Space Force Strategy Projects First Ever Budget Drop in 2025

Oct. 18, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Space Force is projecting budget reductions in the next few years—the first such cuts since the service was established in late 2019, according to a recently publicized report to Congress.

Whether such reductions will actually come to pass remains uncertain.

The Department of the Air Force’s Comprehensive Strategy for the Space Force, required by the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, includes a chart showing the service’s projected budget broken down by mission area over the future years defense program—from fiscal 2024 through 2028.

The Space Force’s 2024 budget request is for $30 billion, with investments in missile warning systems, GPS, and launch vehicles.

The document shows, however, steady decline from 2024 through 2026, with a topline figure below $30 billion in both 2025 and 2026. That is followed by a sharp uptick in 2027, above the 2024 funding level.

The chart specifically indicates cuts in spending for the coming years in areas such as Missile Warning/Missile Tracking and classified programs. Classified programs in particular are slated to decline every year over the FYDP.

Space Force spokesperson Maj. Tanya Downsworth told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the projected temporary decline in topline funding is the result of several systems transitioning from their development phase into operational readiness and the completion of prototype demonstrations.

Downsworth also emphasized that these estimations are subject to evolving requirements, emerging threats, and changes in force structure.

The 2024 budget plan would fund 10 National Security Space Launches, including launching the Space Development Agency’s first communications and data transmission satellites. **Tech. Sgt. James Hodgman/USSF**

Last year, lawmakers expressed concerns about the Space Force’s capacity to sustain its ambitious plans and growth, particularly regarding missile warning and missile tracking (MW/MT), and asked for a new cost estimate by January 2023.

The comprehensive strategy document indicates that MW/MT investments will decline in the next few years before bumping up significantly in 2027.

The document also highlights the redesign of the Space Force’s MW/MT architecture.

“In collaboration with key stakeholders and considering emerging threat assessments, rigorous analysis, and wargaming was used to define a more resilient, more capable and more defendable MW/MT architecture,” the strategy states.

Downsworth added that this is one example where the service is innovating to ensure readiness; and deter, and, if necessary, defeat adversaries in an era of great power competition.

Lawmakers are the only ones who have expressed concern about the USSF budget and possible limitations as expanding capabilities demands hardware and personnel.

Back in June, Gen. David D. Thompson voiced reservations about leaner future investments hindering mission fulfillment.

“Either the department may need to look at its priorities for various investments, or we will have to throttle the growth that we have seen and the delivery of capabilities,” Thompson said during a livestreamed event by Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “It will simply be incumbent on us to make sure that our leaders inside the Department of Defense and in the White House and Congress understand the risks we’ll take if in fact we cannot continue that.”

Thompson also underscored that the issue lies in the fact that the existing budget agreement does not match inflation, which will reduce the service’s purchasing ability in the coming critical two years.

Like the rest of the Pentagon, the Space Force continually revisits its five-year plan and offers updates alongside its budget submissions. The fiscal 2025 budget request is slated to be submitted in February 2024. The five-year plan shown in the strategy document is only up-to-date as of February 2023.

Downsworth added that in terms of the overall budget decrease, some programs may be projected to end, but the scale of funding expectation may change to support Joint Force requirements and will be reevaluated each year. She said during the “dip year,” the service aims to put existing capabilities into active use or operation, as well as acquiring new capabilities and resources.

Space Force Budget Requests By Year

Year	Amount
2021	$15.4 billion
2022	$18.05 billion
2023	$26.1 billion
2024	$30 billion

Pentagon Budget documents

‘Lives Are at Risk’: Pentagon Declassifies Hundreds of Dangerous Chinese Intercepts of US Planes

Oct. 17, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

Chinese aircraft have engaged in many more risky intercepts of U.S. planes over the past two years than was previously publicly known, the Pentagon said Oct. 17.

There have been more than 180 dangerous incidents over the South and East China Seas during that period, according to newly declassified information released by the Pentagon. That is more than the previous decade combined.

The incidents are part of a “centralized and concerted campaign to perform these risky behaviors in order to coerce a change in lawful U.S. operational activity and that of U.S. allies and partners,” Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said Oct. 17.

