Anduril Unveils New Low-Cost Cruise Missiles Meant for Large-Scale Production

Sept. 12, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Anduril Industries has revealed its “Barracuda” family of cruise missiles, intended to bulk up U.S. military stockpiles with a low-cost weapon that can be produced in large numbers by minimally trained labor with unspecialized tools.

The air-breathing weapons as yet have not been fitted with sensors, as customer needs are still undefined, but the weapons are in flight test, company officials told reporters Sept. 11. The Barracuda family is intended to be rapidly upgradable through software and an open-systems architecture.

The family of weapons comprises the Barracuda-100, -250, and -500.

The -500 is meant to be “cargo launched,” said Diem Salmon, Anduril vice president for air dominance and strike. This refers to the Air Force’s “Rapid Dragon” concept of launching pallets of cruise missiles from the back of a C-17 or C-130 transport, which has been tested using AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs).

It is also the kind of mission the Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit are exploring for their Enterprise Test Vehicle program, which got underway in June. Anduril is one of four competitors for the effort and is pitching the Barracuda-500, Salmon said. The other companies in the running are Integrated Solutions for Systems, Inc.; Leidos Dynetics; and Zone 5 Technologies. Salmon couldn’t comment on the ETV program progress.

The pallet-launched missiles “do not necessarily require aircraft integration,” she said. The -250, meanwhile, is designed to be carried internally on the F-35 and other platforms.

The Barracuda is “available in configurations offering 500+ nautical miles of range, 100+ pounds of payload capacity, 5 Gs of maneuverability, and more than 120 minutes of loitering time,” the company said in a press release.

“All Barracudas are compatible with a host of payloads and employment mechanisms, support a variety of different missions, and provide warfighters with an adaptable and upgradeable capability to counter evolving threats,” the company said.

Anduril is “targeting 30 percent less cost than systems that are comparable in performance,” Salmon said, but she did not offer comparisons with specific weapons. The company thinks that this level of savings can be achieved by reusing subsystems and easier manufacture with low-cost materials.

“So, rather than designing bespoke capabilities for each single weapon system, how do we make this simpler?” Salmon said. Open architectures is one solution, while designing the missile to be made by a factory worker with little specialized knowledge, using a small number of tools and parts, is another.

“A single Barracuda takes 50 percent less time to produce, requires 95 percent fewer tools, and 50 percent fewer parts than competing solutions on the market today,” the company said in press materials. “As a result, the Barracuda family of AAVs is 30 percent cheaper on average than other solutions, enabling affordable mass and cost-effective, large-scale employment.”

Anduril rolled out its “Arsenal” manufacturing plant idea in recent weeks, teasing announcements about weapons like Barracuda and its “Fury” Collaborative Combat Aircraft that would be made in the state-of-the art factory. It is proceeding from the assumption that the U.S. needs 10 times the number of precision weapons it now has in order to deter China and not “run out of stuff” to shoot in the first few weeks of a major conflict, Anduril chief strategy officer Chris Brose said.

“We’ve been at work on this for a few years,” Brose said. “This is a real system. It is already a part of real programs. It’s flying, and we’re really excited to finally be able to talk more about it publicly.

“The problem that we are seeking to solve here, I think, is a familiar one to many of you, which is America and our allies and partners do not have enough weapons. Period, full stop. And we are not capable of producing the volume of weapons that we’re going to need to establish deterrence against a peer competitor.”

Brose noted wargames that showed that the U.S. runs out of critical munitions in the first few weeks of a conflict.

“Then we struggle, or theoretically would struggle, for a period of years to replenish all the weapons that we expended,” he said. “And I think Ukraine has put that problem in high relief for the past few years on far simpler tactical weapon systems, to say nothing of the larger critical munitions that are going to be so essential for an INDOPACOM scenario.”

Salmon said it’s “unrealistic for us to believe that we will know exactly how many we need to produce 10 years from now,” and factories will have to be able to efficiently “ramp up, and sometimes, you have to ramp down.”

She added Anduril is aiming to reduce parts count, tooling, and complexity and “rely more on commercial components.” The entire work force as a whole won’t be “bespoke to just one single system,” she said.

Brose said every variant of Barracuda “leverages core subsystems which are reusable across the family of systems. These are systems that can be assembled with tools, literally that you probably have in your garage—screwdrivers, pliers, things of that sort, so it is not gated in terms of its producibility on highly specialized tooling, highly specialized manufacturing processes, highly specialized labor, none of which we’re ever going to have enough of. It’s been designed with the exact opposite approach, which is, I have to leverage commercial supply chains as much as possible. I have to make the weapon as simple to produce and as simple to assemble as possible.”

