Link 16, Laser Comms, ‘At Least One’ More Launch: 2024 Heats Up for SDA

Link 16, Laser Comms, ‘At Least One’ More Launch: 2024 Heats Up for SDA

March 6, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Development Agency plans to finish two major demonstrations of its low-Earth orbit satellites before the end of 2024—and also get started on a rapid series of launches, its director said March 6.  

SDA boss Derek M. Tournear outlined the beginning stages of a quickening pace for the agency as it starts to operationalize its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Tournear made his comments during a SpaceNews webinar.

First up for SDA is establishing a “mesh network” of laser communication crosslinks connecting satellites almost like a home mesh Wi-Fi network. To more rapidly move data around the globe, the satellites were built to communicate with each other, as well as to ground stations, using laser communications. Lasers enable higher data rates and are harder to intercept.

Two missile tracking satellites built by SpaceX and launched last April have demonstrated those laser crosslinks work, Tournear said. SDA is working now with York Space Systems to demonstrate it can use the Link 16 waveform to transmit data directly from space. And in “the May timeframe, we’ll be able to have the mesh network [moving data] between the York satellites,” Tournear said. “And then we’ll work the crosslinks between York and SpaceX.” 

After that come the second batch of data transport satellites—built by Lockheed Martin and launched in September 2023. They are “just completing some of their initial tests and checkout and we expect them to start their Link 16 and their optical tests probably shortly after that May timeframe,” Tournear added. 

The York satellites first sent data using the Link 16 system in November, exceeding Tournear’s expectations, he said. But because of a ongoing dispute between the Pentagon and Federal Aviation Administration, Link 16 broadcasts are restricted in U.S. airspace, which meant SDA had to get a waiver from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to allow it to transmit a Link 16 message to a Five Eyes partner nation and over international waters. 

Tournear said he hoped to see the issue resolved soon. 

“Primarily the FAA wants to make sure that we have compatibility features that are tested on our satellites so that we can’t interfere with any radio navigation aids,” he said. “That makes sense and we’re working with the FAA to get a plan in place to do that.”

He said he expects to be cleared to conduct “national airspace testing with our Tranche Zero satellites by the end of this calendar year.” 

Proving the ability to use Link 16 is crucial because that system is so widely used and is expected to be fundamental to enabling Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, which will leverage SDA’s transport satellites to link sensors to shooters around the world. 

Meanwhile, SDA is also pushing forward on its next batch of satellites; “Tranche 1” aims to operationalize capabilities proven in Tranche 0. 

Awarded in February 2022, contracts for Tranche 1 call for satellites ready to launch by September 2024, and Tournear said he intends to stick to that schedule.

“We don’t expect to—we will launch Tranche 1 satellites in 2024,” he promised. 

It will take 11 launches to complete Tranche 1—six to deploy 128 data transport satellites, four to send up 35 missile warning/tracking satellites, and one more to put a dozen demonstration and experimentation satellites into orbit. 

“At least” one of those launches will come this calendar year, Tournear said, with the remainder going up at a rate of about one launch every two months. By summer 2025, there should be enough of the satellites in orbit to declare initial operational capability for the PWSA. 

“I check in with my program directors daily and they check in with the vendors probably hourly,” Tournear said, explaining why he feels so confident in sharing his plans and expectations. “They have constant communications,” he said. “And every day there’s a new item that’s on the critical path and that’s the only way that we can maintain this speed of delivery, is to make sure that we stay on top of that and push forward.” 

Tournear also expressed confidence he can continue to hold his cost per satellite down—just $15 million per data transport satellite, for example. Despite inflation and supply chain challenges, prices are holding steady or declining as technology gets cheaper, he said.  

“As the market grows, there’ll be more volume … to be able to continue to drive those prices down,” Tournear said. “And only when we start to add new capabilities will” prices start to move in the other direction. “we essentially lose some of that price downward trend and then bring that back up by adding capabilities, he added: “That’s why we think the price should be relatively flat.” 