In a January incident, highlighted during the Pentagon briefing, a U.S. plane was flying above the South China Sea when a Chinese fighter jet armed with missiles closed within 30 feet and stayed for around 15 minutes.

That came just one month after a close call—within 20 feet—between a J-11 and an RC-135 over the South China Sea that was made public and led to recriminations on both sides.

In other instances, Chinese fighters came within 10 feet of U.S. aircraft and discharged chaff and flares.

The newly released footage comes as talks between the U.S. and the Chinese military, known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), are largely stalled at both the uniformed and civilian levels.

While both Ratner and Adm. John C. Aquilino, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), have had isolated conversations with Chinese officials, no substantive dialogue is taking place.

“I’ve asked to speak with my counterparts, the Eastern and Southern Theater commanders, now going on two and a half years,” Aquilino said. “I have yet to have one of those requests accepted.”

The newly declassified images come ahead of the annual Congressionally mandated China Military Power Report, which will highlight the rise in incidents, according to U.S. officials.

Images and video newly released by the Department capture a PLA fighter jet in the course of conducting a coercive and risky intercept against a lawfully operating U.S. asset in the East China Sea. The PLA fighter jet first sped toward the U.S. asset and crossed under the plane’s nose, causing the U.S. aircraft to lose visual contact of the PLA fighter. After the U.S, pilot opened some distance between the two planes, the PLA pilot re-approached at a distance of just 15 feet laterally and 10 feet below the U.S. plane. DOD photo

American aircraft are not the only ones being harassed by the Chinese. There have been 300 risky incidents involving the U.S. and its allies and partners since 2021.

The precise metric for determining if a Chinese intercept is risky is classified, but the standard has been consistent over time, the Pentagon says.

Looming in the background is the possibility such encounters could turn deadly, even if China’s armed aircraft have no intention of intentionally downing a U.S. plane.

In 2001, a Chinese fighter collided with a U.S. Navy spy plane, forcing the American plane to make an emergency landing in China. The American crew was temporarily detained while the aircraft was eventually returned after it had been dismantled. The Chinese pilot was killed.

“People’s lives are at risk,” Aquilino said. “One accident is too many. We went through it in 2001.”

One of the more egregious episodes occurred in June when Chinese fighter approached within 40 feet of an American surveillance plane and “flashed its weapons,” which are visible in a video released by the U.S.

“After the U.S. operator radioed the PLA fighter jet, the PLA pilot responded using explicit language, including an expletive,” the Pentagon said.

The U.S. insists it will continue to fly in international airspace. China’s territorial claims are expansive, including most of the South China Sea and the airspace above it.

“U.S. planes are operating safely, responsibly, and in accordance with international law,” Ratner said. “Indeed, the skill and professionalism of American service members should not be the only thing standing between PLA fighter pilots and a dangerous, even fatal, accident.”

An image and video newly released by the Department captures a PLA fighter jet conducting a coercive and risky intercept against a lawfully operating U.S. asset in the South China Sea, including by approaching a distance of just 70 feet from the U.S. plane. Courtesy video

A video newly released by the Department captures a PLA fighter jet conducting a coercive and risky intercept against a lawfully operating U.S. asset in the South China Sea, including by approaching a distance of just 50 feet from the U.S plane. Courtesy video

KC-135s Arrive in Saudi Arabia to Replace Departed KC-10s

Oct. 17, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

KC-135 Stratotankers have arrived in Saudi Arabia to replace the KC-10s which recently left the region for good after 30-plus years of service.

The aerial tankers from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., arrived at Prince Sultan Air Base on Oct. 2. The 384th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron (EARS) will support combat operations throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

A spokesperson at Air Mobility Command told Air & Space Forces Magazine that while the exact number of deployed aircraft can’t be revealed for the operational security reasons, the KC-135s are the optimal replacement for the KC-10s with the durations of theater sorties, and the aircraft will meet Global Combatant Command requirements.