All three variants are flying now, Salmon said.

“These are things that we’re actively working on day-to-day,” she said.

Air National Guard MC-130J Briefly Becomes a Bee-130J

Sept. 11, 2024 | By David Roza

Over its 70 years of service, the C-130 and its variants have borne a range of weapons including cannons, cruise missiles, and radar jammers. But an MC-130J assigned to the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 193rd Special Operations Wing accidentally bore a uniquely fearsome weapon late last month: a swarm of honeybees.

“We’re considering a change in aircraft designation,” the wing joked in a video posted to Facebook on Sept. 4 of a man in a beekeeping mask scraping bees off the aircraft’s right side inflight air refueling pod. “How do we feel about Bee-130?”

The man was Jim Davis, a bee hobbyist with the central Pennsylvania-based Capital Area Beekeepers Association. The wing called him in to remove the bees rather than exterminate them.

“We identified, with the help of our civil engineers, they were honeybees,” said wing spokesperson Senior Master Sgt. Alexander Farver. “We knew how important honeybees are to the local ecosystem. So even though it was a slight inconvenience, we chose to protect and preserve them.”

mc-130j — A swarm of honeybees gathered on the inflight air refueling pod of a Pennsylvania Air National Guard MC-130J in late August, 2024. (Courtesy photo via 193rd Special Operations Wing)

It was Davis’ first time responding to a military base. Lethal as U.S. Airmen are, some threats demand an expert’s touch.

“Everyone was super friendly,” he said. “A few of them weren’t too sure they wanted to be that close to the bees.”

How did a swarm of bees wind up on the aircraft in the first place? There must have been another hive nearby, Davis said.

“What happens is the original hive makes a new queen, and then the old queen normally will gather up a large bundle of the nurse bees and the foraging bees and take off with them,” he explained. “They find a place where they can land until the scout bees can find a home for them. If we had left them on the plane, they would have probably found a new home within a day or so.”

Iowa State University describes swarming as “a natural process in the life of a honeybee colony” which often occurs in response to crowding within the colony.

Indeed, the Pennsylvania bees had originally stopped on a maintenance stand but moved when the stand was moved, though some bees stayed behind and were removed by the beekeeper, who brushed them into a cardboard box. As frightening as a swarm of bees might look, this group of wanderers was not in a fighting mood.

“When you get a swarm like that, they are not interested in stinging or fighting or anything like that,” Davis said. “They’re just taking care of their queen. I could have gone up there with bare hands and got them in the box.”

Honeybees feed prior to swarming, reducing their ability to sting, according to Iowa State University. They are also farther from their nest, which houses their offspring and food stores, so they “are less defensive and are unlikely to sting unless provoked.”

While honeybee swarms are often found on trees, houses, and even cars, they’re not a common sight at the 193rd SOW.

“In 32 years of aircraft maintenance I have never had to do this type of insect removal,” said Senior Master Sgt. Richard Fanning, flight chief for the 193rd Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

Still, honeybees have been spotted on other military aircraft including a T-6 in 2012, a C-17 and an F-22 in 2016, and a few Navy P-3s in 2008 and 2009. Navy ships also have to be cleared of stray swarms, with nine such removals in the San Diego, Calif., area between 2020 and 2023. The bees who landed on the F-22 did so for likely the same reasons as the ones who did on the MC-130J.

“Bee hives are constantly growing and they eventually become overcrowded,” Chief Master Sgt. Gregg Allen, 192nd Maintenance Group Quality Assurance chief and himself a beekeeper, said in a press release at the time. “Around springtime, the bees will make a new queen, scout for a new location and take half of the hive with them to that location.”

It was a good thing the bees wound up on the MC-130J, because Davis soon found them a new home.

“I normally rescue and keep three or four hives like this every year,” said Davis, who’s been caring for bees for about 10 years. “I took the bees from the aircraft and transferred them to their permanent home with me. They’re doing great, and I hope to give some of the honey they produce to the 193rd Airmen next year!”

‘We Work in a Memorial’: Pentagon Leaders Remember 9/11

Sept. 11, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

Pentagon leaders honored the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in multiple ceremonies on the 23rd anniversary of the dark day that saw nearly 3,000 Americans die and shaped the U.S. military in the 21st century.

“On a Tuesday 23 years ago, the Pentagon awoke to a day like any other,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said during a ceremony alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III.

But on Sept. 11, 2001, at 9:37 a.m., a 757 jetliner, American Flight 77, flew into the side of the Pentagon, as horror also unfolded in New York and Pennsylvania.

“We don’t just work near a memorial. We work in a memorial,” said Austin, a retired four-star Army general who commanded troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. “Every day, we serve in the only surviving building struck by al-Qaeda on 9/11. And every day, we carry a powerful sense of purpose.”