LOOK: B-52 and B-1 Bombers Fly with Gripens over Stockholm

LOOK: B-52 and B-1 Bombers Fly with Gripens over Stockholm

March 6, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

With Sweden poised to officially join NATO in the next few days, the U.S. Air Force celebrated March 6 with a rare double bomber flyover of a B-52 Stratofortress and a B-1 Lancer over Stockholm, accompanied by Swedish Air Force Gripens. 

U.S. Air Forces in Europe noted in a release that the bombers flew over Avicii Arena, Sweden’s Parliament House, the Stockholm Arlanda Airport, and more during their flyover. 

A spokesperson for Air Force Global Strike Command told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the B-52 came from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., while the B-1 came from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. 

Both bombers planned CONUS-to-CONUS mission, meaning they took off from the U.S. and intended to return without landing. The B-1 diverted, however, to RAF Fairford, U.K., the spokesman said, confirming social media sightings and reports. 

“The training was a great success and builds upon our already great relationship,” the spokesman added. 

“The strong and enduring bond between the United States and Sweden, rooted in mutual interests and shared values, is poised to reach new heights,” said USAFE commander Gen. James Hecker in a statement. “As Sweden prepares to join the NATO Alliance as its 32nd member, we eagerly anticipate deepening our collaboration with our Swedish Allies. Initiatives like this joint flyover are just the beginning, as we work together to advance international stability and security.”  

Such missions are signs of support, as when B-52s flew over North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia, in August 2022. A USAFE release at the time said the mission demonstrated “U.S. commitment and assurance to NATO Allies and partners located in Southeastern Europe.” Similarly, F-16s flew over Bosnia and Herzegovina in January in a show of force aimed at deterring “secessionist activity” by Bosnian Serbs. In May 2021, B-52s flew over every NATO nation in one flight.

Pairing the B-52 and B-1, however, is unusual. The Stockholm flyover marked a quick turnaround after two B-1s returned to Ellsworth March 1, concluding a Bomber Task Force deployment to Luleå-Kallax Air Base, Sweden. The jets arrived Feb. 24 and flew surface attack, air interdiction, and close air support training missions with the Swedish Air Force. On their return, several NATO allies took turns practicing intercepts with the B-1. 

Air Force About to Test ARRW Hypersonic Missile in the Central Pacific

Air Force About to Test ARRW Hypersonic Missile in the Central Pacific

March 5, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Just a few days after the Air Force published imagery of a live hypersonic AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) mounted on a B-52H in Guam, a test of that missile is all but certainly imminent—warning bulletins about a weapons test in the central Pacific have been issued in a window running now through March 10.

The test may have already taken place, but the Air Force was not immediately able to comment on this.

The Navigation Warning, issued to apprise aircraft and vessels transiting the region of the imminent test, gives coordinates of the danger zone, culminating in a target area north and east of the Kwajalein Atoll test area. The distance of flight is stated as just over 2,100 miles, off a B-52 flying from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to a launch point about  2,500 miles away; approximately the profile of an operational ARRW mission.

Monitoring and tracking vessels and aircraft are also either in the test area or en route, suggesting the Pentagon plans to use the event not only to validate the performance of the ARRW, but to characterize the behavior of an incoming, maneuvering hypersonic missile and collect data useful for developing hypersonic missile defenses.

Missile Defense Agency specially-modified Gulfstream aircraft performing High Altitude Observatory (HALO) missions have been operating from Guam and Hawaii in recent days, according to flight tracker data.

A Pentagon official said this first flight of the ARRW outside of the usual test area off the California coast is taking advantage of missile surveillance equipment that would also be used to detect and track missiles launched from China or possibly North Korea.

Asked whether the test was being conducted in this region as a message to China that the U.S. has an operational hypersonic capability, the official said, “they can interpret this any way they want … but you would expect us to derive as much value from one of these [events] as we possibly can.”

Programmatically, the Air Force has indicated that there is just one more ARRW test planned to complete the program, which service acquisition executive Andrew Hunter said last year would end in 2024. In written testimony to the House Armed Services Committee last March, Hunter said that although the Air Force didn’t plan to put ARRW into production, there is “inherent benefit to completing All-Up Round test flights,” in order to capture “the learning and test data that will help inform future hypersonic programs and potential leave-behind capability.”

