Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for March 2, 2020

View in your Web Browser: [link removed]
Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Brian W. Everstine, Jennifer Hlad, Tobias Naegele, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S.-Taliban Peace Deal Sets Stage for Troop Withdrawal
By Jennifer Hlad

All foreign troops could be out of Afghanistan in 14 months, under an agreement
signed in Doha, Qatar, on Feb. 29, which Defense Secretary Mark Esper called
“the best chance Afghanistan has had in 19 years to achieve peace.” The
agreement between the Taliban and the U.S. “paves the way for intra-Afghan
negotiations to proceed so that a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire may be
achieved,” Esper said during a ceremony in Kabul. The U.S. plans to reduce the
force level there from 12,000 to 8,600 within 135 days, and eventually remove
all American troops from the country—provided the Taliban holds up its end of
the agreement, he said.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elon Musk: ‘The Fighter Jet Era Has Passed’
By Rachel S. Cohen

Step aside, fighter jets: Autonomous drones and manned spaceflight are the
future of military aerospace, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said at AFA’s Air
Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 28. Musk, the serial entrepreneur and
billionaire whose rockets take Pentagon sensors and satellites to space,
believes drone warfare will define future combat while traditional manned
fighter jets will fade in importance. Artificial intelligence, he added, has the
potential to be the most transformative technology of the near future. “The
fighter jet era has passed,” he said. At the same time as a human in the
cockpit may become less relevant on Earth, the business magnate argues that
technological advancements in space will enable a greater role for humans beyond
our atmosphere.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
Empowering Disaster Response and Recovery From Space
When a natural disaster or emergency occur, an immediate and seamless response is necessary to
save lives. Operational and situational awareness becomes increasingly important to responders.
If critical infrastructure is down in the disaster zone, then the systems and networks required for
powering the relief efforts are compromised. Ground operations must look to space to solve their
communication needs. Read the full story.
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ABMS Experiments Pick Up Steam
By Amy McCullough

With the success of the first Advanced Battle Management System experiment, more
commanders are starting to take notice and hoping to get in on the action.
Pacific Air Forces boss Gen. Charles Q. Brown told reporters he’s been in
regular conversations with ABMS Chief Architect Preston Dunlap to bring the
third experiment to the Indo-Pacific in August. It’s still unclear if the
exercise would piggyback on an existing PACAF exercise, or if it would stand
alone, but Brown said he wants to make sure it includes not only U.S. assets,
but also capabilities of joint partners.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AMC Considers Contracted Refueling to Fill Capacity Gap
By Brian W. Everstine

Private aerial refueling may help ease the intense demand for tankers, as
service leaders and U.S. Transportation Command debate the plan to retire legacy
refuelers. The Air Force’s fiscal 2021 budget request calls for retiring 16
KC-10s and 13 KC-135s. Top USAF and TRANSCOM officials are working together to
balance the risk and trying to come up with creative ways to reduce demand on
the tanker fleet.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

F-35 Fleet Won’t Need Inspections for Mixed-Up Fasteners
By John A. Tirpak

It’s still not known how many F-35 fighters were assembled with mixed-up
Inconel and titanium fasteners, but Lockheed Martin’s analysis shows no safety
of flight risk that would require dedicated fleetwide inspections. Company Vice
President and Program Manager Greg Ulmer told reporters on Feb. 27 that once the
problem was detected, the rest of the aircraft in the factory at that time were
checked for improper fasteners in the wrong positions. Inspectors didn’t find
very many aircraft “that had a high percentage of mis-installation,” he
said.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Powered JDAM: Boeing’s New Alternative to Cruise Missiles
By Tobias Naegele

Boeing is developing a long-range version of its Joint Direct Attack Munition
called the Power JDAM, adding an engine to extend its range by 20 times over the
conventional glide version of the weapon, company officials said.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reserve to Boost First Sergeant, Chaplain Presence in Resiliency Push
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

CMSgt. Timothy White Jr., senior enlisted advisor to Air Force Reserve chief Lt.
Gen. Richard Scobee, is leading a push to place full-time First Sergeants in
each of the Reserve’s wings and extend chaplain services across the component
in an effort to boost resilience. Air Force Reserve resilience is off to a
better start this year, but the component has already seen two suicides in 2020,
Scobee told Air Force Magazine on Feb. 27. “The state of resiliency is not
where I want it to be,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Air
Force Association’s 2020 Air Warfare Symposium, adding that he won’t be
satisfied until the number of suicides reaches zero.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Radar Sweep

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dozens of Turkish Soldiers Killed in Strike in Idlib in Syria

Dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed in an airstrike in Syria’s Idlib
province, in a dramatic escalation in the battle for control of the country’s
last opposition stronghold.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Record-Breaking Explosion by Black Hole Spotted

The biggest explosion seen in the universe has been found. This record-breaking,
gargantuan eruption came from a black hole in a distant galaxy cluster hundreds
of millions of light years away.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New General Officer Assignments Announced

Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein announced 10 new general officer assignments.


[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. Accuses China of Using Laser Against Navy Patrol Plane

The Navy said Feb. 27 that a Chinese warship fired a military grade laser at a
U.S. surveillance aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean last week, calling the
action “unsafe and unprofessional.”

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Force Academy 2020 Graduates Will Join U.S. Space Force

More than 60 newly minted officers scheduled to graduate from the U.S. Air Force
Academy in May will join the U.S. Space Force. These graduates will be the first
U.S. military officers to be directly commissioned into the Space Force, said
Lt. Gen. David “DT” Thompson, vice commander of the Space Force.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Light from Elon Musk’s Starlink Satellites Ruins Space Photos, Says Russian Government Agency

Russia's Academy of Sciences will complain to the United Nations about the light
reflected from the Starlink satellite system, saying it interferes with the work
of astronomers, it has been reported.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One More Thing...
Watch NBA Legend Karl Malone Take the Controls of a B-52 Bomber in Flight

Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana hosted a meeting of two legends earlier
this month. Retired NBA Hall of Famer and 14-time All-Star Karl Malone visited
the base and got fly in the cockpit of one of the 2nd Bomb Wing's venerable
B-52H bombers, even taking the controls for a period.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Daily Report: [link removed]
- Contact Us: [link removed]
- Advertise With Us: [link removed]
- Purchase/Reprint: [link removed]

- Air Force Association: [link removed]
- Join AFA: [link removed]

- AF Mag on Facebook: [link removed]
- AF Mag on Twitter: [link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Published by the Air Force Association

All airforcemag.com material is under copyright of
the Air Force Association. All rights reserved.

The Air Force Association
1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA
22209-1198

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe or change your preferences, please visit the link below:
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------