Austin and Brown remembered 184 victims who were killed in the attack, either in the Pentagon or as passengers and crew aboard Flight 77 at the Pentagon Memorial, located outside the western side of the Pentagon where the building was hit and partially collapsed.

Around 6 a.m., as the sun rose, a giant American flag was unfurled near where Flight 77 crashed into the building, honoring an act by first responders more than two decades ago during recovery efforts.

“It is a constant reminder that 9/11 isn’t a part of our distant history,” Austin said, noting he has a piece of wreckage in his office to remind visitors of the losses. “It is entwined in the Department’s mission. And it’s captured in the stories of those who were here. We continue to honor the beloved teammates whom we lost, the first responders who raced toward the flames, the families who humble us with their resilience, and the survivors who continue to inspire us all.”

Elsewhere on that day in 2001, al-Qaeda-hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York, which were destroyed. Flight 93, hijacked and headed towards Washington, crashed before it could reach its target after passengers intervened.

Though the Pentagon was repaired and the memorial opened seven years later, 9/11 profoundly shaped an entire generation of troops who went off to the Middle East as part of America’s Global War on Terror—with many service members enlisting after the attacks.

“In the year that followed 9/11, more than a quarter-million Americans with no prior military experience enlisted in the military and, with countless others, made a commitment to public service,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said on Sept. 10 during a ceremony for Pentagon employees.

U.S. troops continue to combat al-Qaeda, its affiliates, and other terrorist groups inspired by similar ideologies. Austin led a moment of silence for the thousands of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11.

“We are the United States of America,” Austin said. “We do not bend to terror.”

Later in the day, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Austin, and Brown participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., lay a wreath honoring the 184 lives lost at the Pentagon marking the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. DoD photo by Chad J. McNeeley

Addressing the Changing EW Environment

Sept. 11, 2024 | By Adam Stone

In conflicts with peer and near-peer adversaries, U.S. air crews will be contested in the air and on the airwaves. They’ll face not just kinetic attacks, but also radars, advanced air defense systems, and other electromagnetic effects seeking to disrupt their missions.

“The threat is advancing faster than we’ve ever seen before,” said Scott Bailie, who directs Advanced Electronic Warfare Solutions at BAE Systems. Adversaries have access to high-performance hardware, and they’re developing reconfigurable software-based systems, allowing them to field a range of new capabilities. “We need to learn to be faster and be more agile—with less information,” Bailie added.

That requires new programmatic approaches, Bailie said—and more collaboration.

“How we contract, how we award, how we compete,” he said. “We need to be able to pivot, to adjust and adapt to the changing threat.”

At BAE Systems, Bailie said, agility is a mindset that starts with engineering for flexibility. “We’re looking to develop systems that are more open, more modular, more software-defined, as well as systems that can be upgraded in the field.”

For EW solutions, the goal is to disconnect the capability from the platform. Loosening those bonds “lets us roll out changes more quickly and adapt to the threat, without having to go through yearlong developmental test or operational test cycles,” Bailie said.

Fewer steps mean fewer delays. And using an open architecture opens the way for faster insertion of emerging technologies and capabilities.

“Open architecture is a perfect example of how we’re developing faster and deploying faster,” Bailie said. “It also lets us take capabilities and move them across platforms faster. When we have standard interfaces, we’re not starting from scratch, developing a capability from day one on each individual platform. We can deploy it across the fleet very quickly.”

This open standards-based development strategy is accelerating the use of software-defined radios, for example. “It’s a transceiver that has well-defined hardware, firmware, and software interfaces,” Bailie said. It has a configurable analog RF front end, a processing element, and a transmitter. The capabilities of those components are brought to bear by modular software, where BAE Systems wants its software engineers to focus.

“They’re spending their time developing algorithms, developing capabilities that we can deploy to the warfighter—not wasting it reinventing the wheel, understanding where to find data, how to transfer across interfaces,” he said. Similarly, openness enables engineers to identify the third-party applications and other best-of-breed solutions, whether from traditional or non-traditional suppliers.

Commercial off-the-shelf hardware is also an opportunity to decrease timelines and save money. The electromagnetic spectrum is highly congested, and EW systems need to process a tremendous number of waveforms—both military and commercial—at any given instant. “That’s a big reason why we might look for a higher-performance processing,” Bailie said. “There’s a time and a place for COTS. There are opportunities where we need to look hard at custom solutions that bring the performance we need.”

Another way to speed the timeline is to design using models, which support more rapid iterative development. “Model-based system engineering is about defining requirements and capturing our design artifacts in a set of digital integrated tools,” Bailie said, “rather than working with independent static documents. When a change happens on an interface, for example, that change can propagate its way through the design.”

