to extend their commitment sooner and for longer.

While the programs can’t be doubled-up, aviators may be able to move from one to the other, depending on their circumstances and the needs of the Air Force.

The newer program, introduced toward the end of fiscal 2023 and continuing into 2024, “allows members to commit to a retention bonus early, receive money early, with lump-sum payment for longer contracts” of five years or more, an Air Force spokesperson said.

The current Aviation Bonus program runs until Dec. 31, 2023, when its name will change to the Experienced Aviation Retention Incentive (EARI). Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard pilots can still apply for it until then; Active Duty pilots can apply before Aug. 1, 2024.

The EARI offers rated officers with experience in certain critical weapon systems—the Air Force won’t identify which ones—“both monetary and non-monetary incentives to extend their service commitment” if that service commitment expires in fiscal 2024, a spokesperson said. The cash options run from $15,000 per year to $50,000 per year for contracts ranging from three to 12 years of additional service. The amounts vary depending on how shorthanded certain weapon systems are.

Other incentives that may come into play include “assignment of choice, assignment declination, or remain in place,” according to an Air Force press release. In surveys, aviators have said having some choice in assignment would help them extend their time in uniform.

The second program was created in the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. It is a “demonstration” program that will run five years to see if it helps retain pilots in critical weapon systems. Called the Rated Officer Retention Demonstration Bonus (RORDB), it also requires applications by Aug. 1, 2024, but “the program eligibility window will close early if the budgetary maximum number of contracts are met before,” the Air Force said.

The RORDB is only open to pilots of crewed aircraft—not remotely-piloted aircraft operators. It’s available to those “with no more than three years, but no less than one year remaining” on the Active-duty service commitment they made after completing Undergraduate Flying Training. In other words, the bonus will be available to those whose service commitments expire in fiscal 2025 or 2026.

The program incentivizes extending one’s commitment by offering more money for deciding earlier, with the bonus declining as an aviator draws closer to their commitment expiring. It also offers non-monetary incentives.

An Air Force spokesperson offered a hypothetical case to explain how the demo program bonus will work.

“If I am a bomber pilot and my original [Active Duty Service Commitment] expires in FY’26, I can sign a 10-year contract for $50,000 per year under the Demo program,” she said. “If I wait until FY’26, when I would be eligible for the EARI program, the same 10-year commitment would (only) be worth $35,000 per year. Additionally, if I enter into a contract under the Demo program, I will also have an assignment of preference option.”

The spokesperson noted that the bonuses offered will be unique to each aviator’s circumstances—their weapon systems, years of commitment remaining, etc.—and urged that Airmen explore eligibility requirements and application instructions on the myFSS website.

While the RORDB is only available for “select” Regular Air Force pilots, the EARI is open to Regular Air Force, Guard and Reserve rated officers, the service said.

Information about EARI for the Guard and Reserve will be announced later, USAF said.

Bonus programs are intended to “deliberately shape and retain experienced rated officers to meet Air Force retention, training and mission readiness requirements to maintain the lethality of the force,” the service said.

“Aviation-related skillsets, formed through the crucible of combat and daily execution of high-intensity operations, is the foundation necessary to continue to effectively deliver warfighting capability to the Joint Force and the American people,” said Mag. Gen. Adrian Spain, director of training and readiness for the deputy chief of staff for operations.

“Retaining these professional aviators’ experience and expertise within the Total Force is imperative in order to outpace future challenges that may emerge throughout the spectrum of conflict,” he said.

The EARI targets specific rated officer communities “to provide accurate personnel forecasts for retaining experienced rated officers to execute the Air Force’s warfighting mission,” the service said.

C-130s to Bring Holiday Cheer and 84,000 Pounds of Supplies to Pacific Islands

Dec. 1, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Over 200 bundles containing food, toys, and supplies are set to drop from C-130Js flying across the western Pacific Ocean this weekend.