Under the ARRW contract with Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, the ARRW development effort calls for designing the boost-glide type hypersonic missile, testing it, demonstrating a production capability “at scale,” and having some additional all-up rounds that could be used operationally. How many leftovers the program is to generate has never been disclosed, but the missile shown at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam was labeled as “All-Up Round No. 5.”

Along with releasing imagery of the missile, the Air Force said it was conducting “familiarization” training with air and ground crews on hypersonic systems, which included an “academics” element.

A similar familiarization program was held before an ARRW test last year, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The ARRW is a boost-glide weapon, meaning that it is accelerated to hypersonic speed by a booster and then glides at hypersonic speed to the target, making unpredictable turns along the way to avoid defenses. The booster is the same as used in the Army Tactical Missile System rocket. After reaching hypersonic speed, a clamshell shroud opens, allowing the much smaller hypersonic glide vehicle to emerge and complete its mission.   

If the test succeeds, it will demonstrate that the Air Force can generate a B-52 with ARRW from a forward location, fly a multihour mission to a launch point, launch an ARRW, and have it hit a target area after achieving hypersonic speed, with high probability of destroying the target.    

Space Delta 2 Boss: Don’t Just Share Info. Act on It.

Space Delta 2 Boss: Don’t Just Share Info. Act on It.

March 5, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

Guardians need to be empowered to make their own tactical battle management decisions—and must get the training and investment needed to develop those skills, Space Force. Col. Raj Agrawal said March 5. 

Agrawal commands Space Delta 2, a wide-ranging organization with personnel around the world responsible for tracking tens of thousands of objects in orbit and understanding why and when satellites and other objects move. 

But Agrawal’s delta is also responsible for space battle management. “Space situational awareness … that is knowledge,” Agrawal said during an AFA Warfighters in Action interview. “And then you go to space domain awareness, and that is a military application or understanding. Battle management takes us really to that next evolution forward, and that’s making decisions.” 

Military space has traditionally been a support element for other forces, so specialists tended to see themselves as information providers, rather than decision makers.  

“The translation from understanding to making decisions is where we have to train our military forces, particularly our Guardians, who may have come from other services into the Space Force where they provided a capability for other forces to make decisions with,” Agrawal said. “Now what we’re asking these Guardians and Airmen to do is … understand [when] there’s an opportunity to exploit.’” 

Agrawal wants his squadrons to make decisions faster, armed with the knowledge and awareness that come from monitoring the domain. Space forces can no longer be viewed as merely support forces, because there are advantages to be gained by operating more competitively throughout the domain. 

“If you put your vulnerabilities in place, your adversaries are going to look to exploit that vulnerability and to take it out,” Agrawal said. “Without the ability to protect those critical capabilities, we lose. And so you have to make fighters in space.” 

Decision advantage is also a focus of Air Force leaders, who likewise want Airmen to be able to make tactical-level decisions based on “commander’s intent” rather than simply wait for direction. But adapting to that new mindset is a challenging shift, Agrawal acknowledged. 

“We have to empower our tactical warfighters to be able to make decisions and move and execute without direct oversight,” Agrawal said. “We’ve trained a kind of leadership that built a model off of Predator feeds, where senior leaders could see through a camera onto the battlefield and have the perception of complete knowledge to then make decisions, sometimes from very far away. … We have to change that.” 

The new head of Space Operations Command, Lt. Gen. David N. Miller, has been leading this charge, pushing for integration across deltas and squadrons as a necessary step, Agrawal said. 

“What we want to do is get to where our combat space forces aren’t so dependent on that tactical direction, but know what needs to be done, how to do it, who to work with in the other mission deltas, and how to close on that target,” Agrawal said. “And then be able to operate independent of that move-by-move, play-by-play, operational C2. and that’s going to take some training, and that’s going to take some shared awareness, and that’s going to take a lot of practice and investing across the tactical force.” 

It will also take manpower and focus, something that Space Delta 2 must juggle right now. The delta is responsible for orbital and flight safety for all U.S. commercial and civil spacecraft; when satellites are threatened by orbiting debris, it’s Space Delta 2 that notifies the satellite owners.