Automating that process means everyone knows about the change right away. But even if it’s not fully automatically updated, the modelling and design tools will “flag inconsistencies or issues with the update you’ve made.”

That heads off design errors that might have cost months or years of lost time in the past, solving those problems in minutes or days instead. The payoff is not just a more agile development process, Bailie said: It’s getting greater capability in the hands of warfighters, sooner.

Air Force Academy Investigating Cadet’s Death on Campus

Sept. 11, 2024 | By Rachel S. Cohen

The U.S. Air Force Academy is investigating the death of a freshman cadet who was found unconscious in her Colorado Springs dormitory last week, the school said Sept. 5.

Cadet 4th Class Avery Koonce, 19, of Taylor, Texas, was discovered the night of Sept. 4 and did not respond to medics’ attempts at resuscitation, the academy said in a statement posted to social media. Her cause of death remains unclear.

Koonce’s death is the first reported fatality of a cadet at USAFA so far this academic year. The academy announced one off-campus cadet death for the 2023-24 academic year, and three—two on campus and off—in 2022-23.

“While only with us for a short time, Avery positively impacted her unit, her intercollegiate team, and her class,” Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind said in the school’s statement. “Her loss will be felt across USAFA. Our team is focused on providing support to Avery’s family, Cadet Squadron 38, the track-and-field team, and the entire academy family.”

The school is offering mental health and religious support services to cadets, faculty and staff who are grieving Koonce’s death.

Koonce graduated from Thrall High School earlier this year and joined the academy’s Class of 2028, as well as the women’s track-and-field team. She was a talented athlete who planned to major in biology and become a physical therapist for pilots, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), who submitted Koonce’s nomination to attend the academy, said on Facebook.

In March, Koonce celebrated notching a new personal record in the 100-meter dash: 12.19 seconds.

In a statement the academy provided to press on Sept. 7, Koonce’s parents remembered her as a “perfect daughter” who is now “in the arms of her Heavenly Father.”

“Avery is truly loved by so many,” Eric and Kelly Koonce said. “Loving on her brothers and learning how to live with Avery’s loss is our only focus right now. We are beyond blessed for the 19 amazing years we got to call Avery ours. We are praying for all of those that are bearing the incredible darkness of her loss.”

Around 4,000 cadets attend the service academy; about 1,000 graduates go on to join the Air Force and Space Force as second lieutenants each May.

Raytheon: AMRAAM and JATM Missiles ‘Complementary’ for Future Force Mix

Sept. 10, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The latest version of Raytheon’s AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile is approaching the “threshold” range required of the new and secretive AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, a company executive said Sept. 10, while suggesting the two weapons may form a high/low mix for future air combat.

John Norman, Raytheon vice president for requirements and capabilities for air and space systems, said the AMRAAM has evolved significantly over its 30-year life. Its range is now “beyond parity” with threat missiles and it will be “complementary” to the AIM-260 JATM built by Lockheed Martin. Norman was speaking on a call with reporters to discuss ways RTX, the parent company of Raytheon, can preserve the credibility of the F-22 now that there is uncertainty about the Next-Generation Air Dominance program.

“The range that we can get with AMRAAM is approaching that threshold capability that the Air Force would like to have with JATM when it’s fielded operationally,” Norman said.

Norman would not discuss specific range performance of the AMRAAM or JATM, but industry sources have suggested the latest versions of AMRAAM can successfully intercept targets at 100 miles, while JATM is intended for targets well beyond 120 miles.

The JATM—built by Lockheed Martin and about which the Air Force has said relatively little—will provide “exquisite capability for the U.S. Air Force warfighters and the Navy warfighters,” Norman said.

JATM will “address the advanced threat, all the countermeasures, the electronic countermeasures that the threats will employ against us. It has exquisite capability against that,” added Norman. Meanwhile, the latest AMRAAM has shown “phenomenal performance” in all those measures during testing with the Air Force.

“Look at AMRAAM as your capacity weapon. … It’s the affordable” weapon, said Norman. JATM, on the other hand, will be the “kick-the-door-down, very expensive weapon.” AMRAAM will be the “capacity weapon, I think, for the foreseeable future,” he said.

Lockheed Martin deferred all inquiries about JATM to the Air Force.

Norman said he believes the the two weapons are “complementary” in the Air Force’s operational assessments of the future.

The latest AMRAAM D3 is the result of collaborative modeling and simulation with the Air Force to address gaps in addressing the threat, Norman said. The service has shared the latest classified threat data with the company and it has recommended ways to close those gaps with weapons either in hand or in development.