The U.S. Air Force and its allies have gathered over 84,000 pounds of these supplies for ‘Operation Christmas Drop,’ scheduled to start Dec. 3 and continue through Dec. 13, a spokesperson at Yokota Air Base told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The Department of Defense’s longest standing humanitarian airlift effort is marking its 72nd iteration this year.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Zach Overbey, 36th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron Operation Christmas Drop 2023 (OCD 23) mission commander, greets Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) Capt. Changseok Ryoo at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Nov. 28, 2023, in support of OCD 23. This year marks the third occurance of ROKAF participation in OCD. U.S. Air Force photo by Yasuo Osakabe

The bundles contain non-perishable food, clothes, medical supplies, school books, fishing gears, and holiday toys for the children. This year, these goods are projected to reach more than 20,000 residents across 57 islands across the Federated state of Micronesia and Palau, the spokesperson said. The two nations include hundreds of islands and rely heavily on fishing for both commercial and subsistence needs.

This cherished tradition embodies cooperation and trust across the entire Indo-Pacific region, noted Col. Andrew Roddan, 374th Airlift Wing commander.

“Our Pacific Air Forces Airmen continue to build critical interoperability with our Allies and partners,” Roddan said in a statement.

Collected and packaged, the donated supplies are ready for transport as the Super Hercules completes pre-flight inspections and departs for Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, where the distribution will kick off.

Members of the 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron combat mobility flight (CMF), 44th Aerial Port Squadron, and volunteers from Andersen Air Force Base prepare for the 72nd annual Operation Christmas Drop “Bundle Build” at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Nov. 28, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Yasuo Osakabe

Spearheaded by the 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota Air Base in Japan, this Pacific Air Forces mission involves Airmen from the 36th Wing at Andersen Air Force Base, the 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, and from partner nations. Allies are also involved, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and—for the first time—the Royal Canadian Air Force, as confirmed by a spokesperson from PACAF.

Canada’s participation is yet another sign of its expand presence in the Indo-Pacific region. At the G7 summit held in Japan in May, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau highlighted the country’s Indo-Pacific strategy and advocated for an increased Canadian involvement for the region’s defense and security. PACAF’s Pacific Air Chiefs Symposium in Hawaii last month also saw chiefs of the Royal Canadian Air Force participating in key regional discussions.

Maj. Zach Overbey, 36th Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules pilot and OCD23 mission commander noted that the mission highlights the shared values and partnership between the allies.

“It is an absolute honor to come together with our Allies and partners to spread a little holiday joy and make a positive impact in the region,” said Overbey.

Beyond Christmas cheer, the tradition also fosters interoperability and communication, laying the groundwork for future humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts.

“This continues to be an important annual tradition meant to deliver valuable humanitarian assistance,” Capt. Emma C. Quirk of the 374th Airlift Wing told Air & Space Forces Magazine in a statement. “It is one of many events where U.S. and partner nation forces operate side by side, with this event emblematic of our mutual respect and cooperation with our friends and neighbors.”

The tradition started in 1952, when a B-29 Superfortress crew spotted Kapingamarangi islanders waving at the aircraft and dropped a parachuted supply package, inspired by the spirit of Christmas—giving the operation its name. The annual event is carried out through the Low-Cost, Low-Altitude (LCLA) airdrop, an economical way of distributing goods by utilizing repurposed parachutes.

To Counter Laser Weapons, Air Force Creates Better Eye Protection

Dec. 1, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Most drivers know the feeling: You’re on the road at night, when a car driving in the opposite direction comes around a bend and hits you with the high beam headlights. Suddenly, the contours of the road and practically everything else can be hard to make out.

For Air Force pilots, the threat can be even greater. Whether it’s civilians pointing commercial laser pointers in the sky or adversaries training military-grade laser weapons on aircraft cockpits, USAF aviators face eye damage and potentially fatal distraction.

“Even lasers that you can buy off the shelf at a Party Supply Store can cause serious damage, especially if there’s a situation where a pilot comes in to land and he’s distracted—even if it’s not damaging to the eyeball,” said 2nd Lt. Nicholas Zjad, of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s human systems division. “The amount of distraction that even a cheap red laser could create could have very serious consequences.”

To counter these threats, Zjad and other members of the Aircrew Laser Eye Protection Program are rolling out “Block 3” of the Air Force’s protective eyewear.