A U.S. Air Force KC-135 assigned to Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, sits on the tarmac after arriving at Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), Oct. 2, 2023. The aircraft will operate on PSAB as part of the 384th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron (EARS) and will work to support combat operations through aerial refueling within the U.S. Air Forces Central area of responsibility. Courtesy Photo

The KC-135 can haul some 200,000 pounds of fuel and 83,000 pounds of cargo. The tanker also transports patients during aeromedical evacuations using patient support pallets. Some of the aircraft already operate in the region at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

KC-10s had been based out of PSAB since March 2022, but the refueler concluded its final combat sortie from the base on Oct. 3., followed by a deactivation ceremony for the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron the next day. The last KC-10 in the region departed Oct. 5. There are no further planned deployments for the KC-10 fleet until September 2024, when the last Extender is set to retire.

With the KC-10 set to retire, the KC-135 and KC-46 Pegasus will be the only tankers left in the Air Force fleet until the service’s KC-135 Tanker Recapitalization and Next Generation Air-refueling System (NGAS) programs progress. The KC-46 has been cleared for worldwide deployments, but there has been no public indication of the aircraft operating in CENTCOM for months.

The Air Mobility Command spokesperson stated that the KC-135 swap with the KC-10 is solely for the mission takeover, and is unrelated to the rising tensions in the Middle East.

However, the demand for aerial refueling in the region may surge in the upcoming weeks as the Air Force and Navy are deploying more fighter aircraft in response to Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Last week, the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron’s F-15Es arrived into the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in the Middle East, as the U.S. continued to bolster its presences and improve air operations across the region.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and Israeli war cabinet last week in Tel Aviv, to highlight the “bolstered” USAF presence in the Middle East and the deployment of the USS Gerard R. Ford in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Air Force Says ARRW Test Provides ‘New Insights,’ But Offers Few Specifics

Oct. 17, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force conducted another test of the AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missile on Oct. 12, but the service is once again withholding most details.

The test was conducted off a B-52H bomber out of Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and was an “all-up round,” indicating the hypersonic glide vehicle, inside its aeroshell, was mounted to an Army ATACMS missile booster and carried aloft by the bomber.

The test “focused on the ARRW’s end-to-end performance,” according to an Air Force release, although that release did not say whether the missile actually fired and flew to its planned target, or whether it was a success.

“We will not discuss specific test objectives,” a spokesperson said.

The Air Force last flew an ARRW missile on Aug. 21, withholding most information about the test due to secrecy about the program. It did not say whether that test was a success, either.

The ARRW program had a checkered early test phase, with several failures. Earlier this year, Air Force officials said they are closing out the ARRW program after an undisclosed number of test flights and will shift their focus to the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, or HACM.

While ARRW is a boost-glide type hypersonic system so large it must be carried on a bomber, HACM uses an air-breathing engine and is small enough to be carried by a fighter. The Air Force has not released any imagery of HACM, which is being built by Raytheon with Northrop Grumman as the engine supplier. Lockheed Martin is the prime for ARRW.

The ARRW program was structured as a rapid prototyping program, meant to quickly generate vehicles for test and demonstrate a rapid ability to produce the system at scale. The contract called for “leave behind” assets that could be used operationally or for further tests once the initial development was complete. The Air Force has not disclosed how many ARRWs were to have been produced, or how many more it has on hand for further tests.

With the Oct. 12 shot, the Air Force gained “valuable new insights into the capabilities of this new, cutting-edge technology,” and collected “valuable, unique data,” according to a release. The information will “further a range of programs such as ARRW and the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile”.

The test also “validated and improved our test and evaluation capabilities for continued development of advanced hypersonic systems.”

The comment may be a reference to the Air Force Test Center at Edwards using RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft to monitor hypersonic missile tests and gather telemetry. The Test Center is also employing new capabilities for remote use of control rooms and streamlined methods of clearing hypersonic test corridors, commander Maj. Gen. Evan C. Dertien told Air & Space Forces Magazine in a recent interview.

The Air Force has been criticized in recent years for having insufficient hypersonic test capacity, causing a slow pace of program development, but Dertien said the test center is adding capacity through a variety of measures, including new ground test capabilities and wind tunnels.