Without getting into performance specifics, “what I can tell you is that for what we’re seeing out of the threat analysis today, we have capability with the AMRAAM today with the D3 that counters that threat,” he said.

One improvement is extended range and time of flight. “It’s almost double in the range of what AMRAAM flew before,” Norman claimed.

“We didn’t change propulsion. We just changed the way it flies for long-range shots, so it has more kinetic energy when it hits the target at that range, and it’s able to fly that very effectively. … What that does is, it brings us back into parity [with] a lot of the capability of all the pacing threats worldwide. So it makes AMRAAM kind of ‘future-proof.’”

The missile also has “enhanced capability against all the advanced digital radio frequency modulation [DRFM] jamming techniques that the adversaries employ to try and counter our long-range air weapons, and it’s integrated on significantly more platforms…We’re on 14 different platforms across 43 countries.”

With new cards, the processing time of the D3 is four times faster than the previous iteration, Norman said.

One of the challenges Raytheon faces is getting combat pilots to understand the full capabilities of the new AIM-120, Norman claimed.

“We spend a lot of time out at the Air Force weapons school, with the Air Warfare Center and with the squadrons, with the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, the 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron … so that the fighter pilots truly understand, here’s what the missile is capable of, and here’s some different ways that you’re going to employ it in the future,” he said.

The AMRAAM can also be fired from the ground, using the NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System), which means countries can employ it as either an air-to-air or air-to-ground weapon.

Many countries are donating older AMRAAMs to Ukraine to use in its NASAMS, Norman said, with some of the missiles dating back 30 years.

“They’re still having an effective rate of over 95 percent. And that’s just wild,” he said.

The future of the missile is just as bright, with increased demand and ramped-up production.

“Historically, we produce anywhere between 450 to 650 AMRAAMs a year across all these lots, and I think you’ve seen over the last few lots, the demand has increased up to 1,200,” Norman said. The company is involved in talks with the Air Force and the State Department about whether the weapon could be produced in another country—Japan is a leading candidate—but Norman said demand would have to reach 2,000 per year to make such a plan feasible.

From an industry perspective, Raytheon and “all of our suppliers, we need to see a consistent demand so that it’s there’s value in that investment. It’s not an easy process to stand up a new production. I think we’re exploring all opportunities,” Norman said.

He said he expected the Lot 38 buy of AMRAAM to be finalized this week.

Air Force’s First-Ever Private Apartment Complex Officially Coming to Edwards

Sept. 10, 2024 | By David Roza

On Sept. 10, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., held a ground-breaking ceremony for the Air Force’s first-ever privatized apartment complex. While the actual construction and completion date is still to be determined, the ceremony marked the project’s approval by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and the forthcoming complex marks a brave new world for how the Air Force contracts with private housing providers.

The need is urgent: the military construction budget process is moving too slowly to stem a nationwide affordable housing shortage felt even more acutely at remote military bases such as Edwards, which is short accommodations for 307 unaccompanied service members.

“Just about everyone has more demand than they have availability. We’re no different,” Col. Joel Purcell, commander of the 412th Civil Engineer Group at Edwards, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “But we hope that we’re going to be able to take care of some of the 307 unaccompanied member shortage with the apartments.”

Planners hope to complete the project by summer 2026, though the official goal date is still being worked out. Once complete, the apartment complex at Edwards will feature 246 total beds split among 142 apartments. Of those apartments, 38 will be one-bedroom, one-bath, while 104 will be two-bedroom, two-bath.

Dr. Ravi Chaudhary, assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy, installations, and environment, said at the ceremony that the complex will include six to eight separate, three-story buildings. He also said the amenities at the complex will include a park with a barbecue area, a fitness center, a pool, electric vehicle charging stations, and more.

The target demographic is service members who are no longer eligible for on-base government-owned dormitories—inhabited mostly by very junior service members fresh out of training—but who are not quite ready for the tight off-base housing market.

For example, a tenant of a one-bedroom unit might be an unaccompanied company grade officer like a student at Edwards’ test pilot school. Meanwhile, two post-dormitory enlisted Airmen should be able to afford a two-bedroom unit if they pool their basic allowance for housing (BAH), an allowance the military provides to offset the cost of non government-provided housing.

The exact rent cost for those units is still being worked out, but Purcell emphasized that Edwards is doing everything it can to keep it within a few hundred dollars of the BAH allotted for the target demographic in the Edwards area.

The rates for privatized military family housing is based completely on BAH rates, Purcell explained. The apartment complex is based on market conditions, but the contractors, from a company called Mayroad, “are doing absolutely everything in their power to ensure” that the units are affordable for the target demographic, he said.