Block 3 includes eight new devices, from spectacles that protect against lasers and/or ballistic threats om both day and night, to visors and night vision goggles. All told, program leaders estimate USAF will acquire some 42,000 pieces of equipment delivered throughout the rest of the 2020s. Established as a program of record in 2017, Block 3 has already started to deliver daytime sunglasses and night vision goggles with laser eye protection, Zjad said.

Instances of “lazing”—laser pointers being shined at aircraft pilots—have surged in recent years, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. In 2022 alone, there were 9,500 incidents nationwide.

“These are not harmless pranks. There’s a risk of causing permanent visual impairment,” said an OSI official in an October release. “From the public’s standpoint, misusing lasers can severely impact a person’s ability to see and function.”

Military threats are also on the rise. The Philippines accused a Chinese coast guard ship of using a military-grade laser to temporarily blind the crew of a Philippine ship earlier this year. In 2022, Australia said a Chinese naval vessel shined a laser at an Australian P-8. The U.S. Air Force pilots has also accused China of using lasers against Airmen in the past.

“We work closely with the intelligence community to ascertain the current laser threat, and this is an ever-evolving issue,” Zjad said. “The laser threat space is continuous and it gets more and more intricate. So we rely on that data and put that into our requirements. We also take user requirements from previous blocks and implement that. So we want to do what’s right by the user and we want to make sure that the user has the comfort and the protection that they need to safely and effectively operate aircraft.”

In such instances, your average gas station sunglasses won’t cut it.

“We really are in the high-end sunglasses industry,” Mark Beer, Aircrew Laser Eye Protection Program deputy program manager, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “So wherever there’s a defined threat, to get the protection, we put in more dyes. Your regular sunglasses, they have a low amount of dye just to darken it and prevent the visible light from coming in. So wherever there is a threat laser, then we just put in dyes to block those photons coming from that device.”

At the same time, the program is also working on nighttime glasses that can let more visible light in while still offering laser protection.

“In the past, there were some very cool technologies used to manufacture them and provide the protection levels, but it was also very, very costly,” Beer said. The Air Force wants to make it easier to get the protection. “So we’ve been primarily focusing on cheaper methods of production as well as adapting the technologies to larger curved surfaces. So your spectacles are kind of small and they’re easy to produce, but if you have a wrap-around style like sports sunglasses, it’s larger and more complex.”

On top of that, the program introduced ballistic protection on top of laser protection in Block 3, a new requirement.

“We were able to introduce some technologies into the larger curved surface of wraparound sunglasses, that made the ballistic spectacle an option, so we just started testing it to that and they passed,” Beer said.

While previous laser protection eyewear was impact-resistant, ballistic protection will ensure glasses won’t shatter when struck by small arms fire or shrapnel, concerns that especially matter to helicopter pilots and others who fly close to the ground.

Block 3 eyewear will be available to all aircrew except for those using the F-35 or U-2—and could be crucial to keeping aircraft flying in the years to come.

“There are only a certain small number of people that can do optical quality injection molding and the dyes and some of the other technologies that they work with to try to make things cheaper, lighter, work better, more comfortable to the aircrew,” Beer said. “It’s really a community effort.”

Air Force’s Most Comprehensive Suicide Study Still Not Complete

Dec. 1, 2023 | By David Roza

A first-of-its-kind comprehensive study meant to help the Department of the Air Force better focus its suicide prevention and response efforts remains a work in progress.

Originally due this past spring, the Standardized Suicide Fatality Analysis report is taking longer than expected because nothing like it has been done before and officials want to get this first annual study right, an official with knowledge of the situation told Air & Space Forces Magazine. No release date is available at this point.

The Air Force is working with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences to combine data from medical, personnel, investigation, and event reports—a compilation of some 1,000 data points for each Active Duty, Guard, Reserve, and Department of the Air Force civilian who died by suicide in 2020, according to Air Force spokesperson Master Sgt. Deana Heitzman. Once the first report is complete, subsequent studies will be released annually, Heitzman said. The next report will cover deaths by suicide that took place in 2021.

Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services, first announced the initial report in a statement delivered to the House Armed Services Committee at a personnel posture hearing March 29, saying the report was due that spring.