C-130 Pilots Test Out ‘Entirely New’ Cockpit For Aging ‘H’ Models

Oct. 17, 2023 | By David Roza

Pilots at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., are testing out a new cockpit layout for the C-130H transport plane that will replace its analog gauges with glass multifunction displays, digital engine instruments, a new flight management system, autopilot, terrain awareness and warning system and other digital upgrades that should make the aircraft safer and easier to fly.

“This is much larger than just a software or hardware upgrade,” Maj. Jacob Duede, an experimental test pilot with the 417th Flight Test Squadron, said in an Oct. 17 press release. “It’s reconstructing and modernizing the aircraft’s entire cockpit area.”

An old workhorse, the C-130H has been in service since 1965, though the average age of today’s fleet is about 30 years. The Active-Duty Air Force has switched entirely to the newer C-130J Super Hercules, but the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command still fly more than 100 of the H models, and in recent years, the Air Force has upgraded several dozen H models with new propellers, better radios, navigation systems, and voice and flight data recorders.

Those upgrades made up Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) Increment One, but more changes are on the way with AMP Increment Two, which the pilots at Eglin have been testing out since August. At least 23 Air Force Reserve and 54 Air National Guard H models will receive the second upgrade over the next five years for about $7 million per aircraft, the release stated.

Among the changes, a new flight management system should help pilots save time and reduce the chance of errors when uploading route information.

“Aircrew essentially had to print the directions before flying and then type the information in using latitude and longitude or use ground-based navigation aids,” Duede said about the old systems. “This new mod is the newest GPS navigation with a by-name search function and autopilot, all built into the aircraft.”

Instead of taking minutes to enter new latitude and longitude coordinates from a tablet or laptop into the aircraft computer, pilots flying the upgraded H can just point and click their new destination on a glass display in less than 30 seconds.

“The new process is as quick as the first step of the old process,” Duede said. “You just identify the point on the moving map, grab it, and execute the flight plan.”

There is also a significant safety upgrade in the form of the Integrated Terrain Awareness and Warning System, which detects when the aircraft is coming too close to the ground and warns the crew while they still have time to course correct. The new system is built into the aircraft, rather than being carried aboard tablets and laptops as is the case today.

A new terrain awareness and warning system could be useful for many C-130 missions that involve flying close to the ground, such as aerial firefighting, aerial spraying, and low-altitude airdrops.

Only three of the H model’s original analog gauges will survive AMP Increment Two, which will include six multifunction displays. Such a transition affects flight deck workflow, where aircrew must quickly scan instruments to perform complicated procedures like aerial refueling or landing at night in bad weather. The big change called for a thorough testing process.

“This is an entirely new system,” Caleb Reeves, a test engineer who helped design the test plan for the 417th FLTS, said in the release. “Everything we’re testing here is being done for the first time ever in this aircraft. We’re also examining if these untried systems perform in the ways we thought they would or not. That data allows us to adjust our testing and provide feedback to the manufacturer.”

Some of the tests involve flying at terrain and obstacles to make sure the new warning systems work. The 417th will complete developmental testing for the first H model to receive the Increment Two upgrade by the end of the year before sending it to the Air National Guard/Air Force Reserve Command Test Center in Little Rock, Ark., for operational testing. Developmental testing gauges the performance of new systems, while operational testing does so under realistic operating environments.

Pilots from Little Rock augmented Eglin crews during developmental testing so that they are better prepared for the upgraded H arrival. More C-130s are expected to begin developmental testing at Eglin later this month.

Airpower Expert: Israel Not Hamstrung by Human Shields in Gaza

Oct. 17, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Israel can use its airpower against Hamas despite the use of “human shields,” so long as the attacking forces make reasonable efforts to minimize casualties and ensure that the attack is proportional and the aimpoints are legitimate military targets, according to airpower theorist and practitioner, retired USAF Lt. Gen. David Deptula.

Deptula, who oversaw allied targeting in Operation Desert Storm and is now dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, also commented on the broader strategic implications of the fresh conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli aircraft have pounded the Gaza region in recent days with air strikes, and Deptula argued that such strikes against Hamas centers of gravity—like command centers, munitions factories and weapon depots that Hamas has located under schools, hospitals, and mosques—are legitimate targets under the Geneva Conventions. Furthermore, Deptula cited the Rome Statute of 1998, which states that non-state actors, such as terrorist groups, can be culpable for war crimes.