Mayroad is a privatized family housing contractor with properties at Edwards, Hurlburt Field, Fla.; Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.; McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.; and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

“At the end of the day, Mayroad partnering with the Air Force, we are doing everything we can to ensure minimal, if any, out-of-pocket expense from those Airmen and company grade officers to be able to live in these apartments,” the colonel added.

A typical view from the roads surrounding Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)

Also unlike military family housing, where the BAH goes directly to the contractor from the service member’s paycheck, apartment complex residents will be responsible for writing a check to Mayroad. The arrangement will be much like a commercial apartment complex off-base, except instead of being in a nearby city, this one will actually be on base, specifically on property within the Mayroad privatized family housing area, next to the Mojave Sky Community Center.

“The Air Force is not going to be supplementing in any way,” Purcell said. “For practical purposes, this would really be no different than if Mayroad were to finance and build an apartment building in Lancaster or Palmdale.”

Oversight

Not everyone is thrilled about the idea of privatized housing for unaccompanied Airmen. Privatized military family housing has a poor reputation stemming from inconsistent oversight and insufficient standards that led to unsafe housing and unaccountable contractors across the armed forces.

Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), ranking member of the House Appropriations subcommittee on military construction and veterans affairs, expressed concern at a March hearing that privatized barracks would have the same problem.

“I would envision us having, in the not-too-distant future, hearings like we had with family housing companies,” she told senior enlisted service members from each branch, “because the privatization process is a failure in terms of maintaining the quality of life of housing.

“They [private housing contractors] are willing to take massive fines just as the cost of doing business, and then they do it again,” she added.

When asked what oversight mechanisms will be in place for the Edwards complex, an Air Force spokesperson said the project will adhere to the same Military Housing Privatization Initiative currently in place for the family housing program.

“This includes the enhanced standards for safe, high-quality housing and services outlined in the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) MHPI reform requirements,” the spokesperson said. “Additionally, the project incorporates the best practices and lessons learned from the family housing program to further ensure the protection of the Government’s interests.”

air force dormitory — Staff Sgt. Collin Barker, 9th Civil Engineering Squadron airmen dormitory leader, inspects a light fixture on Beale Air Force Base, California, Nov. 27, 2019. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Jason W. Cochran.

Apartment complex tenants will have access to the same method of reporting maintenance issues as family housing tenants. Mayroad will be responsible for coordinating and completing those maintenance requests while the Air Force will conduct annual site visits, inspect each unit for safety and cleanliness every time it changes tenants, and provide oversight for service requests and other reported issues.

The Air Force and Mayroad “will also evaluate the established rental rates in alignment with annual changes to the basic allowance for housing (BAH) and consider any local market factors that could impact demand and affordability,” the spokesperson wrote.

“While the Edwards AFB UH Apartments Project represents a new venture for the DAF, the standards and expectations for services and quality will remain consistent with those of the family housing program,” the spokesperson added.

As a privatized family housing contractor, Mayroad appears to have a history of tenant satisfaction. The company claimed to be the only one to receive a “very good” rating on a 2021 military tenant satisfaction survey. At the time, Mayroad oversaw 4,000 homes at bases across the country. The Air Force could not immediately provide a copy of the survey.

Chaudhary spoke highly of Mayroad at the groundbreaking ceremony, which Heath Burleson, Mayroad’s president and CEO, also attended.

“When I talk to our families and hear about what they’re saying about Mayroad … while there are work areas, Heath, your team’s commitment and service is palpable and shows from their feedback every single day,” Chaudhary said.

Earlier in March, the assistant secretary told Air & Space Forces Magazine that “If we didn’t capture all of the lessons learned from privatized housing, we wouldn’t be worth our salt,” and he indicated at the groundbreaking ceremony that he’ll be keeping an eye on the project.

“I hope you’re up for the challenge Heath,” he said. “I know you are, but you can be sure I’ll be back here soon for a progress update.”

The B-21 Raider continues to conduct flight tests in 2024 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. USAF

Future Homes

Even when the complex is built, Edwards will still be short about 61 unaccompanied accommodations, on top of a shortage of about 119 single family homes. That gap is likely to grow as Edwards meets a surge in testing requirements for new weapons and platforms.

Col. Douglas P. Wickert, commander of the 412th Test Wing, Edwards’ host unit, said the number of student test pilots is set to double amid a “booming” aerospace economy surrounding them in the Antelope Valley, “so the housing shortage here at Edwards is only going to get worse.” Highly paid civilian aerospace workers often out-compete the comparatively small rates covered by BAH, Task & Purpose reported in March.