That mission will shift in the coming years to the Department of Commerce, which is establishing a space traffic management service. When it does, Space Delta 2 will be off the hook for those notifications. But it will keep tracking objects, Agrawal said, focusing its attention on military threats—and opportunities.  

CMSAF Bass: First Air Force Warrant Officer Class to Be Selected This Summer

CMSAF Bass: First Air Force Warrant Officer Class to Be Selected This Summer

March 5, 2024 | By David Roza

Editor’s Note: This story was updated March 6 with a comment from CMSAF JoAnne S. Bass on details of the warrant officer implementation plan.

The top enlisted leader in the Air Force said the branch’s first batch of new warrant officers since 1959 is due to be selected this summer, with the first class starting later this year.

“The force of the future will look different and we’ve got to figure out ways to attract, onboard, retain the force that we’re going to need,” Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass said March 5 in a Facebook livestream with Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. 

“Today’s generation, they want to serve, they just want to have different pathways to service and we’ve got to be agile enough as a force to do that,” she added. “I couldn’t be more excited for the warrant officer path.”

Bass and Kendall did not offer more details on the application process or the requirements for the warrant officer program. A spokesperson for Bass later told Air & Space Forces Magazine that “the implementation plans and guidance are currently being developed.”

The news comes about three weeks after Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin announced that the service will try bringing back warrant officers in the information technology and cyber career fields in a bid to retain highly-skilled technical specialists, 45 years after the last Air Force warrant officer retired in 1980. The Air Force and Space Force are the only military services not to include warrant officers, who fill technical rather than leadership functions in the other military branches.

“We are in a competition for talent, and we understand that technical talent is going to be so critical to our success as an Air Force in the future,” Allvin said Feb. 12 at the AFA Warfare Symposium. The warrant officer track could allow Airmen “to pursue the technical path without having to choose between that and the leadership path.”

Warrant officers could be important in cyber and software, where technology moves particularly fast. Kendall said on Feb. 14 at the symposium that about 100 Airmen joined other branches in recent years so that they could become warrant officers in IT and cyber. Current career tracks often take Airmen out of their specialty for long durations; Kendall recalled meeting officers returning to cyber after three years in a completely different field.

“Now I don’t know about you, but if I had a doctor who had not been doing medicine for three years and who was about to do surgery on me, I would be a little nervous,” the secretary said on the final day of the symposium. “We need continuity in some of these people.”

The initial cohort, according to planning documents posted on the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page and obtained by Air & Space Forces Magazine, would consist of 30 prior-service personnel, though the pipeline could scale up to 200 junior warrant officers and 50 senior warrant officers a year. Director of the Air National Guard Lt. Gen. Michael Loh told Air & Space Forces Magazine that his troops will be among the first batch.

“The folks that bring the predominant force structure from a cyber, IT perspective is the National Guard; over two-thirds of the Air Force capability resides in the National Guard,” he said.

Allvin cautioned against expanding the program too quickly as the Air Force evaluates the program in the cyber and IT fields. Success may involve measuring how long warrant officers stay in the service, what level of talent they develop as warrant officers, and how much they increase productivity and effectiveness in the IT and cyber arenas. Those metrics may take years to collect, but Kendall has a feeling that the program will someday expand other career fields.

“I expect ultimately, assuming that we’re successful with these initial steps, that we’ll probably expand it,” he said March 5. “I don’t think it’s going to happen immediately, so you shouldn’t hold your breath about this. But my sense is, my own intuition about this, is that we’re going to want to expand it after we see how effective it is for cyber and IT.”

A former Army officer, Kendall recalled seeing how warrant officers in the maintenance career fields “made a major contribution to the force,” he said. “These are people who are going to work in that field and they’re going to be the masters, if you will, of that tradecraft. They’re going to be mentors and trainers for other people.”

Bass, whose tenure as top Air Force enlisted leader ends March 8, echoed that opinion. Warrant officers are a way of “ensuring that we have different pathways and an ability to bring on the talent that we’re going to need to be able to be the force of the future,” she said.

F-35s, F-16s Slated to Fly in Large-Scale US-S Korea Exercise

F-35s, F-16s Slated to Fly in Large-Scale US-S Korea Exercise

March 5, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Freedom Shield, an annual large-scale exercise led by the United States and South Korea, kicked off March 4, and the U.S. Air Force is slated to contribute multiple fighter types to the training.