IAF fighter jets stuck Hamas terrorist organization headquarters and killed a Hamas military operative.

In addition, the IAF struck a bank used by the Hamas terrorist organization for funding terror activity in the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/QCiwIVKstI
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 17, 2023

“It’s important to understand that Hamas’ use of civilians as human shields is … illegal in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, as well as the laws of armed conflict, and they fall into the category of war crimes,” Deptula said. Retaliatory attacks against civilian-ringed Hamas targets is permissible, “if the potential damage to civilians is not excessive, in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.”

“At the same time, it’s important to note that even if Hamas uses human shields, Israel is still bound by the principle of proportionality in exercising all these precautions to minimize harm to civilians,” Deptula said. “They have a very strong history of doing that. But that does not mean that they cannot strike targets because of the presence of those human shields.”

Expected civilian losses “must be weighed against the military advantage anticipated if the military objective is achieved,” Deptula said.

As Israel’s counterattack against Hamas takes shape, the public must understand the laws of armed conflict and how Hamas has violated them, Deptula said.

In an Oct. 16 press briefing, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh was asked whether the U.S. is requiring Israel to explain or document how it is using American-supplied weapons, or whether the U.S. is concerned that Israel will use the weapons disproportionately or vindictively in reprisal for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks that killed hundreds of civilians.

“We expect Israel to uphold the laws of war. They are a professional military, a democracy that we hold to a very high standard, and we expect them to do the same,” Singh said.

Strategic Implications

The war in Gaza highlights the need for the U.S. to “retool” its national military strategy, Deptula said, arguing that the Pentagon “needs to go back to force-sizing based on a two-major-regional war” construct.

“While we have the most impressive military personnel in the world, our military today is simply not sized or equipped to succeed in even one major regional war, much less two,” he said. “ … So we better get our act together,” he said.

Deptula linked Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine with the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying in both cases adversaries took action “because they see a weak United States military, which lacks the will to employ force and even when it does, the forces are “insufficient … in capacity.”

The two conflicts are also tied together, Deptula argued, because a war in Israel benefits Russia by creating a second demand on U.S. munitions, already challenged by supplying Ukraine.

It also gives Russia an opportunity to “conduct information operations that will just feed those unfortunate narratives” that somehow Ukraine or Israel are the aggressors, and the U.S. should withhold its support for Ukraine and Israel, Deptula added.

Meanwhile, China is “certainly … considering a move on Taiwan at this time,” while the U.S. is logistically committed to two other wars, Deptula asserted.

The key to deterring China—as well as other potential adversaries like the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon—is to “get them to understand the willingness of the United States to actually use force if in fact, aggression is perpetrated by … any of those entities,” Deptula said.

Hezbollah, in particular, must understand and believe the U.S. will strike if it attempts to open a second front with Israel.

“There cannot be any invisible red lines,” Deptula said. Deterrence requires an unambiguous and undoubted threat of force, and must go well beyond simply saying, “‘Don’t.’”

The U.S. must also go beyond simple messaging like landing B-52 bombers in South Korea or dispatching carrier strike groups to the Mediterranean, Deptula said.

“Our national leaders must meet the moment and realize that there is a severe cost for prioritizing politics over national security,” he said.

“Our leadership has got to pass a federal budget so the Defense Department can be funded” to address the “new complexities” of the geopolitical situation, and at a level “more than just the funds that we spent last year,” Deptula said. “A [continuing resolution] puts a halt on new starts and all kinds of things that we need to do, and that inhibits our ability to assist Ukraine and Israel with the military equipment that they need to survive.”

On top of that, “we’ve got to get to a common vision to get past the impasse in getting a Speaker of the House Representatives,” Deptula said, as the current situation sends a message of indecisiveness and division that plays to the advantage of world adversaries.

Moreover, “the U.S. military today struggles to meet the demands in one theater, let alone four,” meaning Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific, and the homeland, he said. National security “needs to become a talking point on the campaign train,” he said. “The world’s on fire, and the United States is woefully underprepared, and that demands a national conversation.”