In the meantime, Purcell said Edwards has invested “a significant amount of money” in renovating one of its older dormitories. He said the base is also working with local partners “to ensure that they are doing everything they can to increase the availability” of rental family housing and apartment units.

“What we stress is that we are really looking for clean, safe, and affordable housing,” he said.

Edwards has a history of suboptimal housing due to its harsh desert climate and remote location. The legendary test pilot Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager lamented the effects of the dust and sun on his young family in his memoir “Yeager.” Wickert said married troops in the 1940s lived in a cluster of thin-walled wooden duplexes where dust blew in through the cracks in the wood and where the ever-present smell of gas used for heating and cooking gave it the nickname “Kerosene Flats.”

“I don’t think anybody shed a tear when Kerosene Flats was torn down in 1954,” he said.

Edwards is far from the only remote Air Force base in need of safe, clean, or affordable housing, which is why dignitaries at the ceremony said the apartments there could set a template for the rest of the service.

“Today isn’t just about inaugurating a new building,” Chaudhary said. “It’s about setting a world class standard for our Airmen and our Guardians, especially at remote and isolated installations.”

The base has a long record of firsts, including Yeager’s first flight beyond the speed of sound and the first flights of countless weapons and platforms. This could be the first flight of a very different, but equally important, part of Air Force history, Wickert said.

“It is your turn to ring the bell at Pancho’s on Friday,” he told the 412th Civil Engineer Group, “because you’ve got the latest first.”

How the Pentagon’s Weapons ‘Production Diplomacy’ Is Helping Arm Ukraine

Sept. 10, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. is pushing to expand the production of key munitions for Ukraine, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said recently.

The weapons include AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, AIM-9X Sidewinders, and PAC-3 MSE surface-to-air interceptors.

“From an industrial base perspective, it’s largely been a battle of attrition,” William A. LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told reporters while traveling last week to a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), which coordinates aid for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

LaPlante co-chairs the National Armaments Directors forum with Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister retired Maj. Gen. Oleksandr Serhii. That forum has met 12 times since being established in September 2022, and includes officials from some 40 countries, NATO, and the European Union.

“It’s really all about getting delivery,” LaPlante said Sept. 5. “Getting things to Ukraine, getting it faster, and making sure we’re helping each other deliver to Ukraine.”

“We call it production diplomacy,” he added.

Russia has turned to several partners to boost the arsenal since the start of its invasion of Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sept. 10 that Iran has begun to send short-range ballistic missiles to Russia in addition to drones. North Korea is providing aiding Russia with ammunition and ballistic missiles.

China, while not providing weapons, has provided vital components for Russia’s defense industry so Moscow can make its own arms.

LaPlante has been on the front lines of the West’s response as it has scrambled to provide Ukraine with enough artillery and air defenses to keep up with the threat.

“National armaments directors are helping to translate Ukraine’s needs into expanded production lines around the globe and into accelerated deliveries of key capabilities,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III told reporters after the UDCG meeting on Sept. 6.

The U.S. imposed fresh sanctions on Iran for its recent provision of ballistic missiles to Russia, which the Pentagon said have a range of around 75 miles.

“What this does is it would enable Russia to employ this capability while preserving its longer range capabilities for use throughout the battlefield, thus deepening Russia’s arsenal,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters Sept. 10

Ukraine must be focused “protecting close in, but you’ve got those broader threat rings in terms of medium- and long-range. You’re also protecting strategic centers of gravity … population centers, energy infrastructure, defense capabilities,” Ryder added.

Ballistic missiles are challenging to intercept, especially since Moscow is trying to saturate Ukraine’s air defenses. The Russian threat is complex, from small quadcopters to Iranian-designed one-way attack drones to Russian stand-off cruise missiles, glide bombs and aircraft. Ukraine has taken down 97 Russian combat aircraft since the start of the war, Austin said in remarks at Ramstein.

“We have defenses against all of those,” LaPlante said. But the challenge, he said, was “matching the right defense, that’s the right cost point, to the right capability, and making sure that we continue to provide the Ukrainians with this with the equipment.”

One key air defense munition that will continue to be in high demand AIM-120 AMRAAMs.

Variants of the AMRAAM are used as interceptors for Ukraine’s National Advanced Surface-to Air-Missile (NASAMS) air defense systems.

AMRAAMs will also be employed by Ukraine’s new F-16 fighters.

The armament directors forum has already worked on the “integration of thousands of air-to-ground munitions donations for employment from Ukraine’s current aircraft and donated F-16s,” according to a Pentagon fact sheet.

AMRAAMs are a mainstay of U.S. and Western air forces’ fighter payloads to take down aerial threats. The U.S. recently reached an agreement with Japan to step up the co-production of AMRAAMs on a July trip Austin and Blinken made to Tokyo.