USAF F-16s and A-10s are confirmed to participate in different training events throughout the 11-day exercise, and American F-35s are “tentatively confirmed” to participate as well, 7th Air Force Spokeswoman Maj. Rachel Buitrago told Air & Space Forces Magazine in an email statement.

Freedom Shield marks the first major multi-domain exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in 2024 and will focus on combined, multi-domain operations with land, air, sea, and non-kinetic assets, according to the U.S. Forces Korea.

“Freedom Shield 24 is tough and realistic exercise, to strengthen the combined defensive posture and alliance response capabilities, based off scenarios that reflect diverse threats within the security environment,” USFK director of public affairs Army Col. Isaac Taylor said during a press conference.

The overall exercise will include 48 individual “Field Training Exercises,” more than doubling last year’s edition, which also features a B-1 bomber. It is being observed by service members from 12 United Nations Command (UNC) Member States, including the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Italy.

One element of the exercise highlighted by South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense will be a ‘Buddy Squadron’ event near Osan Air Force Base, home of the 7th Air Force, which will involve 20 aircraft, including American F-16s and Republic of Korea Air Force’s F-15Ks.

Airmen from both nations are engaged in practical training, such as Defensive Counter Air (DCA) missions and discuss the latest tactics during the training, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

Additionally, U.S. RC-135V Rivet Joint and ROK’s high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft Global Hawk (RQ-4) were deployed to closely monitor North Korean military movements on the first day of the Freedom Shield exercise.

Meanwhile, North Korea has condemned the exercise and issued a warning, stating that the U.S. and South Korea will pay a “dear price,”through its state-owned media on March 5.

During last year’s Freedom Shield exercise in March, North Korea carried out test launches of an intercontinental ballistic missile, known as the Hwasong-17, and short-range ballistic missiles. The DPRK has also pledged to launch three more spy satellites this year following on the launch of its first satellite last November.

South Korea’s Defense Minister Shin Won-Sik, while warning that satellite launches could happen as early as this month, also indicated that the satellite Pyongyang launched in November appears to be non-operational.

Air Force Deploys Live Hypersonic ARRW Missile to Guam

Air Force Deploys Live Hypersonic ARRW Missile to Guam

March 4, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force has published images of an operational hypersonic Air-Launched Rapid-Response Weapon (ARRW) in Guam; a disclosure possibly meant to send a message to China but which raises questions about the future of the ARRW, which the Air Force insists it is not planning to procure in quantity.

The images, released by the 36th Wing, showed air and ground crews at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, receiving “hypersonic weapon familiarization” with the AGM-183A ARRW on Feb. 27. The missile, which was mounted under the wing of a B-52H bomber, had yellow stripes, indicating it has a live warhead. Blue stripes indicate an inert weapon without a warhead, typically used for captive-carry tests or loading training.

B-52 Stratofortress crews from the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota and the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, participated in hypersonic weapon familiarization training at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 27, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Pedro Tenorio

The Air Force’s unveiling of the ARRW in a forward location may be a message to China that the U.S. can now field a hypersonic capability in the Pacific. It may also be the simple familiarization described, but it would be unusual to take a highly limited test asset to a forward base without another purpose in mind. The Air Force did not disclose whether the missile would remain at the base.   

Andersen is a key base in the Pacific, and Air Force bombers routinely deploy there for weeks at a time, engaging in training, wargames, and show-the-flag messaging operations. These include “freedom of navigation” flights through China’s air defense identification zone. Such Bomber Task Forces (BTFs) have increased in the last few years, while at the same time China has stepped up the frequency of exercises in which it bluff-charges Taiwan’s ADIZ with as many as 80 aircraft, a pattern seemingly meant to test Taiwan’s air defenses but also potentially intended to reduce Taiwan’s alertness with chronic false alarms of an invasion.

It’s not clear from the photos released whether more than one missile was included in the training. All the photos showed a single missile mounted on a pylon under the aircraft’s starboard wing. The Air Force has said a B-52 can carry up to four ARRWs on wing pylons.

About two dozen Air Force personnel were shown receiving the instruction.