B-52 Stratofortress to Land in South Korea for First Time in Decades

Oct. 16, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated this is the first time ever a B-52 has landed in South Korea. It is the first time in at least three decades. Air & Space Forces Magazine regrets this error.

The U.S. Air Force is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea alliance with a huge display of airpower at the 2023 Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition this week.

Most notably, a B-52H Stratofortress is slated to land on the Korean Peninsula for the event—the first time the famed bomber has touched down in South Korea in at least 30 years, according to the Seventh Air Force.

Also during the exhibition, scheduled from Oct. 17. to 22 in Seoul Air Base, the USAF will show off eight other kinds of aircraft through static displays and aerial demonstrations, according to Pacific Air Forces, including:

F-22 Raptor

F-16 Fighting Falcon

A-10 Thunderbolt II

C-17 Globemaster III

C-5 Galaxy

KC-135 Stratotanker

U-2 Dragon Lady

E-3 Sentry

The nuclear-capable B-52 is set to execute two flyovers before landing elsewhere in the nation.

A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, departs from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, July 10, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nia Jacobs

“These flyovers, air demonstrations and static displays, including the landing for the B-52 on the peninsula, is part of our continued pledge to promote peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean peninsula.” said Maj. Rachel Buitrago, 7th Air Force Public Affairs director, in a release.

The B-52 Stratofortress, known as the BUFF, is the Air Force’s primary standoff cruise missile carrier. The H model is now the last serving variant of the Stratofortress, which has been in service since the 1950s.

While the B-52 has rarely landed in Korea, it has conducted several recent drills near or over the Korean Peninsula. On June 30, multiple B-52s from Barksdale Air Force Base, along with F-16s, F-15Es, and South Korean F-35As and KF-16s, conducted a joint flyover of the nation.

Then, on July 13, the long-range bomber was accompanied by F-16s and three ROK Air Force F-15K aircraft for a combined air training session over the peninsula. That exercise followed claims from North Korea that it launched a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile on July 12, with the capacity to reach the continental United States.

North Korea has continued to carry out numerous missile launches this year, including the most recent test in September when it fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off the eastern coast.

“We still face ongoing challenges from North Korea, including its dangerous and destabilizing missile testing program, and from others who would undermine the rules-based international order,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in April, when he welcomed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to the Pentagon.

Austin and President Joe Biden have pledged to ramp up joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, including those with nuclear-capable assets like strategic bombers or ballistic missile submarines. Just last week, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan made a port call in Busan, South Korea.

“2023 marks 70 years of alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea—one that has proven ironclad in the face of challenges over the many decades. It is among the most interoperable, capable, and dynamic bilateral alliances in the world,” Lt. Gen. Scott Pleus, Seventh Air Force commander and U.S. Forces Korea deputy commander, said in a statement.

“We are honored to demonstrate our commitment to this partnership through our U.S. participation in Seoul ADEX 23 as part of our continued pledge to promote peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean peninsula,” Pleus added.

This biennial exhibition, the largest of its kind in Northeast Asia, presents aircraft, ground equipment, aerial demonstrations, and draws aviation and aerospace experts and defense personnel from around the world.

Air Force TACPs Test Out New Comms Technology for Disaster Response

Oct. 16, 2023 | By David Roza

Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) Airmen with the Texas Air National Guard’s 147th Air Support Operations Squadron recently teamed up with Texas state agencies in Austin to try out a new technology that should help military and civilian first responders save lives faster in a natural disaster or humanitarian support mission.

Normally when multiple agencies from across the government arrive at an area without cell service, they have to figure out how to communicate across multiple frequencies and types of communications equipment.

“The biggest challenge when it comes to humanitarian assistance or disaster response is communication,” Maj. Kristopher Bartels, a special warfare officer with the 147 ASOS, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “On a mission, I may carry three different radios and I’m managing multiple nets and multiple people.”