“They’re not just an air-to-air weapon. They are an air defense weapon,” LaPlante said. “And so once you realize that the demand, the worldwide demand for this is going to be high, and it’s going to be high for a long time, then it’s a prime system to do co-production.”

“We want to up the production because up until now, AMRAAMs are only produced in the United States, and that’s going to change,” he added.

Defense industry officials say they are in conversations with the U.S. government, including LaPlante’s team, about possibly expanding production.

“I think that there’s a lot of nations that are getting concerned today, as they’re seeing ongoing, the expenditure of all their stores, all the different weapons, are probably at a higher rate than what they had planned for,” said Jon Norman, vice president of requirements and capabilities for air and space defense systems at Raytheon.

USAF Launches Air Task Force Under New Deployment Model at Scott

Sept. 10, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Air Force stood up one of six Air Task Forces—the 12th Air Task Force—at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., last week, starting the next wave of change for its deployment model.

In the past, the Air Force “crowdsourced” deployments, sending individuals or small groups of personnel down range to meet in the field. Air Task Forces are part of a new approach meant to create and strengthen teams of Airmen who train together before deploying, reviving a Cold War-era practice of building trust before facing a new theater.

“The way we organized, trained, and deployed over the past two decades to fight the war on terror was efficient but not effective to endure global competition,” Lt. Gen. Randall Reed, Air Mobility Command deputy commander said, as he handed the leadership of the 12th Air Task Force to Col. Gabriel Arrington.

The hope is that with more built-in familiarity amongst Airmen, ATFs will have better readiness and performance from the get-go.

Yet the task forces are only a midway point in a changing model. Last fall, the Air Force started deploying Expeditionary Air Base squadrons, drawing together Airmen from U.S. bases in the same region to train and deploy together as a team for setting up a base, establishing and supporting operations, and providing leadership.

Air Task Forces are the next step, centralizing the command and base support layers are one base. Service officials have said this model is a “pilot program” for future operations, setting the stage for entire Combat Wings that can pick up and deploy from a single base.

“The Airmen who make up this task force will be able to train and deploy with greater efficiency and be more mission-ready than ever before,” Arrington said in a release.

Col. Gabriel Arrington, incoming 12th Air Task Force commander, speaks at the activation ceremony for the 12th ATF at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., Sept. 4, 2024. As commander, Arlington leads the establishment, training, certification and deployment of 2,500 Airmen from multiple host wings and major commands in the formation of the ATF combat employment model. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jacob Silva-Dreyer)

Scott is one of six sites selected to host Air Task Forces, along with:

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

Joint Base San Antonio, Texas

Dyess Air Force Base, Texas

Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.

Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.

These bases were chosen for their ability to accommodate the new forces, their proximity to training areas, and their readiness without additional construction. Like Arrington, other ATF leaders will also be colonels, handpicked by the service’s Chief of Staff, Gen. David Allvin.

Each ATF will have a command level with about an expeditionary A-Staff of about 50 people, as well as a Combat Air Base Squadron (CABS) to provide base operating support, mission generation force elements, and attached Mission Sustainment Teams (MST) to facilitate Agile Combat Employment, Air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. Phillip Ventura told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

But the overall size of each ATF will vary from hundreds to thousands of personnel. For instance, an ATF unit may include a single fighter squadron or several, depending on the specific demands of different missions.

Under the new Air Force Force Generation Model’s four phases of six months each, the first three task forces are set to deploy in October 2025—two to Central Command and one to Indo-Pacific Command. After six months, three new task forces will take their place in April 2026.

The previous system pulled Airmen from around 60 units at times, across more than a dozen different Air Force bases. ATFs streamline resources into only a handful of key components to make deployments simpler.

“The ATF model enables teams of roughly 400 Airmen to train together at two to four separate bases, and then come together as a larger team for collective training and certification during the six months prior to deployment,” said Ventura.

Another Air Task Force is likely standing up soon—to gear up for the upcoming 13th Air Task Force activation, a Combat Air Base Squadron (CABS) was rolled out at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., last month as the main support hub. With 340 personnel stationed at Luke, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., the 13th CABS will establish Combat Service Support Teams at each base. These teams will back up the ATF and are prepared to support up to 2,500 deployed personnel.

“This concept, apart from contributing to more predictable deployment schedules, could also help build better professional relationships among the team,” Senior Master Sgt. Olufemi A. Owolabi of the 13th CABS said in a release. “And when the time for deployment comes around, we are already familiar with the various Airmen from other Air Force specialties attached to the squadron from different bases, because we have been preparing together and taking care of each other from the beginning of the deployment cycle.”