B-52 Stratofortress crews from the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota and the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, participated in hypersonic weapon familiarization training at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 27, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Pedro Tenorio

The missile in the photos carries the serial number AR-AUR-005. The “AUR” likely references the term “All-Up Round,” the nomenclature for ARRWs that have a live ATACMS booster and live warhead. The Air Force released images of a similar training event at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., last year, and the missile in those photos had the serial AR-AUR-004.

If the Air Force plans to test-launch the missile in the photos in the Western Pacific, it would be the first time such a launch has occurred away from the coast of California, where all ARRW tests have been conducted so far.    

The release said B-52 crews of the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron out of Minot Air Force Base, N.D., and the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron out of Barksdale Air Force Base, La., conducted the familiarization. Personnel received “expert academics and training on hypersonic fundamentals and participated in tactical discussion on hypersonic operations to increase operational readiness,” the release stated. The instruction also included a discussion about logistics for hypersonic weapons.

The program is meant to “prepare multiple Air Force aircraft communities for hypersonics, including the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile,” ARRW, and “other programs under development,” according to the release. It did not provide further details.

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control is the prime contractor for ARRW—a boost-glide type of hypersonic weapon—while Raytheon is developing the HACM, which is a smaller, longer-ranged, air-breathing weapon, the engine for which is being developed by Northrop Grumman.

The ARRW has a checkered track record in Air Force tests, with at least two outright launch failures as well as test glitches during the captive-carry phase of evaluation. The first test reported as a full success of the all-up round was flown on Dec. 9, 2022; two others were flown in August and October last year, apparently successful. The Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, in his recent report about 2023 activities, said the all-up ARRW flown last August had some problems with telemetry in the endgame but otherwise flew a nominal mission and achieved successful warhead detonation.

Air Force officials said there is one formal ARRW test yet to go.

Just a year ago, Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter told the House Armed Services Committee in written prepared testimony that the Air Force “does not intend to pursue follow-on procurement” of ARRW. However, he said there is “inherent benefit to completing All-Up Round test flights … to garner the learning and test data that will help inform future hypersonic programs and potential leave-behind capability.”

Air Force budget documents said closeout testing of the ARRW would take place in fiscal year 2024, during which the flight envelope for launch will be further expanded, flying qualities will be assessed, and the weapon will be tested against ground targets.

Much about the ARRW contract is classified, but the Air Force has acknowledged that Lockheed Martin was to conduct design and development, produce a certain number of missiles for test, and produce an undisclosed number of “leave behind,” or left-over assets after testing that could be used operationally. Lockheed was also to demonstrate that it could produce the ARRW at scale, something the company has said it accomplished.

Subsequent to Hunter’s comment, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the Air Force has shifted its focus to the HACM, which will be a smaller, longer-ranged weapon that could be carried by fighter-sized aircraft. The ARRW can only be carried by bombers.

It’s not clear if the Air Force is changing its procurement position on ARRW. William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, deferred questions on hypersonics and ARRW in particular during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in mid-February, asking for a closed session to discuss the subject in a secure facility.

Asked why ARRW isn’t being procured, despite being the only successfully-tested U.S. hypersonic weapon so far, LaPante said, “Let’s just say there is a plan. It’s not something we can talk about in this open session.”

Air Force officials said ARRW plans will become more clear in the budget request that will be forwarded to Congress on March 11.

Last March, the Congressional Budget Office pegged the unit cost of an air-launched hypersonic missile “similar to” the ARRW at between $15 million and $18 million across a production run of 300 missiles, but a ground-launched version would cost three times as much, due to the special launch infrastructure and additional boost capacity required. The CBO said it used the term “similar” because the actual numbers are classified.

Kendall has said that while hypersonic missiles match well to China’s operational concepts, they are less critical to USAF’s concepts of fighting and are important but not a top priority for investment.

A hypersonic ground-attack missile is best suited for striking high-value targets like command-and-control centers from long range, at high speed. Such weapons derive their destructive force both from a warhead and from the kinetic force of striking the ground at five times the speed of sound. Defense against hypersonic missiles, particularly if they are maneuvering, is difficult.  