But at the Austin event, the 147 ASOS, the Texas Counterdrug Task Force, Texas Game Warden, Texas Task Force-1, an urban search and rescue unit, and other agencies had a new tool that allowed them to communicate easily without cell service. The goTenna Pro X2 is a radio about the size of a barbecue lighter. When two users each have a Pro X2, they can pair it with an app on their smartphones to exchange texts and location data, even if satellites or cell towers are offline. Since multiple Pro X2s can form a mesh network, they can be daisy-chained to cover tens of thousands of square miles, through mountains or urban terrain that often block traditional radio signals.

At the demonstration, the TACPs and their interagency colleagues practiced the first steps of organizing a disaster response, like setting up communication relays and helicopter landing zones. They stood up the network in just three hours, allowing them to move fast and reduce the risk of accidentally duplicating efforts, such as sending two helicopters to do the same task. Text messaging also reduced the risk of losing something in translation, a common error in voice-to-voice transmissions.

“It’s great if I can key up on a radio and talk to someone, but how many times have we played the telephone game and something’s gotten lost?” Bartels asked.

The responders found they did not need to communicate as often because the Pro X2s doubled as tracking devices that appeared as little blue dots on their smartphone apps. The device works with the Team Awareness Kit, an app used by many service members and government agencies, but it also works with a goTenna app that requires less training to use.

“If I’m working the command-and-control node, now I don’t even have to talk to that guy or gal that’s on the edge,” Bartels said. “I can see their little blue dot and they can shoot me a text message that says ‘Hey, I need a helicopter.’ And they didn’t have to talk to three other people, where something might get lost, to get back to me.”

air force tacp — A tactical air control party member with the 147th Air Support Operations Squadron, 147th Reconnaissance Wing, looks at a map during a full mission profile deployment exercise in Gila Bend, Arizona, April 12, 2016. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by 1st Lt. Alicia Lacy)

The technology could be helpful in situations where cell service is only partially down, but the surviving network is overloaded. Bartels said it took up to six or eight hours just to receive a text message during the February ice storm in Texas that left more than 250,000 people without electricity across the state.

“If I can roll into an area, give this to six or seven different agencies, and build a network for a really low cost, then I’m not clogging up the cell phone networks or the radio networks,” he said. “I can send out one group message, which allows me to say more with less and free up those critical pathways.”

Each Pro X2 costs $1,200, compared to the $5,000 or $10,000 radios Bartels frequently encounters in his line of work. Unlike some of those devices, the Pro X2 can’t stream video or other higher-end capabilities, but it can get responders on the same page faster and requires little training to use, so Airmen could hand them out to partners at the start of a mission and get going.

The small radios could help address a big challenge in disaster response. An after-action report published by the city of Austin after the Texas ice storm found that “different network infrastructures within some partner agencies challenged the exchange of information.” The Army National Guard also identified disparate communications equipment as a challenge delaying emergency response in events like Hurricane Katrina and 9/11.

The Air Force recognizes that challenge too, which was why its innovation program AFWERX contracted with goTenna in 2022 to develop a low-bandwidth remote situational awareness communications mesh network that could apply to missions both at home and overseas. Ari Schuler, goTenna’s CEO, said his company’s technology has been used in conflict zones such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, where cell phone signals or satellite communications often put users at risk of artillery strikes.

Schuler said goTenna’s mesh networks are well-suited for areas where satellites may be disrupted or where jamming is a threat. Though satellite disruption may prevent a goTenna network overseas from connecting to higher headquarters at the Pentagon or elsewhere, it would not interrupt operators in the field. Since it does not stream video, audio, or other high-bandwidth information, the network can use ‘short-burst’ transmissions: lightweight messages that are more difficult to disrupt. It also helps that it can form a mesh network, where no particular node is more important than another.

“If you jam one portion of the mesh, the network’s just going to route around that, so it’s harder to take down the network in its entirety,” Schuler said.

The 147th ASOS is not the only Air Force unit looking to revamp its communication technology. Security Forces Airmen at nuclear missile bases in Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana, and facility managers at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. are implementing new networks that reduce the role of voice-to-voice communication in favor of text and map-based information, which should allow for faster and more reliable emergency response. Meanwhile, Gen. Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, highlighted connectivity as the ‘single best investment’ for improving his troops’ ability to operate across the vast Pacific.