The Air Force “looks to enhance our practices by systematically analyzing factors, identifying aggregated findings and lessons, and delivering generalizable and actionable recommendations to reduce suicide,” Miller said at the time.

Team Fairchild hosts their annual Mustache Dash event at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, March 31, 2023. The Mustache Dash was created to raise awareness for mental health that encompasses all four pillars of Comprehensive Airman Fitness: social, spiritual, mental, and physical. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Morgan Dailey

In prior years, the Air Force’s major commands each held their own annual suicide analysis boards, in which leaders and subject matter experts reviewed suicide records and reported findings to the Air Force’s integrated resilience office. This new report centralizes that effort and applies the Department of Defense’s Standardized Suicide Fatality Analysis framework to the entire Department of the Air Force.

“This report represents the first standardized and public health-driven methodology for conducting suicide death reviews across the DAF,” Air Force spokesperson Maj. Tanya Downsworth told Air & Space Forces Magazine in March. “The final reports will include actionable recommendations to inform DAF suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention programming.”

The new report is expected to increase the reliability of the department’s findings, as well the “generalizability of identified lessons learned and recommendations,” she said.

The topic of suicide in the Air Force made headlines in November when a military spouse named Lisa Hermosillo stood on a bridge near Minot Air Force Base, N.D. for three days starting Nov. 16, holding a sign that read “3 Days for 3 Lives Lost” and “Break the stigma.”

The base is investigating the deaths of three of its Airmen in October. Minot could not provide further details on the incidents, but officials said they worked with higher headquarters to make extra chaplains, counselors, and mental health professionals available for grieving Airmen and family members.

The new report would complement existing efforts by the Air Force and the Department of Defense to track deaths by suicide. The Defense Department’s most recent annual Report on Suicide in the Military released Oct. 26 showed 64 deaths by suicide in the Active-Duty Air Force in 2022, for a rate of 19.7 per 100,000 Airmen. That’s compared to 51 total and a rate of 15.3 in 2021. Still, the Air Force had the lowest recorded Active-Duty suicide rate among the services.

In September, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin detailed five lines of effort to reduce suicides across the military:

Foster a supportive environment

Improve the delivery of mental health care

Address stigma and other barriers to care

Revise suicide prevention training

Promote a culture in which “lethal means safety”

The lines of effort were distilled from the findings of the secretary’s Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee, which interviewed 2,106 service members and 670 civilians and made 127 near- and long-term recommendations for improvement.

Recommendations include improving child care programs and enhancing military pay and reimbursement processes to minimize unnecessary stress; improve leadership selection and empowering leaders to improve the predictability of individuals’ work schedules; expediting the hiring process for behavioral health professionals to ensure adequate access to care; revising suicide prevention training; and promoting secure firearm storage, including incentivizing service members to acquire their own secure firearm storage. Austin’s goal is to fully implement all of these by the end of fiscal year 2030.

“Suicide prevention is a long-term effort,” Austin wrote in his Sept. 28 memo. “Change will not happen overnight, but we have no time to spare.”

Service members and veterans who are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, and those who know a service member or veteran in crisis, can call the Veterans/Military Crisis Line for confidential support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Call 988 and press 1; text 988; or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat.

Latest KC-46 Lot Contract Award Leaves Only Three More to Go

Nov. 30, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Boeing’s receipt of the 10th lot contract award for the KC-46 Pegasus this week leaves just three lots left to complete the Air Force’s buy of the tanker, although a further buy of 75 additional aircraft as a “bridge” to the Next-Generation Aerial-refueling System (NGAS) seems increasingly likely.

Boeing received a $2.3 billion award on Nov. 28 for a further 15 KC-46s, to be delivered by mid-2027. The award brings Boeing up to 143 aircraft on order under the fixed-price contract, leaving just 36 more to fill out the planned buy of 179 aircraft. The company has delivered 76 aircraft to the Air Force so far. The previous lot was awarded in January—also for $2.3 billion and 15 aircraft.

The existing firm-fixed-price contract limits the KC-46 program to 13 lots, the last of which is to be awarded in 2027. The last aircraft is to be delivered two years later. How many will be in each of the last few lots has not been determined.