China is known to have deployed an undisclosed number of hypersonic DF-17 missiles with a long-range, tactical capability, while it has also developed hypersonic weapons to be mounted on intercontinental ballistic missiles. The DF-17 has been called a “carrier killer” and is also suited to a strike on a base like Guam.

“The Department of Defense is developing hypersonic science and technology to ensure the U.S. can rapidly field operational hypersonic systems,” the USAF said in its release about the familiarization program in Guam. The Air Force specifically “will continue to invest in researching, developing, testing, producing and fielding cost-effective weapons,” it continued. “These weapons are a mix of stand-off, stand-in hypersonic and subsonic precision-guided munitions. The Air Force also continues to develop revolutionary advanced weapon capabilities to maintain a competitive advantage over the pacing threat.”

PHOTOS: In Brunei, USAF F-35s Are First 5th-Gen Fighters to Land on Island Nation

PHOTOS: In Brunei, USAF F-35s Are First 5th-Gen Fighters to Land on Island Nation

March 4, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

U.S. Air Force F-35 fighters landed in Brunei on March 1, the first time U.S. stealth jets have landed on the small Pacific Island nation.

Two F-35s made the trek from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, to Rimba Air Base, Brunei, a visit that coincided with a diplomatic visit by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Jedidiah Royal. Also making the trip was Maj. Gen. Mark Weber, Air National Guard assistant to the commander of PACAF. 

Members of the Royal Brunei Air Force, including commander Brig. Gen. Dato Sharif, viewed the aircraft, which was on static display, and asked questions of USAF Airmen. The aircraft departed March 2.

The F-35s’ visit came 40 years after the U.S. officially recognized Brunei, following its independence from the United Kingdom, which assumed control after World War II, when the nation was occupied by Japanese Imperial forces. The visit comes as the United States aims to bolster cooperation with a broad array of allies in the Indo-Pacific.

Brunei and the U.S. signed a defense cooperation memorandum of understanding in 1994 and have regularly exercised together since then. The two countries’ air forces worked together in September 2023 as part of the exercise Pacific Angel 23-3, focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. As part of that exercise, the U.S. Air Force deployed a HC130-J Combat King II, HH-60G Pave Hawk, and C-17 Globemaster III to Brunei. 

In December 2023, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command hosted Bruneian officials for bilateral talks that included the signing of a “Section 505 agreement,” a prerequisite to granting military training or equipment to a foreign nation. 

Though only 5,765 square kilometers—slightly smaller than the state of Delaware—Brunei lays claim to a slice of the South China Sea that is less than 1,000 miles from China. With China as its largest trading partner and foreign investor, according to the U.S. Insitute of Peace, Brunei has sought to “hedge” its dependence on China by building a stronger relationship with the U.S., researcher Sufrizul Husseini wrote. 

In the growing great power competition between the two, however, the U.S. wants to build ties with countries across the region and has used vists by Air Force fighters and bombers as one of the ways it demonstrates its commitment to allies. 

Just a year ago, for example, Air Force F-22s deployed to the Philippines, becoming the first fifth-generation fighters to that country. In April, a pair of B-1B Lancers participated in an exercise with the Indian Air Force for the first time. And in June, a B-52 landed in Indonesia, another first. And in October, a B-52 landed in South Korea, the first such landing in more than 30 years.

These strategic visits send a message about security cooperation and partnership intended to dissuade China from risking a wider conflict through expansion into neighboring territory. 

Watch and Read: How to See Every Video and Transcript from AFA Colorado

Watch and Read: How to See Every Video and Transcript from AFA Colorado

March 4, 2024

Thousands of Airmen, Guardians, civilians, industry officials, and airpower advocates gathered in Aurora, Colo., from Feb. 12-14 for the AFA Warfare Symposium.

Department of the Air Force leaders unveiled sweeping, historic changes as part of their “re-optimization for great power competition” and unpacked what it all will mean over the course of 30 panel discussions.

Find video and text transcripts of the top sessions, including keynote addresses, here:

In addition, video and transcripts for every session are now posted on AFA’s official conference page.

All of Air & Space Forces Magazine’s comprehensive coverage of the conference is compiled here and will be featured in the March/April issue to come.