“When I can understand exactly where the blue [friendly] forces are and exactly where the red forces are, and I don’t have to transmit to understand that lay-down, then mobility will have the ability to, one, operate in a higher-contested environment, and, two, support the joint team so that they can operate in a higher-contested environment,” he told Air & Space Forces Magazine in September.

Schuler hopes the Pro X2’s low price and high interoperability make it an appealing option for operators.

“Making sure that everyone can communicate is critical, and really leads to saving lives,” he said. “It’s a low-cost capability … so you’re able to get more of these in the hands of operators, and the more operators are connecting, the more effective their response is going to be.”

Air Force Test Enterprise Gears Up for the Challenge of CCAs

Oct. 16, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Testing Collaborative Combat Aircraft—the unmanned, autonomous aircraft that will fly alongside crewed fighters with the goal of beefing up the future Air Force fleet—will require an unprecedented integration of effort from engineers and operators, leaders of the service’s test enterprise said in a recent interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine.

“We’re still learning” how CCAs will have to be tested, Maj. Gen. Evan C. Dertien, commander of the Air Force Test Center, said. “My focus right now is making sure that the test enterprise is ready to test autonomy.”

“A lot of the work we’re doing is, I’m trying to train the workforce,” Dertien explained. That includes making sure test ranges, policies and procedures are ready and trying to get the various parts of the enterprise to consider, “How would we handle these aircraft when they get here?”

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has said the Air Force plans to build at least 1,000 CCAs, and that they will be available for operational deployment before the end of the decade, leaving just six years to select contractors, develop, build, and test the aircraft. The Air Force has requested $5.8 billion for CCAs over the future years defense plan, covering the next five years.

Collaborative Combat Aircraft would work with manned aircraft such as the F-35, as shown in this artist’s conceptual illustration. **Lockheed Martin illustration**

Dertien said he has all the experts he needs for testing the drones. The challenge will be integrating their different specialities.

“I have people that know how to do [unmanned aerial vehicles], I have people that know how to do autonomy. I have … people that know how to do fighter tactics,” he said. “But now we’re going to have to bring them all together to test something like the CCA.”

There are several programs in progress right now that will lead into CCA testing, providing huge amounts of data to be analyzed—Skyborg; XQ-58 Valkyrie; the Viper Experimentation and Next-gen Operations Model (VENOM) project, exploring manned-unmanned teaming with a half-dozen F-16s; and the X-62A Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft (VISTA) aircraft, an F-16 modified to explore maneuvering and tactics of autonomous aircraft, able to simulate the behavior of various designs.

“The work we’re doing on VISTA is really helping us advance autonomy and get after the workforce we need,” Dertien said. “The things we’re doing down at Eglin with the XQ-58 and developing the autonomy … is developing that workforce and the data infrastructure, and also pairing it up with fighter aircrew, and starting the basics of fighter integration.”

The VENOM program “will really take that to the next level of autonomy with sensors,” he added. “And all this is, if nothing else, prepping the test enterprise for when that first CCA lands or is brought here; that we’re ready to test the autonomy and integrate it with existing systems like the F-22 and the F-35.”

A Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie was on display on its launcher at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in September. The Valkyrie was developed with the Air Force Research Laboratory as a demonstrator. **Mike Tsukamoto/staff**

The advent of CCAs is driving a larger change in testing, said Col. Douglas P. Wickert, commander of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards. Until recently, new platforms could be tested individually, but “increasingly, these are all interactive systems.”

A CCA, he pointed out, is “just a node in a wider network. And so, one of the things that we’ve done in the test enterprise is create recurring opportunities to bring a lot of things together.”

By creating what Wickert called a “stage” for CCAs to integrate with other planned Air Force networks like the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), the service can “see how CCA is going to play into that and contribute to that.” After that, future programs will start and “we can test them in a in a very complex, realistic environment,” he said.

Dertien said the test enterprise is taking a “crawl walk, run” approach to autonomy and how it can be applied to military systems.

At AFA’s Air, Space and Cyber conference in September, Dertien said the VENOM program will be able to take cues from offboard sensors and establish, “with multiple aircraft … a foundation” for CCA testing. He said his organization is focused on setting “the rule sets and the safety procedures” for those experiments.