Boeing has so far written down more than $7 billion in losses on the program, which has suffered delays due to problems with the boom operator’s Remote Viewing System, boom stiffness, and supply chain and labor issues, among others. Boeing president and chief executive officer David Calhoun has pledged to shareholders that the company won’t be making any more lowball bids on defense contracts in order to secure long-term work.

Shortly after Boeing won the KC-46 contract in 2011, company officials said they believed some losses on the program were acceptable because they expected the type to become the global standard tanker, much as Boeing’s C-17 became the world standard oversize jet cargo plane. But the KC-46 has lost out on most tanker contests to the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT). Internationally, Israel and Japan are the only customers so far for the KC-46, ordering four and six, respectively, although a sale to Italy seems likely.

In late October, Lockheed Martin announced it would not bid its LMXT air refueling plane—based on the MRTT, in partnership with Airbus—for the USAF’s “bridge tanker” requirement. Airbus subsequently said it will pursue the work on its own, but the Air Force has not committed to holding a bridge tanker competition. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has voiced skepticism that a competition would be worth the cost, given the size of the buy and the need to potentially create a new and unique organic logistics capability.

Kendall and Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter have said the bridge tanker is meant to keep a USAF tanker in production until the NGAS—formerly the KC-Z—is developed and readied for service, sometime in the mid-2030s. The NGAS is to be a smaller aircraft with signature reduction meant to escort fighters, bombers, and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) into contested airspace, where standard “tube and wing” commercially-derived aircraft like the KC-46 and MRTT cannot survive. While 75 is considered the minimum size fleet for the bridge tanker, USAF officials have said up to 150 may be bought if there are delays with the NGAS.

A Boeing spokesperson said the company will “continue to support the Air Force through the Analysis of Alternatives” for the bridge tanker, which Hunter told Congress in the spring would get underway this fall.

“We are confident that the U.S. Air Force will pursue the appropriate acquisition strategy to continue the recapitalization of the tanker fleet and meet the needs of the warfighter,” the Boeing spokesperson said.

In August, the Air Force picked JetZero to design and prototype a blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft which will explore future tanker and cargo aircraft concepts. Northrop Grumman, which builds the B-21 bomber, is partnered with JetZero. The Air Force has said the BWB program will not necessarily lead directly to the NGAS.

Before withdrawing the LMXT, Lockheed touted the aircraft—which is substantially larger than the KC-46—as being a “mothership” for CCAs, able to stay on station just outside contested airspace for long periods, refueling combat jets as they enter and leave the battle zone. Airbus is likely to make a similar pitch.

Although not yet declared “operational,” the KC-46 has been performing real-world missions and participated in last summer’s Mobility Guardian exercise, making extended flights in excess of 30 hours.

Air Mobility Command has certified the KC-46 to refuel all Air Force types except the A-10, which must be air-refueled by the KC-135, the Eisenhower-era tanker which is expected to be ultimately replaced by the bridge tanker and NGAS.

The Air Force is also upgrading its KC-46s with enhanced communication suites and plans to make the aircraft a communications relay node.

Thus far, the KC-46 fleet has logged more than 18,600 total flights, with 104,000 boom aerial refueling contacts and 183 million pounds of fuel offloaded, according to Boeing.

Air Guardsmen Keep Aging F-15Cs Flying With Spare Parts Made In-House

Nov. 30, 2023 | By David Roza

The average age for America’s fleet of F-15C Eagles is about 38 years old, and many of the aircraft’s spare parts are no longer produced or can take days to order from a manufacturer. Luckily, the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing has a metals technology shop at Portland Air National Guard Base where Airmen fabricate parts in-house to keep the wing’s elder Eagles flying.

“We have the ability as a unit to say, ‘Hey, stop what you are doing. We need to have this part made,’ and then have that part made in hours or even minutes,” Staff Sgt. Nathan Carssow, an aircraft metals technology craftsman with the 142nd Maintenance Squadron, said in a Nov. 29 news release about the shop.

Some of the parts help hold the plane together. Recently, the craftsmen made an aluminum stringer for the F-15C’s tail cone. The stringer is one of three stiffeners that provide a framework for the tail cone assembly that airframe skins and smaller parts attach to, Master Sgt. Steph Sawyer, a spokesperson for the 142nd Wing, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

f-15 — Tech. Sgt. Nate Brown, a 142nd Maintenance Squadron metals technology craftsman, observes a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) mill as it carves a piece of solid aluminum into a stringer, an essential aircraft part, Nov. 4, 2023, Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Sean Campbell

Another type of key part are bushings, which often look like small thin tubes that reinforce functional holes in the aircraft which have weakened with wear.

“In the more intricate parts of our job, if an aircraft is in need of something, like the bushings, it’s not going to fly until our shop finishes the project,” Tech. Sgt. Nate Brown, a 142nd Maintenance Squadron metals technology craftsman, said in the release. “ … When a job is serious enough to need metals tech, it’s not going to fly until we finish the project that’s been given to us.”

Turning metal into a part ready for the demands of military aviation requires special tools, including manual lathes, CNC (Computer Numerical Control) mills, 3D printers, and welding tools. Other tasks are less demanding but just as important, like removing screws stuck in removable panels or skins.

“Stuck screws can cause a work stoppage due to the maintainers being unable to access those areas to accomplish maintenance or inspections,” Sawyer said.

Staff Sgt. Nathan Carssow, a 142nd Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology craftsman, machines a stringer for a tail cone, a part that has become un-procurable, November 4, 2023, Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Sean Campbell

Despite fewer than 10 Airmen working there, the shop has made quite a dent, saving $1.2 million in Air Force Repair Enhancement Program (AFREP) funds in fiscal year 2023 alone. When Airmen fix a part through AFREP, the unit can take the money that would have gone towards a replacement part and instead use it on capital improvements or new equipment. The same goes for non-aircraft parts, such as those used by aerospace ground equipment, ammunition, or other shops that keep the service running.

Metal shops can be especially helpful for older aircraft like the F-15 or the RC/WC-135, but even younger jets sometimes need creative in-house fabrication. For example, the Air Force’s fleet of F-35 fighters is just four years old on average, but AFREP Airmen at Hill Air Force Base, Utah saved the base thousands of dollars by designing better F-35 sensor covers and better diagnostic tools for the stealth jet.

That means when the Oregon Air National Guard starts flying brand-new F-15EX Eagle IIs in fiscal year 2025, the Airmen at the metals shop will probably still have plenty opportunities to test their mettle.

New Schedule for Sentinel Coming Soon, Says ICBM Modernization Boss

Nov. 30, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

The head of a new office created to oversee the modernization of the Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile fleet said schedule changes for the Sentinel program are due “at the end of the year” from contractor Northrop Grumman.

While concern has grown over potential delays, Brig. Gen. Colin J. Connor, head of Air Force Global Strike Command’s new ICBM Modernization Directorate, declined to share details at an event hosted by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center.

“It would be premature for me at this point to talk anything about a delay and get in front of the acquisition community,” Connor said Nov. 29.

But Connor did acknowledge the scale and scope of the Sentinel project, which Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has previously called among the most ambitious and difficult the service has ever undertaken.

“It is the most complex thing we’ve done, I’ll say, since the 1960s,” Connor said. “And I would say even then, because of technology that we’re trying to equip, whether it’s [nuclear command, control, and communications] technology, digital engineering aspects to it, it’s even different than what was done in the 60s.”

Kendall said earlier in November that Sentinel is “quite honestly, struggling a little bit,” and in August, the Government Accountability Office reported that Sentinel was already a year behind schedule. Initial operational capability is expected between April and June 2030, GAO said—skating close to the no-fail IOC of September 2030 required by U.S. Strategic Command.

The GAO report criticized the Sentinel program office, saying the master schedule’s deficiencies meant it not be used to effectively manage the program.

“The prime contractor and the program are conducting a high-level review and discussing potential changes to the schedule,” according to the report, which was based on data from January 2023.

Months later, Connor indicated an update is coming soon.

“As we await a schedule from Northrop Grumman to arrive, we expect that to arrive at the end of the year,” he said.

Connor also noted that Northrop and the Air Force continue to refine cost estimates, acknowledging that initial estimates are likely to too low.

“Not to be flippant, but show me a program that doesn’t have higher costs at the end than what were initially projected,” Connor said. Inflation, the changed economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the significant technological challenge at hand, are all cost factors.

Amid such challenges, Global Strike Command recently stood up the new ICBM modernization directorate, a spokesman told Air & Space Forces Magazine. Labeled the “A10,” in line with the Air Staff’s A10 directorate for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, the office aligns with the “A Staff” structure Air Force leadership has sought to promulgate across the service.

The LGM-35A Sentinel in this illustration is the Air Force’s newest weapon system, known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent. The new designation modernizes the ICBM leg of the nation’s nuclear triad. **USAF/illustration**

It also fulfills a requirement in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that the Air Force establish an ICBM Modernization Site Activation Task Force to “oversee and coordinate” the planning, construction, and installation that will go into getting Sentinel online while keeping the existing Minuteman III missiles viable.

“We are working with both the contractor and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center from the acquisition standpoint, to work the operational fielding of the system, the transition between two systems,” Connor said. “The role for Global Strike A10 … is to facilitate that, from an organize, train, and equip perspective; to make sure that the Airmen in the field have what they need, working both with the acquisition community and the contract force that will be doing a lot of the work out there, as we work this transition.”

Sentinel is not merely a new missile, Connor said. “We’re not putting ‘Minuteman IV’ in the ground,” Connor said. “It’s a different missile that’s more capable.”

Also coming are new launch control centers with equipment adopted or adapted from commercial solutions, and new nuclear command, control, and communications capabilities that will bring today’s decades-old technology up to a “more modern approach,” he said.

“We’re not just gutting the launch facilities, repainting them, and putting the same equipment back in,” Connor said. It’s going to be a whole new nuclear enterprise.

S. Korea Spy Satellite to Lift Off at Vandenberg Days After N. Korea Launches One

Nov. 30, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Editor’s Note: This story was updated Dec. 1 after SpaceX announced a new date for the launch.

South Korea is set to launch its inaugural homemade reconnaissance satellite on Dec. 1 (Dec. 2 in Korea) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.

The electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) satellite, to be carried by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is Seoul’s first of five planned satellites. Following the initial positioning of the satellite, the country plans to launch four more Synthetic Apertures Radar (SAR) satellites.

South Korea has long relied on the United States for surveillance imagery, particularly for detecting activities in North Korea. When its entire constellation of new satellites is in orbit by 2025, Seoul expects to be able to detect, identify, decide, and strike within 30 minutes of an initial indicator.

The first launch, slated for Nov. 30, was postponed due to adverse weather conditions, according to the nation’s defense ministry. Falcon 9 rocket launches adhere to guidelines that prohibit launches when sustained winds exceed 30 mph at the 162-foot level of the launch pad.

While South Korea looks to build up its space surveillance capabilities, North Korea claimed the successful positioning of its first spy satellite from its launch last week, following two failed attempts earlier this year.

Pyongyang’s state media claimed to have captured images of the White House, the Pentagon, and Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. So far, none of the said pictures have been released.

In a briefing with reporters, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder downplayed the importance of such imagery, noting “there are plenty of images of the Pentagon and the White House online.”

Ryder, however, did acknowledge that North Korea’s satellite entered the orbit and the launch involved ballistic missile technology.

Washington, along with its allies including Seoul and Tokyo, have condemned the use of such technology as a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

North Korea’s ambassador made an appearance at the United Nations Security Council on Nov. 27 to defend the satellite launch, asserting Washington is “threatening” Pyongyang with its nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service speculates Russia aided North Korea with its reconnaissance satellite launch. But Seoul’s Defense Minister Shin Won-sik is dismissive of North Korea’s statement regarding its surveillance satellite technology.

The Minister appeared as a radio guest on the country’s national broadcaster last week and stated Pyongyang’s claim of capturing image of Guam after only two days of the satellite launch is “exaggerated,” given the necessary time for the satellite to come online and properly calibrate after entering orbit.